In Shadows

Thanks to Fran for reminding me to get a move on and update this site!  LOL!  Seems I’m a total slacker these days (which everyone here knows at this point, I think.)

The Sanguire novel is complete.  It went out on April Fool’s Day (no foolin’!) to Daw.  No word yet, but I wasn’t expecting it.  Their website states three months before a response, so I’ll wait until July before moving forward.

Edits to Iditarod are fair-to-middling.  We’ve moved into another apartment, and getting time to write has been difficult.  We’re still skirting around boxes and luggage and whatnot.  Tomorrow afternoon, the overflow goes to a storage unit (thank the gods!)  It’ll be nice to actually see the new floor, doncha know?  In any case, it’s been a little rough attempting to insert back story and alcoholism into characters that were initially trouble-free…  I will get there, though.
Work has been hectic, but what’s new?  The economy sucks, and more people are being hit hard.  It hasn’t helped that I volunteered to be the Safety Committee chair person.  I’ve been taking a lot of OSHA training courses to catch up to current regulations.  It’s been over ten years since I’ve done this job!  LOL!

Reading has taken up the rest of my time, mostly J/7 fanfic online.  Hmmm…  Can’t remember when I last picked up a book.  April?  March?  Ah, well.  I’ve about exhausted the online opportunities, anyway.   Just foolin’ around, I’ve written a first chapter to a J/7 fanfic.  We’ll see how it goes.

And recently?  Two words:  Star Trek!!!  OMGs!  Whether or not you enjoy Trek, you really should see this flick.  Those that are into the series (especially the original) will have a great time!  Anyone who doesn’t care one way or the other will still enjoy themselves with the action packed movie.  Go.  NOW!

I’ll leave you with a snippet from that J/7 fanfic:

Tuvok studied her weary frame. He knew she’d never lie to him - though that didn’t preclude her from lying to herself. Unlike Vulcans, Humans needed to speak of their emotions with others for their continued good health. Voyager’s current circumstances didn’t allow her this opportunity. She held a rigid set of protocols when it came to command, something he had always respected regardless of her occasional brash actions. He suspected it was this inflexibility that caused her to remain aloof from the rest of the crew, and it was this emotional distance that caused her harm.

Of all the individuals aboard, he was the only one close enough to qualify as a friend. They had a long history that, while beginning on a somewhat adversarial note, had deepened into esteem and loyalty. Despite his distaste for the messy necessity of Human emotional discourse, he saw no other option than to elicit such a conversation. Over the past six years, Janeway had become more and more withdrawn. If the ship and crew were to survive their sojourn into the Delta Quadrant, they needed their captain mentally and emotionally sound.

“Kathryn.”

Her eyebrows shot up at his use of her given name. She blinked at him, biting the inside of her lower lip in what he knew as a subtle nervous gesture.

“It is 0326 hours. You are not scheduled for duty until 0800. You are in full uniform, imbibing in what I believe is your second cup of coffee.” A quick, skittish expression crossed her face. “Correction, your third.”

An unrepentant grin teased the corners of her lips. “Busted, am I?”

He drew himself up with a deep breath. “That would be an adequate term.”

Have a great month, folks!  See you on Facebook.

I promised myself that I’d update this blog at least once a month.  I mean, why pay for a website that never gets updated? Waste of money — and with the economy in shambles, I can’t affort to let what I have leak away.

So … Happy February!  LOL!

The first Sanguire book is still in my hot little hands. I’ve been scouring it for recurring words, thereby beefing up the narrative. (At least I hope that’s the end result.) My wife has suggested that I’m procrastinating (true) because I’m afraid to send it out… Well, okay. She knows me pretty well after two decades. There might be a small iota of truth in that belief… Oh, alright, alright! I confess! I have a very wide yellow streak!

To that end, my personal deadline is the end of this month. If it’s not out by March 1st, everybody who reads this has my permission to nag, rag, cajole me, and beat me about the head and shoulders until it is in the mail.

