Wow. Spring has sprung here in the Raleigh area. Today got up in the seventies, and how did I spend most of my day? Working on the Blackbeard novel.

But it was kind of cool -- I felt like I'd spent the day at Ocracoke Island, where the novel is set, so I felt like I was at the beach, at least. What's kind of cool is that the timeframe of the storyline in the novel is about this time of year -- late winter/early spring -- so it's easy to put my brain in that mindset.

I am FINALLY caught up to where I was in the novel when I left off waaay back in November, I think it was, when I had to switch gears and finish the Wannoshay novel. You know, I really don't remember WHY I switched gears like that. Ah well. Water under the bridge and all.

And anyway, I think the Blackbeard novel is better for it; as I was going over the first nine chapters, I was tightening things up as I went, and I also started a new file to throw all my various sub-plots and notes as I was going. This is something I'll do on all my future novels, as it makes it easy for me to see at a glance all the various plots and characters I have going on in the novel, doing the limbo and whatnot...

As this week progresses, I plan on announcing here, on my journal, the guidelines for my 'zine/antho, entitled Intracities. More info to come. Again, feel free to email me for the guidelines ahead of time. Although, I must say, with the way my damn email has been acting, I can't promise that I'll actually GET it. Feel free to use my Comments section to get my attention.

And finally, I got my final version of a watercolor/digital drawing that I commissioned from the wonderful artist Janet Chui. One of the "rewards" I promised myself for getting a "real job" again was this piece of artwork, which is taken from the Epilogue of my urban fantasy novel The Last of the Hand.

She did a fantastic job -- took my breath away the first time I saw one of her sketches, not to mention the finished watercolors. She also let me give her feedback every step of the way, making sure the piece was perfect (which it is!). And what's even more cool, Janet will be the featured artist at Strange Horizons, starting tomorrow. Can you say "way cool"???

I've put together a new "splash page" that should come up every time you type www.michaeljasper.net or, for you lazy asses, michaeljasper.net. But I haven't gotten it straight with my Internet hosting company. Enjoy!

Okay, I've gotta go cook some burgers on the grill -- Lizzie and I took Whit the Wonder Dog on a 4-5 mile hike this afternoon, and I'm hungry. See ya later!

Now Playing:
"The Thistle and Shamrock," WUNC

Now Reading:
Waking the Moon, Elizabeth Hand;
The Journal of Pulse-Pounding Narratives

Stories out to Publishers:
21

Misc. Words:
1,800

Words for '03:
37,100

Today's Quote:
A small metal plate sat off to the left side of the area Ella had cleared. Mitch moved closer to the structure, feeling his own sense of wonder and awe. Carved into the plate were the letters “S” and “B” followed by the numbers “1717.”

Unbelievable, Mitch thought. This really could be one of Blackbeard’s ships. The pirate’s last reported appearance had been in these waters, back in 1718.

He wanted to hug Ella at first, and then, when he heard the deep laughter outside the cave, he wanted to grab her and drag her back to their boat as fast as possible.