neato keano

Edging In With the Lake

I’m edging back into piano practice again, and it feels good. Of course, every time I play this I expect to see a red-eyed Natalie Portman, but that’s a price one pays.

I want to finish this book of exercises and go back to doing Bach. Next year I’ve got to start working seriously on my Goldberg Variations Before I’m 50 bucket-list item, so it would be good to practice before then. And a session after dinner starts the evening most agreeably; it forces my brain into a different mode that makes it easier to not-work before bed.

Bonus bit: Long-time readers will know I put a Swan Lake reference in the Valentine series; it was super fun. I did have thoughts of doing a short story with a psion bounty hunter who also dances, but it died on the vine. Probably for the best, the last thing Danny needs in her life is to shoot someone in a tutu.

It’s almost the weekend, my dears, and the holidays are almost over. We can do this.

Over and out.

Sharing Good Things

Flying hair
© Cherrymerry | Dreamstime Stock Photos

The wind is up today, the Columbia Gorge inhaling for the deep dive into winter. There was stuff hitting the roof all night, but once the dogs are settled on my bed nothing fazes them.1

Of course, that could also have been because the wind chill manages to make the house a trifle chilly at night, so sleeping in a pile mitigates the shivers. I was actually a little too warm, what with flannel sheets and down comforter, not to mention two hairy little stoves to my left.

I do have something awesome for you today, chickadees. My writing partner has a new story out, Voice of the Knife, which centers on woodpeckers, terror, and the legend of Jenny Greenteeth. I consider it one of the five perfect stories I’ve ever read, which is saying a lot. There’s not an ounce wasted in it, and the ending is simply marvelous. I highly recommend taking a gander, not only at it but at her other stuff. Especially Shots in the Dark.2

I am thrilled absolutely to the gills to be able to shout about Voice, since I love the story so much. I’m pretty sure my enthusiasm is both terrifying and amusing for said writing partner, but I don’t do halfway friendships. I am like an octopus on your face UNTIL WE BOTH DIE.

Uh, so to speak.

Anyway, it’s a windy day, the dogs need walking, and the Damage revision is going to be a knotty problem. Yesterday was a 1k net word gain, and I only got two chapters revised. I knew the zero was extremely lean, but this is kind of ridiculous. To be fair, I finished it under acid-test conditions, and I won’t let it out of my hands until it’s a respectable length.3

On the bright side, I got a lot of work done even though I had to leave the house for errands4, so I can look forward to being super productive today because I won’t be interrupted…

…that’s right, go ahead and laugh, I am tempting fate in the extreme. I will be interrupted, but whoever (or whatever) does so will have to deal with Very Direct Problem Solving so I can go back to revisions. I want this draft done and resting with my agent before NaNoWriMo.

But more about that later. For now, it’s time to walk the dogs–though B will have her nose in the air to read the wind the entire time, which will make her trip, and Lord van der Sploot will hop lively every time the invisible hand of moving air brushes his hind end. Fun times will be had by all. (Can you see me rolling my eyes? I’ll bet you can.)

Enjoy Tuesday, chickadees. It’s our only hope.

Soundtrack Monday: Wondering Where the Lions Are

Taken

Just what do you play to get into the mood when you’re writing a were-wolverine? For me, it was Bruce Cockburn’s Wondering Where the Lions Are, which I played somewhat obsessively while writing Taken.

Longtime Readers will remember Taken‘s working title was Weasel Boy, since Zach (the hero-of-sorts) travels with his very small family of were-wolverines, doing odd jobs, until an upir attack introduces them to Sophie. It’s actually Eric, one of the cousins, who’s a Bruce Cockburn fan, and the song really has no relation to the book other than the mention of lions and the singer’s desire to melt into a beloved. It being Cockburn, of course, there’s also an undercurrent of social justice.

It being a Monday (and what a Monday, I’m down with the flu and shivering with fever while I type) I might as well give a two-fer; in the beginning of Taken, when Sophie and Lucy are getting ready for their night on the town, what should be playing but the Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket, that anthem of girls’ night out everywhere? You can probably even hear an echo of it in Lucy’s dialogue.

Enjoy! And I hope your Monday is better than mine–or at least, less feverish.

Deepest Violet

I wouldn’t have morning glories in my yard (mostly because I spent too long with toddlers roaming around) but fortunately, some of my neighbors do, and I get to admire them. Especially when the color is so achingly vibrant.

Sometimes the smallest beautiful thing can save an entire day, week, month, year. Never underestimate the tiny beauties. They can even save a life.

