I think I'm better! (He said tentatively.) Last night the only real symptom I had was a cough, and it wasn't the chest-rattling kind. This morning even the cough seems to be gone, and I'm cautiously optimistic.

Things are going well on the short story front. I sold a fantasy piece, "The Third-Quarter King", to the new Australian anthology series Eidolon. I'm going increasingly intercontinental, y'all. The anthology is a sort of resurrected spin-off of the very cool SF magazine of the same name, which closed a few years ago. I'm thrilled to be involved with the project The book should be out at World Fantasy, and I'll provide ordering information once the book's available. Whoo!

It's been a good year for short stories, and as a result, I only have 5 left I'm trying to sell. A novelette of sex-magic and lizards, "Komodo," which has been sitting on an editor's desk for going on 8 months now, sigh. Another novelette, "Dream Engine," which I think might be the best story I've written in years, and which has been with another editor for about 7 months. (Ah, and she just this moment responded to my query and suggested I re-submit. C'est la vie. I'll send it back to her on Monday.) Another, "Impossible Dreams," (my alternate-universe video-store love story) which just got a bounce, and which I need to send to Asimov's. And two more that aren't really ready for prime-time, each needing another round on the ol' revising wheel: "The Crawlspace of the World" (formerly titled "Killing the Moon"), about lost things and dragons and betrayal; and "The Frozen One", which I wrote to read at WisCon and will probably send to F&SF on Monday, since it doesn't need much work. And... that's it. If the marketing people at Bantam decide they don't want to do anything with my Rangergirl spin-off, "Bluebeard and the White Buffalo," then I'll try to sell that through the usual channels, too. But for someone who has been used to having up to 20 stories in circulation at a time, this feels weirdly sparse. I should write more stories. But first I have some novelling to tend to. I might be able to write some stories in the last quarter of the year. I do have a big crazy story I'd like to write, a sort-of-sequel to "Captain Fantasy and the Secret Masters," though it'll stand alone...

It's Saturday, and the weather looks fine. Sleeping in a bit was very good. I do have lots to do today, though, so I should quit futzing around with journal entries and get started. I need to go through editor's comments on my story "Haruspex" (which will be going up at Shadows of Saturn in, like, a few days), and get that turned around before tomorrow. (I like this magazine, by the way. They paid me two days after accepting me! And the contracts and check were hand-delivered by my co-worker Amelia! Now that's how you treat a writer, y'all.) I need to clean the house a bit, because my writing workshop is coming over at 3 p.m. Since Heather's still feeling sick, I get to do the cleaning solo, which shouldn't be too bad, since we swept the place and did a lot last weekend. I'll just listen to The Professor and the Madman on my iPod while I clean, and all should be well. I also need to write down my comments on the workshop piece (I've read it, and thought about it, and have things to say; I just need to put those things into actual words). We'll probably do workshop outside, if the weather stays nice. I'll make margaritas, though I won't let myself guzzle them, since the last thing I need to do is deal a blow to my immune system. Then again, margaritas are filled with Vitamin C... and alcohol is an antiseptic...