My short-short story "Giant" is now live online in the new issue of Lone Star Stories. Woohoo! A great way to start the new month. I like the artwork, too.

By the end of yesterday, I'd hammered my CV down from 3 pages to the recommended 2 (doesn't sound like it should take hours, does it? and yet...), and shoved my research statement down from 1300 words to 1000. So the job application will wing its way across the country this morning, and I'll be so relieved to have it out of my hands!

Yesterday Nika and I had a long, wind-swept but lovely walk across the hills. The best part came when we met up with a hyper 18-month-old spaniel who zoomed around the field with Nika, over and over again. He wasn't quite as fast as her--she's still one of the fastest dogs I've ever seen--but after five minutes she came veering back across the field to collapse at my feet, panting. The spaniel couldn't believe it! He ran around her in circles, barking tauntingly--"Chicken! Chicken! Chicken!" Nika gazed at him in bewilderment. I laughed and laughed. That's exactly what she used to do with older dogs, when she was his age. I remember the taunting bark well. But now she's a respectable middle-aged dog of dignity... Hard to believe sometimes. She eventually got up, raced with him again (and won again, too!), then came back to me, collapsed, and this time refused to be mocked into any more play. When we got back home, she threw herself into her bed and fell asleep. It was a good walk.

And best of all, on the way back into the house, a new short story idea grabbed me and hasn't let go yet. I wrote the first two pages this morning. We'll see how it goes...