Blank, Pointy-Tooth Screens

Cormorant Run

The weekend passed in a blur, between chores and getting wordcount in on Damage. The best thing about it was the rain moving in. It is now officially autumn, and I couldn’t be happier.

I always work best when the rains settle like an inverted grey bowl, tip-tapping the roof and window, hissing between leaves beginning to turn, plopping into puddles. Maybe it’s all the negative ions being thrown up, maybe it’s the ambient white noise, maybe it’s the petrichor, maybe it’s the cleaning of the air. Maybe it’s all of them.

I also watched Wes Craven’s Dracula 2000 and its two “sequels”, the latter only loosely related to the first movie but starring Jason Scott Lee. I don’t quite uncritically love them, I’m aware of how bad all three movies are. The first one played with some extremely interesting themes and the third had the right ending1 instead of an action-movie Gary Stu vomit-fest, so all in all, they’re not bad.

Vampires are a blank screen we use to project a number of anxieties onto. I know–I’m guilty as charged, between Selene2 and the scurf in the Kismet series.3 Both had their uses, and I might be ready to write Tarquin’s story. Or even Imprint, the Beguine vampire smexy-story I’ve been adding chunks to over literal years.

But first I’ve got to finish Damage and get the Season 2 zero of HOOD out of the way. Now that I’m in the productive half of the year, that might even happen in a hurry. And of course there’s running, running with dogs, walking with dogs, parenting, and making sure my meatsack doesn’t give out under the pressure.

It feels like juggling chainsaws, complete with the risk of lopping off a hand when one grabs the wrong way. Tiger by the tail, and all that.

I should also get the monthly newsletter out of the way. Incorruptible goes on sale later this month, too, so there’s housekeeping to do for that.

It’s a good thing the rainy season’s long in these parts. I’d probably never get anything finished otherwise. Time to finish absorbing my coffee and get with the program; it might be dangerous to stay in one place.

Over and out.

Soundtrack Monday: Let Me Down Easy

Strange Angels

It’s time for another Soundtrack Monday! It’s Labor Day, so I’m only working a half day, but I’ve been wanting to share this one with you.

Graves in Strange Angels had his genesis in several boys I knew in high school. His musical tastes were eclectic, to say the least, but I could always reliably get him to come out and start talking if I played a little Chris Isaak. (Or Metallica, but that’s neither here nor there.)

Eventually, even the first few bars of Let Me Down Easy would give me a window into how he was feeling. The series is told from Dru’s point of view, but you can’t know just one character’s motivations and expect to have a whole story. You need to know what everyone in the room wants, even if it’s something so simple as a glass of water. (Thank you, Vonnegut.)

And poor Graves wanted, above all, to be worth his glass of water. It may be what every child with a highly suboptimal home life wants. I did plan to go back to that world with a Maharaj girl sent to train Dru in her heritage, but the publisher didn’t want it and finally took the Human Tales instead.

Anyway, enjoy the tune, and when I come back tomorrow I’ll tell you more about that turkey.

COVER REVEAL: Incorruptible

I’ve something special for you guys in lieu of the regular Friday photo post. Feast your eyes upon this, my darlings:

Falling was only the beginning…

Jenna Delacroix is determined to keep her life as simple as possible. Maybe if she tries hard enough to be normal the nightmares and strange occurrences plaguing her all her life will finally recede. But then the monsters arrive—and with them, the man who says he’s her protector.

Lonely and disciplined, Michael Gabon is just a grunt in the Legion’s endless war, but now he’s stumbled across something special—a living, breathing Incorruptible, the first one he’s seen in more decades than he can count. She’s also being hunted. And now, so is he.

On the run without backup, the diaboli haunting their trail, their only hope is working together. Even that might not be enough, because the unclean seem to know more than they should. Whether it’s treachery or bad luck doesn’t matter to Michael. The only thing he cares about is seeing his Incorruptible safe…

…no matter who–or what–he has to kill.

Isn’t it lovely? The cover is from Indigo Chick Designs; I highly recommend all of Skyla’s work and have for years.

I’ve got another treat for you, too–you can read the first six chapters for free, by downloading the sample here. You can also sign up for my newsletter at the same time, but you don’t have to in order to get your fiction fix.

It’s been a super long week and I still have turkey-wrangling to do. Thankfully, the goats have been returned to the care of their regular humans, who were slightly confused at my excitement over my new Capra aegagrus-whistling skills. (That’s okay, the goats and I understand one another just fine.)

But that damn turkey, oof.

I’ll tell you what else happened with Shirley, me, and the turkey next week, my friends. In the meantime, enjoy your free sample, and stay tuned because I’ve so much more coming in the next few months.

Over and out.