Winterland

It snowed again last night; not a lot, but a pleasant dusting that left the city looking all winter-sweet.

I'm about one-third done with the editing/revision of one of the fantasy novels. I should have this "finalized" by week's end, and on from there. With that one done, I'm likely to do another fantasy novel, same finalizing treatment for it, and then on to one of the "Contemporary" ones.

Scenes from the day...

New Volvo sedan, parked in the 'hood. Owner appeared to be sleeping in it/living in it (all their stuff in the back, cardboard screens up on the windows).

Very bright sun dogs today, dazzling.

Mending

Getting better; the cold was pretty mild. The past few years, the colds that have struck me have been pretty weak, fortunately. I am not complaining, since before then, the strain of cold virus had been pretty robust.

It's been frickin' cold over here, but it's winter, so I don't dwell on it much. Good writing weather, as I call it.

I love this monologue by Keith Olbermann -- gotta love pissed-off liberals. Our country needs far more of them...

No Peace Through Appeasement

I bought the boys' Christmas presents -- now the challenge will be sneaking them into the apartment -- B2 in particular is eagle-eyed, always on the lookout for things. I am a holiday ninja, with a great track record of non-discovery of presents, but I'll have to bring my A-game with B2 out and about. B1 is usually more concerned about computer games than incoming packages. My hiding place is in the master closet, which is cavernous. There's an area to the side of it where I can secret presents, and it's perfectly screened by clothes. Muahaha!

On the writing front, I keep working on final revisions of books that are nearly ready to go. I want as many of them finalized as possible, to get'em out the door to publishers, just to play the odds. For me, it's purely about word counts -- those with the highest word count are getting consideration first, and I'm working my way down from there.

So, that means tackling a pair of Fantasy novels, then a Young Adult/New Adult novel. After that, another Horror novel (that'll bring my total to three Horror novels, although two of them could perhaps be marketed as Supernatural Thrillers -- that's something I wrestle with a lot, like the genre marketing of such things). After that, not sure what I'll do, next. I'll let you know when I get there.

*KOFF KOFF KOFF*

Finally got a cold. I was wondering if I'd be able to make it through the winter season without one, but no dice. Nothing too major, fortunately, but it's still irritating, and is lounging in my lungs, wearing me out. I just need some rest.

Had odd dreams last night; one had me walking in at some employer and talking up my good points with an employee there, a kind of ad hoc interview. I'm sure that's just some part of my brain trying to deal with the logistics of this bad economy.

It's supposed to be supercold in the city today. The high is only going to be 23 degrees. Brrr. I lost one of my superwarm polartec gloves. Not sure where the stinker went. Hate that.

I have to craft a new query letter for the next book that's ready to go out the door this month. Query letters are the worst; everything hinges on those handful of words. So much depends on so little.

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.