Besides, Iditarod is beginning to burn a hole in my mind. I can’t ofer it to my publisher until it’s rewritten…

Speaking of procrastination, I’ve certainly found a lot of things to assist me in the endeavor! Singe Yule, we’ve acquired a Wii console, the Wii Fit board, and Band in a Box with Guitar Hero. Ah, bliss! We haven’t had a gaming cosole since the kids were little (read ‘fifteen plus years’!) I’ve already burned through Guitar Hero World Tour on the easy setting. The medium level is a pain! Whew. (Please blame this particular distraction on my best friend who hooked me on it last month.)

And then there’s Facebook and, by extension, Mafia Wars. Again, this isn’t entirely my fault. Certain individuals lured me there, and then stooped to addict me to the game. (Linda… Steph… uh huh.) So, that’s been a distraction, too.

Finally, there’s the Obsidian Fleet, a conglomeration of PBEM and SMS Star Trek role-playing simulations. After months of research — reading mission posts, studying ships and personnel, etc. — I’ve joined up. I’m playing a security officer on board a small vessel patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone. I’ve only had access to their forum fo a week, but I think I made an excellent decision. My TrekGeek yearnings have been soothed, and I now have a venue to vet future characters. (The one I’ve created is one I have in mind for a future space smuggler series. By running her against other people in different situations, I can better write her in a book.)

So, that’s my month in a nutshell (no peanuts!) Hope everyone else is a little more motivated than me these days!  LOL!  I’ll try to curb my growing gaming habits.

Take care!

What with the economy crashing, the hundreds and thousands of jobs going by the wayside, and the looming homelessness occurring in our society these days, my best wish for everyone is to maintain…  I hope we all can keep the money rolling enough to pay the necessary bills, to buy the food for ourselves and see to our loved ones, and that families and friends band together to support each other during these difficult times.  I wish everyone the best possible year!
~~~

Snow in Portland, Oregon was actually fun the first day or so.  Haven’t seen a blizzard like that since I was living in Idaho as a child.  I’m glad I was home for the worst of the snow days.

Our Yule celebration began on Mother’s Night.  My wife and I lit our Yule candle at sunset (though you couldn’t tell it from the dark outside!)  We swapped our gifts that night, and had a quiet evening together.  I found a box of cards at Powell’s earlier in the month, and we went through them for a couple of hours.  It’s amazing how many surprises we had for each other after twenty years together.  (The number of questions we answered for each other wasn’t surprising.  LOL!)

I stayed up the entire night on vigil, mostly reading.  I’ve found a new post-apocalyptic series my S.M. Stirling that takes place in Oregon.  The Emberverse series.  Very cool.  I highly recommend them.   When not reading, I downloaded music from iTunes with my gift cards.  WOOT!
The next day — with the worst of the snow coming down — was the feast.  Oddly enough, we had quite a few show up, despite the weather.  We thought we’d only have those invited within the apartment complex, but one showed up from several blocks away, and another couple drove in the white stuff to get there.  We watched lots of movies, visited with friends, and everyone left stuffed to the gills.
~~~
The next two weeks in my neck of the woods were chaotic at best.  When not snowed in at home, I was snowed in at work.  (Thank the gods I work in the hotel industry!) All I could do at work was wish I was home, and at home stare out the window wishing I could leave the house and do something.
As a result, I’m about two weeks behind on my edits.  I’m still working on repeated words — the current one I’m working on is ‘was’.  Ugh!  It’s only used 868 times according to Concorder!  I’m only on page sixteen of the Sanguire manuscript, and have pared the couple dozen down to three…  Only three hundred pages to go!

Speaking of which, I should get back to work…

My current task this week when not editing for repeat words and phrases.  I’ve had a little help with it, namely an ebook called Create a Culture Clinic by Holly Lisle.  I’m only a quarter of the way through the questions, but it’s helped me firm up my ideas of the Sanguire lifestyle.  It’s also helped me go in different directions for the next sequel!  WOOT!

