Words Written: “Love Makes the Universe Go ‘Round”: ~400, plus edits

Word for the Day: turophile, n., a connoisseur of cheese; a cheese fancier

Happy December! I started this e-mail days ago… Lots to report.

Two more stories sold! A Sophie Mouette erotica and a solo one (as Andrea Dale, my erotica name) to the Wicked Words anthology Sex on the Move. The editor is funny—he never accepts our stories anymore; the contracts just show up in the mail. I was reasonable sure he’d take the Sophie one, but my own was…well, I went out on a limb, and I had no idea if it was any good or not. So I’m happy. (That brings my year total to 13. I…I…I honestly can’t believe that. Wha…? I’ve had about 50 rejections so far, it looks like. The numbers are skewed by the fact that Wicked Words bought a lot of stuff.)

I’ve been invited to submit to a nice anthology, so my non-writing vacation weekend is failing miserably on the non-writing count. But when a private-invite anthology calls, I would be fool not to answer.

I got a ding on a novella proposal (Star Trek: SCE) but an invitation to submit more. I’ve got one good idea that I need to get written up, and need to brainstorm some more. Sure, I can shoehorn that into my day. (Let’s not talk about the fact that I’m planning to add an hour a day of BattleTech reading/research into my schedule…)

<>-<>-<>

I had intended this weekend to be a vacation. Do whatever I wanted to do, not what I had to do. A buffer, a transition from crazy 12-hour days to saner part-time no-commute work and more writing and life time. I did okay, but I would’ve liked more!

We discussed going to the movies Friday night, but by the time I got home from work and a chiro appt, it was late and movie schedules were not in our favor. So we ordered pizza and wings, and curled up to watch a bunch of TV.

Yesterday, we lazed about during the morning, then headed into the Valley for a tree-trimming party at Gillian’s, which we didn’t leave until nearly midnight, what with all the talking and playing of Apples to Apples and laughing and drinking chocolate-chip liqueur and eating fancy cheeses.

Today we slept in again, and then Ken fixed the heater (which involved crawling under the house. No, our 1911 house does not have central heating.), because he’s incredible. Then we headed off to LA to the West Adams Heritage Association Holiday Walking Tour. Three stunning Craftsman houses, an “Eclectic Victorian” (a Victorian/Craftsman hybrid, really), and an Italianate villa that’s now a religious center with meditation gardens and a replica of the Chartres labyrinth. (Must. Go. Back.) Several of the houses are well known from TV shows, none of which we've seen. The tour was paid for by the incredible Donna, the woman we bought our house from. We three plus the fourth in our group, Patty, who was the Realtor who negotiated the deal, all went out to dinner, too.

<>-<>-<>

Ken finished the media room shelves yesterday [Wednesday, I think], so last night I couldn’t resist unpacking every damn video/DVD/CD/cassette box and organizing them. Fun, and a little scary. I can see some serious movie-watching in our near future, to clear out all the tapes of “this would be interesting to watch” things. And probably a weeding out of duplicates—things we taped from the TV that we later bought a commercial copy of, things we have on both video and DVD. (Anybody want a Region 1 VHS of Gun Shy starring Sandra Bullock, Liam Neeson, and Oliver Platt? Free to a good home!)

<>-<>-<>

I won another trivia question at work! Another Borders gift certificate! Which is a very good thing, because my list of books to get is growing. Tim Pratt’s Rangergirl, Cherie Priest’s Four & Twenty Blackbirds, several books for an upcoming workshop, Nora Roberts’ Red Lily… There’s a part of me that just wants a bunch of gift certificates for Yule (‘though I prefer B&N because it seems to have a better selection of both SFF and romance). How uninspiring of me. And it’s not like I don’t have an entire bookcase of books to be read…

<>-<>-<>

Despite the fact that this was to be vacation, I still had a list of things to do. Alas, we have not yet begun to decortate the house, nor did I have time to call my sister. (I did call Sarah about a joint writing project, proving again that you can’t take the writing out of the girl.) I’m going to toddle off downstairs now and wrap a slew of gifts whilst watching Charmed, so I can get said gifts mailed off tomorrow.

And tomorrow, my first day of figuring out how to structure my days, will be very interesting indeed.

---

What Have I Done Today to Make My Writing Dream Come True? attempting to have a vacation to recharge my energy
Currently Reading: between books
Lately Listened To: holiday music in my head
Recently Watched: Lost; CSI: NY; Veronica Mars; Monk