John Scalzi, scholar and gentleman, suggests a few good books, among them my own Hart & Boot & Other Stories. He also mentions that he'll be interviewing me for his By the Way interview series, which I'm looking forward to -- the other interviews he's done have been pretty great.

Evil Monkey (care of Jeff VanderMeer) has some very good writing advice. (Actually, mostly it's advice about dealing with writing advice.) Go, read, heed.

Today was a surprise half-day. Surprise! My boss took us all out to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants. I ate fish and chips and beer-battered prawns, mmm. Then I went home at 2 p.m. and played video games, and life, she is sweet.

Tomorrow, writing group. Sunday, New Year's Eve celebrations/inebriations. Monday, recovering from Sunday. If I don't write again before the day, I want you all to have a happy end to this year and an auspicious start on the next.