Wrote some more on the novel this morning. It's amazing to me how my characters just chatter away under my pen, filling in all those gaps and cracks in my scanty chapter outlines with conversation, tickle fights, etc. Of course, I have to keep an eye on them, or they veer right off the major plot points and cause problems. Little rascals.

Have had a few rejections lately, and am making lists of marktes appropriate to different stories again. I try to be happy about movement, and I'm certainly better now than I was a few weeks ago, but man what I wouldn't give for a sale right about now. I know, I know, writer's lament, nothing new to see here, move along...

I will note that my WWW12 story has hit its one-year anniversary since i sent it to Realms for consideration. Yes, I will query again today, but I am disheartened by the wait. It's one of my best stories, and I would love to see it at Realms, but I'm getting a bit worried that my last query sent into the "special" pile or something. Deep breath. At least the anniversary is giving me another reason to query. That's the bright side.

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There's a new story up at Fishnet! Check out Secretly Wishing for Rain by Claude Lalumière at
http://www.fishnetmag.com

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I bought the cats a water fountain last week, and I'm pleased to see them using it all the time. I know it seems like an extravagance, but since Gryffyn died from kidney failure, I decided it was a good investment to encourage the cats to drink more water. Our hardwood floors get catfur tumbleweeds a day after we sweep, so the water dish is constantly attracting a new layer of fuzz on its surface. With the
Petmate Fresh Flow Purifying Pet Fountain they always have a source of fresh water to drink (though the bowl at the bottom still gets stuff in it, both of them seem to prefer drinking straight from the top of the running stream).

Of course, at first they treated it with suspicion, and Zanzi batted at it a couple of times, but it only took a day before I had to add more water because they were using it so much, so yay!

In other cat news, I keep calling Zanzi "Gryffyn" and he seems to be moping about it. Not that we're sure he knows his name is "Zanzi" (Marzi does know her name), but I think he picks up that me calling him Gryffyn is a sad thing. Sigh. Just what I need, to inflict more neuroses on my cats....

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I took last week off of the gym, more or less, because I'd pulled a muscle in my neck and it hurt for days. I did go stretch on Wednesday, but that was it (other than walking). I went back last Monday for the first time and did Chest, Shoulders & Triceps day, and nearly hurt myself again. Sigh. I tried to stretch well, especially afterwards, but I think I'm spending too much time on the computer and it's interfering with my workouts. Bah. I'm going to go again tonight, though, dammit. I'll just be gentle. Maybe I'll scale everything back to two reps instead of three...

Speaking of health, I am still doing well (so well that Tim has joined me!) and have lost a total off 22.2 pounds! Yay! I'm going to have to go shopping for shorts for our upcoming vacation in North Carolina, because I only have two pairs that fit, and one of those is practically falling off.

I guess that's it for now. Ta!