My Pity Party ended at midnight last night, just in time. This morning I woke up, opened my email, and found two pieces of good news waiting for me. First, Delia Sherman had sent me two nice reviews of Locked Doors that appeared in the March issue of Locus. Rich Horton said:

Strange Horizons opened the year with a fine Stephanie Burgis piece, "Locked Doors," about a boy living with his father. The father locks himself away a few days each month or so, which no one outside the family is to know. The boy's social life is thus impacted, not to mention that he misses his departed mother; but there is a further reason for concern. It's quietly told, and for that reason plausible, with an ambiguously hopeful conclusion.

and Nick Gevers calls it "a good werewolf story" with a "deftly implied" ending.

Hurray! Now I can stop haunting the science fiction magazine section in Borders in hopes of seeing a stray Locus arrive. (They appear in the Leeds Borders store irregularly and usually only when I'm not looking for them, much like any other magical being.)

And now for my second piece of good news: Pseudopod is going to do a podcast reprint of Stitching Time! This makes me really happy. "Stitching Time" is still one of my favorites of my own stories, and I always wanted to hear it read out loud. The funny thing is, I originally submitted it as a fantasy reprint to Escape Pod, was told that it was really more of a horror story, and it was passed on to Pseudopod. And I thought...Huh. I guess it is pretty horrific, at that. When I first wrote this story, I really had no idea what to call it--historical fantasy? slipstream? mainstream? Now I guess I'll call it a quiet American historical horror story. Apparently it'll be podcast in about 2 or 3 months. I can't wait.

I'm still planning to go out and get some real (not virtual) chocolate today. But now I'll eat it in celebration!