We got our organic produce box yesterday, and it was full of potatoes. Since it's finally cool enough to use the stove without boiling ourselves in our house, I decide to roast them. They came out beautifully -- I just sliced 'em up, tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and cooked them until they got a little crispy. Then we drizzled them with rosemary butter. Mmmm. Comfort food. Also not terribly unhealthy! We made a smoothie last night, too, and since we got a bunch of fresh fruit, I thought, "Hmm, why not blend in some apples?" I'll tell you why not: it's not a smoothie, it's applesauce. And drinking a big glass of applesauce felt kinda weird, even if it did also have some mango and yogurt and soy milk.

Yesterday I outlined the first several scenes of Ferocious Dreamers for my aforementioned page-one rewrite. Unlike my last outline, which mostly consisted of sentences like "Some conflict here" and "Hijinks ensue" and "Maybe add some kind of a subplot," this is an actual outline with actual scenes planned, like, with settings and so forth. I'm usually not much of an outliner, but there are a lot of balls that have to get into the air pretty quickly in this book, so blocking stuff out and figuring out sequence is important. I feel so liberated now that I've tossed out the previous draft entirely. Trying to slot old scenes into a new framework was bedeviling me.

Been reading China Miéville's new YA Un Lun Dun, and will finish it tonight. It's awesome! It started out rather slow, I thought, and even a bit generic, but I should've had more faith in China -- he subverts fantsy clichés left and right, and there are lots of wonderful reversals. Plus some staggeringly cool ideas, like the terrifying Black Windows (which I wish I'd come up with), and the mercenary with a bird cage for a head... some real genius moments. And the UnGun? Coolest weapon ever. I want one. Failing that, I want a video game where I can pretend to use one. It makes the gravity gun look like a spitball shooter. I kinda love this book. I can even forgive the puns.

It looks like I'll actually be doing some business, sort of, while I'm in L.A. for the Worldcon. Probably shouldn't say much -- it's all vaporware at this stage anyway -- but, in true L.A. fashion, I'll be Taking A Meeting. Just chatting about possibilities, really. We'll see if anything firm develops. Anyway, it's kind of cool. 'nough said.