The book gives concrete organizational suggestions, and guides you through the necessary questions to be answered.  The longest section so far has been the life cycle section.  I’m nearly through the community questions.  Next up are the religion and government questions.

Yes.  Religion.  I don’t know that there’ll be much, but considering where the European Sanguire came from historically, there should be some sort of religious system in place.  (And I’m not talking the priest, Castillo.)

I also picked up a few other ebooks while I was there:  both the Create a Plot and Create a Language Clinics by Holly Lisle, and The Way of the Cheetah by Lynn Viehl.  I highly recommend that last!  Viehl writes five to nine books a year, and publishes them all.  When it comes to the necessary mindset for both quality and quantity of the written product, this lady has it down.

The ebooks are $9.95 each, and are downloadable in zip format or not, depending on your internet connection.  I’ve already found two of them well worth the money.

~~~

I’ve also been going through Meditations on Violence by Sgt. Rory Miller.  Another good purchase!  He spoke at Orycon last month (the Oregon state SF/F convention,) and I was really impressed.  He does an excellent job explaining true violence — the way the mind changes when put in a violent situation, the processes by which men and women go through the adrenalin surge, and the aftermath of a violent altercation.  Quite educational for a couch potato like me.

I can count on one hand the number of fights I’ve witnessed or been involved in.  He explains what happens, step by step, in a volatile situaiton so that writers can portray violence in their fiction more realistically.

~~~

Not a lot else going on.  I have to dig out the Yule decorations this week.  Mother’s Night is Saturday, and Sunday is the Yule feast.  Don’t know how many guests will show — it’s been snowing here today, may snow a day or two more, and a huge snowstorm may arrive on Sunday.  That might put a damper on things as far as guests go.  We’ll see what happens.

It’s been far too long since I’ve been here, but the absence was necessary.

To be honest, I hated to post another ‘haven’t-written-a-damned-thing-yet’ entry, so decided not to post anything at all.  It’s one thing to say you’re confident the writer’s block will move on.  I found it’s quite another to be it.  The more I said that I wasn’t concerned with the lack of motivation, the more worried I became.  What a vicious cycle!

I’m happy to report that in May of this year, I began the final rewrites of the first Sanguire novel.  They are now complete.  I finished the last of the major editing today, and plan to go through a concordance of the 90k words tomorrow in search of oft repeated phrases.

I nearly chickened out of my original intent to submit it to a major market.  Thanks to KG McGregor, Steph Solomon-Lopez, Medora MacDougal, and a host of others, my waning self-assurance was bolstered…  On the first business day of the new year, this manuscript goes off to Tor.

In the meantime, my next major project is to begin the Iditarod rewrites.  I don’t want to jinx myself by reporting my progress.  I’ve had far too many false starts over the years.  Not giving progress reports somehow kept me on track, and I’ll do the same here.  I will attempt to be a bit more communicative, however.  (Don’t quote me on that!)

Until next time!

After… two months of not posting… (blows the dust off the screen.)

On Azrael’s Wings is available for purchase. You can get it from a number of places.

The book has about fourteen new chapters, so those of you willing to buy a copy will have a bunch new material to read. Enjoy!

To the few of you who have emailed me in the last month, my apologies.  I’ve been somewhat busy here, and kept them safe in order to respond.  But my email program hiccuped yesterday and now they’re all gone!

Please, if you see this, drop me another email!

I’ve been fighting with a 60 gig hard drive upgrade for my iPod. (It’s won.) The first one was defective, the second one refuses to go into drive mode. Don’t fix what ain’t broke. It would have been nice to have the extra twenty gigs on my 40 gig 5th generation, but apparently it ain’t gonna happen.

