Go give Strange Horizons money! They're having their fund drive, so give 'til it hurts. They provide free fiction and poetry and reviews every week! They're publishing one of my stories later this year, so let's keep them in business, hmm? There are also fabulous fund drive prizes, including signed copies of Tropism Press chapbooks, and my collection Hart & Boot & Other Stories and -- and! -- advanced reader copies of Blood Engines, donated by my editor, and signed by me, with purple ink, no less! You know you want it.

The law of conservation of misery is at work. I finally took care of my car problems Wednesday afternoon, and that evening I promptly developed an annoying sore in my mouth. From psychic annoyance to physical annoyance. (I have a partially-erupted wisdom tooth, with gum growing over it, and occasionally the gum grows irritated from bits of food getting trapped under it and becomes sore. Happens once a year or so. Sigh. Pericoronitis. Nasty stuff.) It's not all that painful, just a constant low-level background irritation. I also seem to be getting a summer cold. No energy at all the past couple of days, and even simple things seem like Herculean tasks. And I felt so good on Wednesday! Bah.

I paid off the Giant Scary Credit Card today. So satisfying! Though sad to see my lovely bank balance dwindle to a mere jot of a speck. Oh well.

My writing group meets tomorrow to go over Dead Reign, AKA the Death novel, AKA Marla Mason #3. I hope they like it! I've gotten mostly positive (though not yet detailed) responses from other first readers so far. My terror is beginning to dwindle. I was really worried about this one, because I wrote it so fast, but I think it might be possible to revise it into something I'll be proud of. We'll see what the group has to say. I hope the weather's nice so we can meet out in the back yard...