Untitled

I was trying to think up a snappy title for this and I thought about doing the riff on Wizard of Oz, but I thought that might be too trite, so I remembered a tee-shirt I saw a couple of days ago. "Kansas. Keeping America Safe from Missouri since 1854." But then I remembered that I hadn't been in Kansas. So those were out. Then I decided I didn't want to think about it anymore and so it's untitled. See, the Mundane Black Hole released me just a little while ago so I'm still a bit...well, let's just say this is not a good time for higher brainwork.

So I've been released. If only for a while. Now that I'm back in my universe of werewolves, vampires, witches and aliens, I feel much more comfortable. And with the day job on simmer over the next month, maybe I can get some writing done. And querying. And whatever other chores first-time authors have to do.

Okay, well I just tried to think of something witty to say about TAW in closing but I can't think of anything.

Champagne and Chocolate

The RWA Annual Conference was FAB! Registration was expensive as all get out--pretty much blew my con budget for the rest of the year--but Mother, was it worth it! I made scads of new friends. Okay, three...but for me that counts as scads. Linda Howard, Janet Evanovich, Nora Roberts and a bunch of other stars were there. All are very down-to-earth and boy, are they bust-a-gut funny! I'm happy to say that Janet and I share the same favorite word. It has four letters and rhymes with "suck."

Last night was awards night and it was awesome. Golden Hearts and RITAs. And afterwards, attendees were served--you got it--champagne and chocolate.

Guess I forgot to mention that I demanded the Mundane Black Hole to spit me out starting last Wednesday (July 15th) so I could go to the conference. In return, the Hole extracted my promise that I "check-in" twice a day via email. I didn't, though. Hey, I couldn't help it if I couldn't get into the Hole's secure email server, right? But I will pay dearly for my lapse. Starting tomorrow.

Triumph Of The Black Hole

The day job has sucked me inside the dreaded Black Hole of the Mundane. I've fought like hell to get out long enough to get this message to you. But my freedom is short-lived. The Hole will swallow me as soon as I finish this message, no matter how hard I battle against it.

I'll be back at the end of July. I will. Trust me.

Until then, may the Force-----

Michael Jackson and The Alien Within

I've a personal anecdote concerning Michael Jackson. Years ago, my grandmother took us granddaughters on a cultural tour of the Far East. Okay, it was really an extended shopping trip, but we did do some cultural stuff. Anyway, we went to China on a day trip, and one of the stops was to see a "typical" Chinese village and then tour a "typical" Chinese home. So we were taken to this woman's house, and once we reached the parlor, we noticed a framed photograph of our hostess and Michael Jackson. Needless to say, we made some noise about it. When our hostess saw our interest, through our interpreter she asked whether we knew him. Well, of course not, but then we told her who he is, and so on. At one point, she interrupted and the interpreter told us she wanted to know why we kept referring to Michael as "her". Well, we said, it's because he's a man, not a woman. Our hostess shook her head. We nodded. She shook her head. We kept nodding. When she finally decided we were telling the truth, her eyes grew absolutely huge. She kept looking from the photo and then to us, and back to the photo. She looked at the picture one more time, then turned and with a wink, grinned at us as if we'd just let her in on a great big secret.

I'd have loved to have told Michael this story. I wish I had.

So--what does MJJ have to do with TAW? Well, when I was writing it, I wrote it with a soundtrack in mind, in case it was turned into a movie. When I finished it, I checked the songs I'd included and most of them were Michael's. I saw that, and decided that when TAW is made into a movie, I will give especial credit to Michael for writing the soundtrack.

One more thing...did I ever tell you that I'm going to make TAW into a movie?

Stay tuned.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Been watching a lot of Monty Python on Netflix lately. I'm happy to report they are just as hilarious to me now as they were when I was introduced to them forty years ago. MP was always on late at night, so I'd sneak downstairs after mom put me to bed and watch it with my dad (the same guy who introduced me to Dr. Who). Sometimes he even let me stay up on school nights. We never told mom.

Now that you know our secret, I'll have to kill you.

So a few weeks ago I did something I've never done before--entered a photograph in a competition. Mind you, I'm no photographer. In fact, I suck at it. But every so often, I'll take a shot that comes out so perfect I think I couldn't have been the one who took it.

Here's the shot. I call it "Holiday Blues."

The Power Of...

You fill in the blank. And please, no Huey Lewis and the News, okay?

At the moment I'm thinking of the power of my pocketbook. I'm finally convinced I have to bite the bullet and get a new analyst. My computer, that is. I won't go into the story of how it happened, but Dr. Compaq and I have been together for a long time. I like my machine. But ever since that damned virus...well, I need a new machine and my pocketbook is telling me it'll have to wait. But Dr. Compaq has developed a habit of crashing right when I'm in the mid

Just kidding. This time, anyway.

So...what is power, really? Is it just the fact you can smash someone to bits if you feel like it and everybody knows it? Or is it something a bit more subtle? I think the essence of power lies not so much in what you can do as it does in what the other fellow thinks you can do. Take the IRS. Today, the chances of an individual being audited are pretty slim (though that might change in the future). But what is it that keeps you honest when calculating the tax you owe, or the refund due? (No snickering, please). We all know the hell the Service puts people through when they're audited. I'm going to assume that most of us are honest when it comes to declaring income and deductions (no snickering, please) but do we do it because it's the right thing to do, or because there's that one chance, however small, that we might end up in IRS Audit Hell? More than that, IRS audit manuals aren't exactly on the bestseller's tables in your local bookstore. That's assuming they're available to the public at all. Anyway, are you honest because you don't know the criteria an examiner uses in flagging a return for a closer look? For all you know, they might choose returns by sacrificing goats. So is it the fear of what the Service could do if it decides to check your return that keeps you honest, rather than the fear of that it will?

That's the question I'm trying to answer with respect to Kurt. No, not his taxes--he's got enough lawyers at his disposal to keep the IRS at bay for eternity (unlike most of us). But the tryst did something to him. His vampire regent's abilities have been lessened--not gone, but lessened (I'm still figuring out how much). And the tryst itself--all concur that it didn't work very well on the city's humans. But it worked well enough so that zots have a bit more confidence in remaining alive if they're discovered. So Kurt's in danger of losing his iron grip over Seattle's zots, unless he can show them he's just as badass as he was before. And if he isn't...

Can the power of prestige keep Kurt on top? Even though he no longer has the vampire regent's powers he exhibited in TAW? Like the IRS, Kurt is hated and feared by other zots based on their collective past experiences. Will the past be enough to sustain Kurt's hold over the city's zots?

I'll let you know. But meanwhile, what are your thoughts about power--what it is, what it isn't?

Continuing Education

Still working my way through the software tutorial for building a website. It's not that hard, especially since it doesn't involve learning html. For me, it's really more a matter of getting used to it--I mean, building websites is not something I do every day. Or any day.

Eventually, what I'd like to do is put up an animated banner with Melera's eyes staring at you from the screen. Say, a three-quarter shot spanning just below the bridge of her nose to her hairline. Slit-pupiled, golden eyes that seem to spin and sparkle like twin disco balls. And every so often, she'll blink.

I described Melera's eyes to one sf/f/h fan and her first reaction was "creepy!" After I thought about it, I realized she was right. To some people, Melera would seem creepy. It's that reptilian aura she carries. Makes sense, considering her people are descended from giant lizards.