Heard from my tech editor. She should be getting in touch with me for On Azrael’s Wings soon. That’ll be the last of the edits, unless my publisher springs something on me at the last minute. Last I heard, it’ll be out in November.

The wife started school last Monday. It was a blissful day off for me - six hours of silence and solitude. Cats weren’t too happy, because I cleaned the hel out of the apartment, vacuuming included.

Lifestyle changes are still going well. New weight total is 14 down and counting. Yay! I’m thinking I deserve a banana split when I make it to 20…

Got to see most the season premieres I wanted: Heroes, Bionic Woman, Journeyman, Stargate Atlantis, and Chuck. Hadn’t planned on seeing Chuck, but a fellah at work said it was pretty good so I gave it a shot. I don’t normally watch Stargate Atlantis, either, but Amanda Tapping (Sam Carter) is transferring to that show after Stargate SG-1 finished last season. (What can I say? I don’t crush on blondes often, but I really like Carter!)

I’ve worked my way through the last two chapters of Orphan Maker. POV remains the same but I’ve corrected my original error. Loomis has spent years bein adviser, silently bringing about what she thinks needs doing for her people. My mistake was portraying her with sudden confidence and capability at the town meeting. Hence, I stalled out on what came next.

This time I’ve brought in other townies that she’s manipulated into putting her ideas forth at the big monthly meeting. She still steps up to the plate where necessary to clarify or direct, but she’s not the center of attention the entire time. The mayor is perfectly aware that these ideas are hers and not the people speaking them or carrying the motions. But for a woman who was brutally attacked and raped five years ago, I can’t imagine she’d enjoy the limelight.

The next chapter of Iditarod is going well enough. Like I mentioned in my last post, writing at work is non-existent unless I can get that first hour of scribbling in… and that’s when the boss is floating in and out of the office. Oh, well. Saturdays and Sundays are pretty good.

Next week I’ve an appointment with my doctor. She told me to come in ‘in a month or two to discuss treatment’ about my cholesterol levels. Since then I’ve lost eleven pounds (hopefully twelve by tonight!) and changed my diet considerably. Here’s hoping there won’t be another pill added to my already growing list of daily medications.

1) If my supervisor is working day shift, I can guarantee I won’t get any writing done during the afternoon. Not because she’d stop me, but the office is a disaster with her ongoing projects. I have to clear my work space, then get out of it so she can finish her security log, and then she’s in and out of the office for another hour or so.

2) I can’t focus on a handwritten story if I use purple ink. Dunno why. I think writing in all red ink would have the same affect. I can’t get into the scene that way. Weird, huh?

Orphan Maker - I’ve uploaded all of it to Basecamp. Rereading it has given me some ideas to work on. I’ve removed a chapter from the line up to be placed elsewhere, just not certain where, yet. Since the novel is beginning to go someplace I hadn’t planned, it’s going to run a bit longer, and that particular chapter is all flashback. It can be put anywhere, so long as it remains in sequence with the other flashback scenes.

Iditarod - Still working on the next scene. I’m going to try to get it typed in the next hour before I head off to work. (No supervisor today, so perhaps I’ll get the scene finished today.)

Last night I got a paragraph in on Ulina Mokupuni, the collaboration. I also wrote about two hundred fifty words on a new scene for Iditarod, showing the conversation between Lainey Hughes and Scotch Fuller’s dad as she makes initial contact about the article she’s writing.

So far today I’ve transferred notes and twelve chapters of Orphan Maker to my Basecamp project. I really had a hankering to work on it last night, but couldn’t since I hadn’t finished moving the data. (Still haven’t, but maybe by tomorrow.)

It’s anybody’s guess what I’ll do during my lunch break tonight.

I’ve been cautious the last couple of weeks, but I think I can say I’m on my way back from my mental vacation. At least my muse has made herself available for a change. I’m beginning to feel the excitement of crafting or editing a storyline now. Thank gods!

