I got my contributor copy of the fabled, legendary, and until-now-elusive second and final volume of The Journal of Pulse-Pounding Narratives. (It includes my story "Lachrymose and the Golden Egg", which features a rogue, ninjas, a were-ape, and exotic drugs.) Good heavens, what an incredibly beautiful 'zine. The typography and graphic design elements are beautifully integrated, the art is awesome and consistent... really, it's a sight to behold, and packed with rip-roaring good reads as well. You can also buy via Project Pulp. Seriously, y'all are going to want to pick this up. It's the best looking black-and-white production I've ever seen, and I've seen a few.

Heh. I was looking at Bantam's subsidiary rights page for their fall 2005 titles, and now I've got some idea of how they're positioning my book marketing-wise: "The magic of Charles de Lint and the humor of Charlaine Harris's "Southern Vampire" series meet in THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF RANGERGIRL, an unusual and captivating debut novel from acclaimed short story author Tim Pratt." It's a good description, actually, and I think it strikes the right chord.

Beck's Guero is good, though there are times when it feels like I'm listening to a bunch of Odelay-era B-sides. (Keeping in mind that I often like Beck's B-sides better than his album cuts!) One of the things I like about Beck is the way he continually re-invents himself (really, it's boggling that the same artist created both One Foot in the Grave and Midnite Vultures), and this album is more of a hearkening-back than a reinvention. That said, it's a hearkening-back to an era I like a lot, and I've listened to "Qué Onda Guero" about a dozen times in the past two days.

After I managed to get past the first fighting tutorial in Prince of Persia, I started to like the game a lot more, since they actually let me control the camera position and whatnot after that. There's some really beautiful imagery, and I foresee myself losing quite a few potentially-productive hours to this game. Which is what a good game should do.

Still reading at least a story a day. Yesterday I read "Some Zombie Contingency Plans" by Kelly Link. Kelly is my favorite short story writer in the world. "Zombie" (which is forthcoming in her new collection this summer) is really great, offbeat and moving and even scary. I think it's her creepiest story since "The Specialist's Hat." And, hey, if you didn't know, her Hugo-nominated "The Faery Handbag" is now available online.

I'm taking the new issue of The Third Alternative with me on our travels so I won't have to give up my story-a-day regime for this weekend.

Guess I should go pack an overnight bag now. Talk to y'all next week.