Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls

I actually got a Google Alert for Mira Grant that was about, well, me, rather than some random assortment of words that managed to trigger my poor dumb little spider! Damon at BSC posted his thoughts on the 2010 Orbit catalog, including some comments about Feed. Quote, "I think it could make a splash. I normally do not read these types of books, but I am willing to make an exception, I believe, for Mira."

Damon, I am going to do my damnedest not to let you down. And that is a promise from me to you.

Meanwhile, the Warren Public Libraries in Warren, Michigan had some really sweet things to say about Rosemary and Rue, including "It’s a gripping mystery with a lot of urban fantasy thrown in to the mix" and "Fans of any urban fantasy will do well here." There's also a strong recommendation for fans of Jim Butcher's work to give mine a look. From your words to the Great Pumpkin's ears, Warren Public Libraries!

Alice is sopping wet, thanks to my having had a minor bathtub incident, and is now squelching around the house like an animate mop. Attempts to dry her have been met with the cat equivalent of "No, Mom, don't wanna," so I figure I'll let her be wet for a little while longer before I bust out the blow-dryer. It's good when you can satisfy your cats with simple inaction. (Much better than being punched awake at 6:30 AM to provide affection, which was how we started our day. The joy of cats.)

My cheeks have swollen to the point that I really, really look like someone's been beating me, making me super-glad that Chris didn't come to hang out today; I would've been afraid to go out of the house in his company, since I try not to get my friends accused of introducing their fists to my face. If there were a zombie walk today, I would so rule the undead dance floor. As it is, I'm taking lots of painkillers and praying that the swelling goes down before I have to go back to work tomorrow morning. And that's the news from the pumpkin patch. What's new and cool in the world of you?

Current stats:

Words: 5,227.
Total words: 78,264.
Reason for stopping: finished chapter twenty, taking a break before chapter twenty-one.
Music: my Sarah Zellaby mix.
Lilly and Alice: sitting in the bedroom window, raptly watching the kitty cable.

Day by day and word by word, I get closer to the end of the first draft of Discount Armageddon. I'm really excited, and I've hit that point where anything but writing is difficult to maintain for more than fifteen or twenty minutes. I have to take breaks from time to time, but they're just that; breaks between bouts of frantic typing, rather than the things I have to break myself away from. This is awesome. This is especially awesome because I know the way my brain works, and if it's currently this fixated on InCryptid, it's because I'm getting ready for a massive run on another project. Judging by the things that have started creeping around the edges of my mind, I'm going to guess that the "other woman" in this equation is Blackout, the sequel to Feed, which was already on my holiday docket.

This book has been fun and surprising and silly and snappy and a few dozen things I really wasn't expecting when I kicked it off. Better still, it's been the doorway to a brand new series. I need those from time to time. Part of what I love as a writer is the act of creating a world, stepping inside it, and shutting the doors behind me. (This doesn't explain my seeming inability to write completely stand-alone books, but as long as the series keep making sense, I'm not going to whine about it overly much.) I love the things it's forced me to learn in order to write it, and the things I got to just sort of...stumble over. Like some of the freaky things Mother Nature has done in the real world.

25,000 words to go, give or take, and then it's time to make my exit and make my way into other drafts and other disasters. I can barely believe I'm this far along. I can barely believe it's taken me this long.

CHEESE AND CAKE!