A friend and I planned to write a story this summer while she was out of college. I did some research on collaboration software, something that we could both access online from wherever we were. I found Basecamp, which gives you one free project. Our brainstorming was decent, and I upgraded to the Personal account within the day. Our story is set in the cyberpunk genre, and fits very neatly between the old CyberEpic and the stalled, upcoming Kou Itten I’d been working on.

Last week, I upgraded another level to the Basic account. Part of my problem has been all these ideas and current WIPs stewing around in my head. I’m having trouble focusing on any one thing these days. By putting all my current projects into Basecamp, they’re all readily available whether I’m home, at work, or at a coffee shop on the laptop. No more arriving at a destination, only to discover that the one story I really have a hankering to work on is on the wrong computer.

To that end, it seems to be working. Here’s a list of things I’ve accomplished the last couple of weeks. It’s not much compared to what I’ve done in the past, but it’s a hundred percent better than what I’ve been doing the last year or so…

1) Lichii Ba’Cho (CyberEpic rewrite, Apache for ‘Red Wolves’) - starting a new scene in chapter 2, making the whole thing grittier, fleshing it out more, getting rid of the info dumps in the original online version.

2) Ulina Mokupuni (cyberpunk collaboration) - wading through the first scene of chapter two so my partner can get to work on her scene. She’s back in school now, so don’t know how long it’ll take to get through that.

3) Sanguire (yes… the full on rewrite from scratch) - I’m beginning chapter three, scene one. Expanding scenes, focusing on Whiskey and the next week or so of her life. It’s going to be entirely from her POV, and she’ll be looking for the love of her life rather than the other way around.

4) Iditarod (rewrite and expansion) - my publisher is interested in this novel even if i double the size of it. Just finished writing chapter two, and will begin chapter three soon.

5) Slow Movin’ (short stories) - got two of them halfway completed. Both are on Basecamp so I can go in whenever the mood strikes.

I’ve started projects for both Orphan Maker and the third cyberpunk story, Kou Itten, but haven’t worked on either of them.

Here’s hoping I’m truly back! Thanks to everyone for being so patient with my absence!

It’s been awhile. Over two months since I’ve posted last. In deference to emails I’ve received from folks, I figured it’s about time I posted something here. I’m not wanting sympathy or anything — I’m a pretty happy camper these days, despite the lack of communication to you, faithful reader. So I’m not fishing for compliments or support. Just want you to know what’s going on with the long absence.

My motivation has withered on the vine, and I’m having trouble getting off my fat duff to do much of anything but work and sleep these days. I’ve been reminded by several folks that it’s been some time since I’ve posted any.  Many thanks to those who’ve asked after me (and apologies to everyone who reads this blog.) I live and am truly better than I’ve been in a good while.

For those not wanting to be bored to tears, you can move on. This post will be a loooooooooong one.

On Writing:

This is one of the major reasons for my absence online. Can’t very well update a writing blog if I ain’t writing, can I? It’d just be post after post saying, “Didn’t do anything today.”

I can’t seem to focus on anything. As noted before, I changed jobs at work to something less physically demanding. I’d hoped that’d give me the oomph to get something done. Didn’t happen. I wonder if part of the problem is that I’ve gotten out of the habit of writing. Nothing inspires, nothing motivates, no project jumps out to grab my attention. My previous job had lots of stress piled upon my shoulders. Now that it’s gone, I don’t have the gumption to do much of anything (let alone writing.)

I’m spending a lot of free time watching DVDs of TV shows and movies I’ve missed. I’ve worked through Lost, Carnivale, Battlestar Galactica, Heroes, Kyle XY, and am now going through Rome. I’m also reading a lot these days, both old favorites and new fiction and non-fiction. Updating my ‘Now Reading’ section will take a day or more, I’d bet.

I wonder if a lot of my issue is jet lag from the supervisor job I left. I’ve spent seven years eating, drinking, and sleeping work. Now that I’m not constantly dealing with work issues, my brain’s taking a much needed time out. I know from experience that it’ll swing back into action when it’s had enough lazing about.

