...is my monthly Amazon delivery day! Yes, I am that much of a geek. I always feel like humming "The Wells Fargo Wagon" when the box of books arrives, and I rip into it with just as much glee as any kid. Today I got Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days, Paul Magrs's Something Borrowed (the sequel to his brilliantly funny, skewed-Yorkshire-Gothic novel Never the Bride, which I read and loved last year), and Daniel Pinkwater's The Big Orange Splot, since I'm still on a major Pinkwater kick. I also got a CD to be used specifically as writing music, KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope - perfect Kat mood music. (It may not be evocative of the Regency time period, but for Kat herself, it's just exactly right.) Maya helped me answer the door, of course, and was very excited about helping me unpack the contents of the box. Sadly, there was nothing of interest to her inside the box, but still, she seemed to have a good time.

It was a good weekend, too. We watched the last three episodes of Torchwood Season 2, which were so brilliant that they more than made up for some of the really awful episodes in the middle of the season. (If only Chris Chibnall could write all the episodes!!!) We went out to the park for sunshine and dog-fun on Saturday, and on Sunday, we finally went out to see The Spiderwick Chronicles in the movie theater. I think the reviews I'd seen (ranging between 3 and 3-1/2 stars) were about right - there were too many issues for me to wholeheartedly recommend the movie, including an unintentionally-disturbing last scene (I think it was supposed to be sentimentally sweet, but it gave me the creeps) - but I did really enjoy watching it anyway, and I'm glad we did. Then we went into downtown Leeds and Patrick generously agreed to come with me to Casa Mia, an Italian restaurant that's wonderful for vegetarians like me but nightmarishly bad for vegans like him. He ate a not-so-great side order while I luxuriated in a gorgeous fettucine alfredo with mushrooms, just exactly what I'd been craving. I really owe him! Next time it's definitely his turn to choose a restaurant...

And in the meantime, I've seen lots of good links over the weekend. Shannon Hale posted a page of advice for newly-published authors which makes a lot of sense; Sarah Prineas posted a whole week of journal entries giving useful info on book marketing and publicity, all of which culminated in a thought-provoking wrap-up which questions the value of self-publicity for new authors; and of course, for anyone living in the UK, the first episode of Doctor Who Season 4 is online now at the BBC iPlayer. We haven't watched it yet - the ending of Torchwood was so emotional and powerful that we weren't in the mood to watch something light and tangentially related just afterwards - but I'm looking forward to watching it later this week.

Hope you guys all had good weekends!