Words Written: Sunday: ALNM 1673; Monday: ALNM 227, space pirate story 438, co-ed story 214; editing several stories
Writing Stats: see below
Exercise: back’s been bugging me… :-(

What a great couple of days! First, a sale! “Working Late” will appear in She’s On Top. This is the antho that I’d subbed another story to, but that story was too much like another one in the antho, so the editor asked if I’d be interested in sending another. I managed to write, edit, and send “Working Late” within a day or so, including getting it critiqued. So I’m especially chuffed to have made the sale!

Then I received my half of the advance for A Little Night Music! Advance money rocks!

In other excitement, Sophie may be quoted in an upcoming issue of Publisher’s Weekly! We were asked to send 1-2 sentences about why we (i.e., Black Lace authors) write erotica. I’ll include info here and/or on my website when I have it.

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Yesterday I headed off to Encino for a LARA (LA RWA) meeting. I met so many wonderful people! I’ve been on the e-mail list for only a week or two, and posted only once or twice, and yet everyone treated me like a welcomed friend. Very cool. Best of all, I got to hang out with my friend Christine, whom I hadn’t seen in forever. She and I went out to lunch afterwards (Versailles, hurrah!) and talked and talked and talked. It was just fabulous. She gave me birthday presents—a beaded and embroidered pillow that fits perfectly in our media room and a tin of hand-decorated note cards (I love note cards. I love little boxes. Damn, she knows me well!). I was sorry to say goodbye, but we’ve already exchanged some things to critique. And really. C’mon. She doesn’t live that far away.

Sadly, I’ll miss the next two LARA meetings because of a Styx concert in northern CA and my trip to visit Sarah in VA (which will also include a Styx concert). I’ll be back in October with fresh US copies of Cat Scratch Fever in hand!

My back was hurting pretty badly by the time I got home, so I spent the rest of the alternating between sitting with an ice pack and lying down. Since I have my wonderful spiffy laptop stand that allows me to work while lying down, this wasn’t much of a hardship at all!

Our cable connection went down for about four hours last night, for no apparent reason. It meant I had no TV (other than what was recorded on the DVR, which was enough to keep me busy for a few hours if I so chose) and no Internet. Meh. I spent the evening lounging on the bed and writing. Yeah, it’s a tough life…!

I had a much-needed chiro appt this morning (and I do feel better), then I did a quick grocery run before heading to Morgana’s for an unofficial Herbal Guild workshop, spurred by a small group of us sniffing someone’s rose hand lotion and getting all het up to make some for our very own. Now I have two pots of my very own. :-)

Tonight I worked on three different projects, finishing a scene in ALNM (and awaiting Sarah’s current work so we can weave it all together before moving on) and finishing a very short story, and making notes on a new story. I’ll work on the new story tomorrow, and maybe a second one, and I also have crits for Christine and Teresa to do. (I always try to do those after my own writing, so I don’t start my writing in critical voice.)

So, lots of goodness. Like the fact that it’s 20+ degrees cooler here by the ocean than inland. And the fact that my regular grocery store is now carrying Godiva Belgian chocolate ice cream. And that maybe, just maybe, Ken will be home this week for a visit (and to inventory all the machine parts in the garage to sell to the company in OR for a nice chunk of change). Life, as Tommy Shaw is wont to say, is good.

I’ll finish with some fun links. Ya’ll have probably seen Joss Whedon’s speech at Equality Now because it made the rounds a few weeks ago, but here it is just in case. Because it’s wonderful and important and Joss is…awesome. In all senses of the word.

And here he is pretending to be a geek impersonating Joss Whedon. Just because.

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Currently Reading: The Cabin, Carla Neggers
Lately Listened To: Banba, Clannad; Deep in the Heart of Nowhere, Bob Geldof
Recently Watched: Without a Trace, World Series of Pop Culture