Just wish it wouldn’t last so long.

Iditarod edits are on hold because I can’t get my poop in a group. Two new Slow Movin’ shorts are about a quarter completed. I AM forcing myself to slog through Azrael edits — that’s contracted work and I’m on a deadline.

On Hearing

Yet another reason for the lack of motivation, this is by far an excellent one!

My second surgery was on May 2nd. It was a success. One complication with a hole in my eardrum that no one noticed until they got in there. It’s been patched up and most the exterior healing is complete. I’ve been told it takes up to a year to fully heal from the surgery, which just means my balance issues aren’t all that unheard of.

I can hear in stereo! WOOT! There’s still some stubborn packing in the canal that I can’t get out. I’m due at the doctor’s office in August. If it ain’t out by then, they’ll remove it themselves.

My last hearing test (on the previously operated ear) showed my scores had gone up from profoundly deaf to mildly deaf. I’m seriously thinking this second surgery will show the same. Even with the packing, I hear well enough to locate people speaking behind me.

It’s been odd as I’ve relearned how to hear a second time. If I’m sitting with my left side facing a sound (the first surgery,) I have no problem identifying a sound. If I hear the same with the right, I can’t place it. Weird, but fascinating.

I’ve been listening to my music again. Anyone who has an iPod knows what the volume bar looks like on the screen. Before surgery, my volume was up to less than a quarter inch from the maximum. Now it’s the exact opposite. Whew.

Music I picked up fifteen years ago sounds so much clearer than I remember it being. Those ten years ago have more depth than I can recall. Anything I’ve picked up in the last five years is amazing! It’s like hearing them brand new all over again. I’m hearing nuances of instrument and voice that I’ve never heard before.

When I write, I plug into the iPod. I’ve got specific playlists for the stories I work on. But the music is distracting now. Rather than coast along and let the words flow, I’m constantly drawn to the tune as I hear things I didn’t know were there.

Hence another (joyful!) reason for the lack of writing motivation.

On Health

Coming off a cool, wet winter, so the joints ache a bit. Nothing big, just draining. I’d hate to think what it’d be like if I truly lived in Alaska like Scotch Fuller in Iditarod.

The arthritis is ever present, but doesn’t seem to be getting worse. Methatrexate seems to be doing the trick fairly well. I’ve had to start using Prilosec for the damage done to my stomach from ibuprofen. It was to be expected, really, and these days I don’t suffer from a constant low-grade heartburn.

Just had a full physical and all is well with one exception — cholesterol. * sigh * So I’ve just begun a pseudo Jenny Craig diet. Lots of veggies, less fat, using some information I’ve received from an acquaintance at work. My metabolism has increased, that’s for sure, but it’s still too early to see weight loss. And since my current job is far less physical than my last, I’ve taken to using the health club at work to get the exercise I need for both the weight loss and the rheumatoid arthritis. The goal is to lose forty pounds, and keep it off. Wish me luck.

On Work

As I said, it’s been fantastic! I’m no longer running a department or overseeing every meeting and banquet function the hotel brings in. What a relief! I’m sure my physical exam would have shown high blood pressure if I was still in that job!

Instead I’m in security. I’ve been in the department before. I worked with three of the four other officers eight years ago, so the transition was an easy one. I just had to retrain myself on standard procedures for emergencies, paperwork and the like.

It’s been interesting going from the constant ‘on-the-go’ mindset of Catering to the laid back Loss Prevention department. I keep looking for things I’m supposed to be doing, but there’s nothing there. I observe, I report, and I make myself available for emergencies. That’s about it.

