Victorian Piffle

http://www.slate.com/id/2267846/

Snowed

We got our first real snow of the winter season! Woo hoo!

Word Up!

In preparation for my latest round of fiction-flinging (that is, trying to get publishers to take my stuff), I did a bit of an audit of my work, and was pleased with the numbers, all the stuff I've written from 2002 to present.

Calculating everything, I've written over 1,000,000 words in that span of time! Woo hoo! There's nearly 700,000 words stretched over 12 novels, and over 313,000 words in 32 short stories -- this doesn't even factor in various fragments and false starts, but actual completed drafts. That makes me very happy. I'm a publisher's dream, if they'd only take note. Even working full-time, with Exene in the mix for nearly all of those years, I was able to be both productive and prolific. Of the books, there are six Fantasy novels, three Young Adult, one Science Fiction, two Horror.

I'm well pleased with my results. I haven't even gotten started, truly. Plenty more stuff to write, things to do, all of that good stuff.

Swan Song

For some reason, I keep waking up around 2:30 a.m. -- I've done so the past few days. No idea why, but it's irksome, as it futzes with my sleep cycle a bit.

I'm thinking I might catch "Black Swan" tomorrow. The notion of a "ballet thriller" seems kind of amusing to me, and while Natalie Portman has never impressed me as an actress, the concept of the movie seems intriguing enough to give it a go. I just might catch it.

Black Swan

But I might also resist that temptation and NOT catch it, too. I mean, Portman, Winona Ryder AND Mila Kunis in one movie? Acting powerhouses like that? *SCOFF*

NYT seemed to like it well enough, a kind of guarded praise. SLATE's Dana Stevens didn't like it, and SALON's Andrew O'Hehir gushed about it. SALON's film reviewers are usually full of shit; they have a film aesthetic that is far from mine. I'll see what Ebert thought of it, and maybe check the READER, too. I may simply hold out for TRON. ; )

(looking up the other reviews)

Here's a fairly useful review...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/03/MVPA1GJG6L.DTL

Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, while viewers gave it 3 stars. Hmm. Maybe I'll wait another week and decide. Or not.

Decembrist

We got our first snow yesterday; nothing major, just blustery and cold, no real accumulation. But the boys were thrilled, and it was fun to see their joy.

I finished the draft of another book, and am now going through it for a speedy review, rewrite, and revision (R3). I'm pretty happy with it. I'd call it a "supernatural thriller" for lack of a better term.

Once that one and its sister are out the door, I'll go to work on finishing a third, one which is nearly done. Same R3 treatment for that one, get that one out there, too. That one is a magic realism kind of book.

After that, I'm not sure what I'll work on, next. I have several prospective book ideas. I might work on some short stories and sling those out while I'm deciding.

The Most Boring Day?

Saw this blurb on NPR's website, was amused by it...

Is April 11, 1954 the most boring day?

That makes me snicker.

Brrrrrrr

I took the boys out to get haircuts this morning. It's frickin' blustery-cold today. Strong winds and chilly temps. They were, as ever, good for their haircuts, and I was pleased to see the ace stylist at the place we usually go to in; she did a great job. I had the boys get lil' Britpop shags, so they're looking very sharp.

We also broke ice on the ground, where we came across it, various petrified puddles. I showed the boys how a good axe kick could break the ice, and they went at it, which amused me -- made me feel like we were doing a pint-sized "Goodfellas" kickathon on the ice. B2 said, after we finished, "Ice versus People!"

Now I have'em back inside and we're toasty, and I put out a lunch tray for them to nosh upon, while watching their favorite show of the moment, "Samurai Jack."

I've been blazing away on fiction -- after all, the cold months are my prime writing times. Love when winter sets in, and this winter stands to be my most productive, ever. Psyched about that.

Thanksgiving went well, although the boys didn't eat much of the menu, as I figured -- they nibbled on the bread and the chicken tenders, ate some carrots. Picky as ever, although I did what I could, and they had a lot of fun.

