Oh, it's a lot of randomness today, folks. Read with care.

Hmmm... I'm only 7 pages into the revision of the Blackbeard novel, I'm ashamed to say. I've been a bit worn out from work, now that the pace has picked up there at last, and sitting in front of a computer at 4:45 a.m. isn't all that appealing. I just need to get some momentum going on the story. And I think I got that today.

Speaking of momentum, how about that John Edwards? I've been pulling for him for a while, even though there are some things he and I don't agree on (he's against gay marriage, he agreed to go to war in Iraq -- though he's been taking responsibility for it, unlike Kerry, who just brings up his service in Vietnam, as if that explains everything), I really like the way he's run his campaign. No attack ads, a focus on the working-class folks and the poor, and lots of positive energy. Here's a great opinion piece about where Edwards stands (thanks for the link, Alan). He's what the country needs, I think. The more I see of Kerry the less I like him. And I have no confidence in Kerry's ability to win in November. Let's just hope Edwards can keep that momentum and win the rest of the states and nab the nomination from the stiff, wishy-washy Kerry. (Okay, I had to talk politics there, just for a bit!)

Last night and early this morning I spent WAY too much time working on and tweaking my Links page. All I can say is, this was a major novel-revising avoidance behavior. But look at all those lovely links! Let me know if I'm missing any good ones.

I also got my interview questions from Daniel at SF Reader, and I of course had to drop everything to answer them. Some really good questions, a couple that made me stop and think about some of the themes and issues I've been writing about, which was cool. Hopefully the interview will run in the coming week or so. I even dropped some hints about the Next Novel...

Now I've got to teach myself rugby. My younger sister plays on the rugby team at East Carolina University, and my family and I are going to watch her kick some ass on Saturday. I need to know a little bit about how the game works -- it looks pretty crazy. Any hints? I've got this site to pore over in the meantime.

Charles de Lint's stories -- hmmm... After reading about eight or nine of 'em in a row, I notice a disturbing pattern. You've got your normal person living in Newford, he or she encounters something from the supernatural world, his or her life is threatened or made bad in some way and research is done to solve the problem, and by the story's end, he or she has learned something new. Hmmm.

I'm buying Carter Beats the Devil tonight. Woo-hoo! I'm ready for a good novel to read. Hope this one is it. Later!

Now Playing:
"Scarlet's Walk," Tori Amos

Today's Quote:
Maybe I'll talk to Mitch about all this, she thought. This had been the first time she'd even thought about her divemaster for her upcoming research project. They hadn't even met, but they'd be spending a lot of time together in the next few weeks, if not longer. She hoped he was as matter-of-fact and business-like as he'd seemed to be in the two brief emails they'd exchanged last week.

As Ella was checking for traffic on the highway behind her, ready for more speeding senior citizens, she realized what had been wrong with the shadowy figure she'd seen dancing out on the flooded house. In addition to the fact that the imaginary person was so far out in the sound in the first place -- and dancing! -- she realized that when she was able to focus the binoculars on the figure, the person didn't appear to have a head.