So my mind wanders a lot. Previously, I’d spend the time thinking about whatever story I was writing, working out dialogue, character motivations, and plot points. Then I’d have at least a half hour to write. I’d hoped to do the same this time around, but most my time is spent in unproductive daydreams. Again, I think it’s a reaction to the last eight years of hel. As I work my way through the various meanderings of my mind, becoming bored with each one, I’ll eventually get back to where I used to be. Then the energy will be spent more productively.

On Artwork

Prior to writing, I was an airbrush artist. Those who’ve read the bio on this site know the story, but I’ll repeat it here.

We’d moved to a teeny loft apartment in 1998. There was, regrettably, no room for a studio. It was all packed away. Unable to create anything, I got hooked on the internet and Xena fanfic. When I’d read all I could, I began writing it. I have an overpowering need to create, and this filled the void in my life.

By the time we’d moved into a place big enough for a studio, I’d been diverted to writing instead of painting. I couldn’t focus on both, and my books were being published. So I decided to stay on the writing schtick for awhile to see what would come of it.

Then I began suffering from the rheumatoid arthritis. Eventually, I sold my compressor, airbrush and table. I knew there was no way my hands would ever allow me to paint again. It took too damned long (about two weeks) to complete a painting, and I couldn’t hold an airbrush with the proper tension on the controls for the time it would take.

But now I have a Wacom tablet, and digital art software. It takes less time to put out a piece, less physical effort. I can use both a mouse and a pen, so I can swap back and forth to ease the ache in my hands. I still have to learn the programs, though. That’s taking awhile. Photoshop is a very extensive program to figure out! Plus I have Bryce 5.5 for 3D backgrounds and ArtRage2 for drawing…

When I was doing art full time, I put out about $900 to buy the gear needed, and ended my first year a mere hundred bucks in the red. Then we moved, and it all went south.

Don’t worry, though. My motivation there is just as lacking as it is for the writing. LOL! The focus remains just as blurry.

On Winding Up

So, that’s where I’m at right now. Limbo. Nothing to be done for it but ride it through. Orycon occurs in November, and I’m hoping it’ll fire me up some, if I haven’t worked through this miasma between now and then.

I’ll try to keep up the blog entries more often. Hel, I’m not even reading that many blogs these days, so I’m completely out of touch with everyone. I have to get my head out of the clouds someday, right?

Take care. Thanks for the emails and comments. Feel free to comment here!

After discussing the sheer size of the Iditarod novel with my publisher, I’ve decided to go ahead and begin edits of the manuscript for submission.  I expect to add an additional hundred to hundred and fifty pages to the monster as I beef up the romance.  I also plan on giving the main characters more angst, more issues.  Lainey will be an active alcoholic rather than a recovering one.  Scotch will have her own deep, dark secret that she’ll have to get through.  Eventually, the race will teach them both to trust each other and their hearts.

I’ve also got a new iMac.  What a beauty!  I’ve been playing around with drawing on Artrage 2 and a Wacom tablet.  The idea of getting back into artwork is a good one…  I was an artist long before I was a writer, and am much more comfortable with airbrush and pencil than novels.  It’ll be a learning curve as I get used to drawing on the computer versus the visceral feel of paper and pencils.

Work is going well.  I’ve been able to focus more on the storylines, the ideas, the bits and pieces of artwork that spark in my mind.  It’s such a relief from the constant stress and worry from my previous position.  I still miss the guys, but I’m glad to be out of there.  I’m a lot happier.  To combat the RA, I spend three days a week at the hotel health club after my shift.  I’ve noticed some toning of my arms and thighs… maybe I’ll get rid of my pot belly, yet!

Surgery for my right ear has been scheduled in early May.  I’ve got an endoscopy next month to check the damage from five years of popping ibuprofen tablets, too.  My doctor put me on Prisolec, and OH MY GAWDS I feel so much better!  WOOT!

Hope everyone else is doing well.  (Especially you, Zero!)

23 February 2007: We are pleased to announce that D. Jordan Redhawk has signed her story, On Azrael’s Wings, to be published in Fall 2007.