Again, I love holiday times in the city, when so many people leave. It just makes it nice and peaceful. I love not having to travel on the holidays.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! I have the boys today and tomorrow; I think Exene is running the Turkey Trot 8K today (I'm almost positive she is), which is fine by me, since the boys'll have fun with me as I cook'em a nice lil' meal. The game plan is (this is obviously geared toward the boys)...

Turkey with gravy
Chicken tenders with sweet BBQ sauce
Macaroni and cheese
Mashed potatoes
Steamed broccoli
Tossed salad
Sliced Honeycrisp apples
Crusty bread
Gingerbread cookies
Plum pudding with hard sauce
Apple cider
Calvados (for me -- haha)

I was going to bake some pumpkin muffins, but discovered that the pumpkin I thought I had in the cupboard wasn't there, after all.

I'm setting up shop in the living room, around a little table I'm going to cover with an Indian blanket we have. The boys should enjoy at least some of it, anyway.

Interesting piece on Thanksgiving.

It's all nice and toasty in the apartment, and with the Christmas tree up, it looks extra holiday-homey.

Light-Hearted

Sure, tomorrow's Thanksgiving, but I had to jump the gun a little; the boys were clamoring for Christmas stuff, so I set things up, got the tree up, all of that good stuff. I told them the lights around the window would help Santa navigate. B2 said that Santa would use magic to open our window and get the presents inside. He's got it all figured out.

The city should be quiet the rest of the week; so many people travel, it's actually really nice for folks who stay in town, like me, for example. No travel stress, and the city is peaceful and nice. I love it.

Things that go THUMP in the night

Thumper, the ghost I don't believe in, has been more active of late. The other night, in a cold apartment, I laid down and felt a throw pillow with my foot that was warm to the touch. Odd, because it wasn't anywhere near any heat source, but it was tangibly warmer.

A few nights, the computer switched on. It actually turned on, waking up from sleep mode. That's happened a couple of times, now.

Two nights ago, I went to sit in my favorite chair, and heard a creak of the cushion on the futon, like somebody was sitting down in it.

The other night, I woke with a start and slugged the wall beside the bed. I don't know what made me jolt like that, can't remember the dream context of it, but it hurt like hell, since I really nailed the wall -- and then, while rubbing my sore hand, I saw that the computer was on.

And just last night, in my left ear, I heard a woman's voice whisper "Daddy," right in my ear. Clear as can be. It was extra-weird, because B1 had been asking me questions earlier, saying "Daddy?" and then asking me his question. And then came that whisper in my left ear, even though I knew B1 was to my right, and I said "[B1], did you just say 'Daddy?'" and he said "No, why?" and I said "I thought I heard you."

We'll see what, if anything, Thumper does next.

I put up the Christmas tree tonight. It looks nice.

Two-Step

The Chicago late autumn two-step has commenced -- we had a blast of unseasonable warmth and a pile of rain (and thunderstorms), and then the temperature crashed 40 degrees and now it's blustery and cold, howling winds. Very typical Chicago fare.

I took advantage of the mild weather to bike out to the grocery store, load up on supplies, and get back before the storms rolled in and the temperatures dropped.

As ever, very grateful for steam heat in this building.

Wolfen

I love the look on this wolf's face. Like "Yeah? What?"

Sonday

Man, I woke up around 1:30 a.m., and couldn't go back to sleep for a bit. Just worrying about stuff. I took a shower and went back to bed, and eventually conked out and had odd dreams. One had this group of WWII-era OSS types, kind of like the A Team set to WWII, on these missions. Very "Guns of Navarone" in scope and presentation in my brain. That's "Guns of Navarone," NOT "Force 10 from Navarone," mind you!

I've got the boys today. They were very glad. Exene dropped them off with me a few hours earlier yesterday, said the boys were "clamoring" for me, so I took'em, and we watched episodes of "Samurai Jack" and I read stories to'em. We had a good time.