My story "Dream Engine" is online at Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, with an awesome full-color illustration by Howard Lyon. I'm in love with the cityscape, Howlaa in zir monster form, and the murderous giant with his impractical golden sword. Like it was plucked from my mind's eye and put down on the page. I tend to envision Wisp as a small cloud of luminous motes rather than a ghostly female form, but I can see how a cloud of luminous motes is, shall we say, less artistically interesting, so I'm cool with this interpretation. It's a truly kick-ass illustration, with a real sense of wonder (and horror!). I hope y'all like the story, too. I think it's one of my better ones.

The weekend was exceptional. Heather and I had a little cottage overlooking the Russian River, not far from the place where it meets the sea. We walked among redwoods, ate extravagant meals, and read a lot (I read Soul Kitchen by Poppy Z. Brite and Why Moms Are Weird by Pamela Ribon, and they were both immensely enjoyable). We hit a couple of wineries on the way home. It was a glorious anniversary weekend, and we even got to see a beautiful sunset -- the first non-overcast day there in several weeks, we were told. Heather saw harbor seals, but I didn't. I was content with great vast flocks of sea birds, though. Life is still good.