Today was good, although not as productive as I wanted it to be. Managed to sort out a few issues with my system and get everything (I hope) ready for a tutorial tomorrow. Once again have something like a full day's overtime... I really don't know how this keeps happening. Perhaps I should just work longer hours and take long weekends. It seems to be my default state.

More excitingly, Sarah Monette has another Booth story out and free for the reading! You can read White Charles here, and you damn well better, because Kyle Murchison Booth is one of the most endearing characters I've ever come across. ♥ Also, the politics of the museum are hilariously catty.

Had a bloody dream about kittens last night, and this is not fair when I cannot have a cat, brain, do you hear.

Oh, fuck. A few minutes ago, I tweeted the following about Kushiel's Mercy:
I may have slogged miserably through the last 400p of this book, but I do very much enjoy it when Imriel imitates Gallus Tadius. ♥

And then I put it down and picked up Corambis because I wanted to reread the bit about Mildmay having been there for the walk into the city, and nearly fucking burst into tears of relief at the beautiful, wonderful, gorgeous fucking prose and characters I love and--

This is why I can't have nice things. ♥

Extras for Corambis! The first one you may've read; the second and third you will not have, and dear lord, I am happy with the third for no other reason than it's Murtagh, you guys - MURTAGH. ♥

Also, "No, sir." :'DDDD

Got my new laptop at work today, and utterly failed to finish that erratum I was trying to finish. Sigh. I didn't do badly, though, given that my skull was an impenetrable fog for most of the afternoon. And the laptop is called Havelock. :D

ksdfaksldfjaslkdjfklasdjflsjkdsTINA HAS DESTROYED ME IN MY MIND. T_______T

I just woke up from a nightmare in which I couldn't remember any of my passwords. ANY of them. I HAVE A LOT OF PASSWORDS. sajdfhsjd. *breathes*

[EDIT] Before I dash:
1) Sarah Monette is going to be posting sections that had to be cut from Corambis for space!
2) I WAS RIGHT ABOUT MURTAGH, PART TWO: HAH. I KNEW IT.
3) I can believe in the sincerity of Hell, but not in the sincerity of the Bush administration. I'm not sure how worried to be about this.
4) Bohemian Rhapsody played on old computer bits and pieces.

I love waking up every morning and knowing there will be a new Q&A up for me to read at Sarah Monette's LJ.

I do not love spending the rest of the day thwarted in my desire to read. XD;

( Spoilers about stuff in Corambis, and post-Corambis, straight from the author's mouth, that made me SQUEAL LIKE AN IDIOT. )

We're taking the kids rock-climbing today, so I probably won't be around for most of it. The good news is that they extended the deadline on SSBB to Monday, so I might actually be able to write something for it if my hands hold out. :D

...and if I can stop myself from rereading Corambis at the speed of light to prepare for writing something about the above spoiler! *glee*

SPOILERS FOR CORAMBIS.

Sad truth? The answer to this first question at the Monette Q&A made me cry this morning.

This article, found by Tina, is really very interesting. Not least for the wry humour displayed by either police or the writer in the last paragraph. |D; I feel compelled to keep an eye on this.

---

In other news, guys, I may not have been strenuous enough in pointing out how much you need to read Sarah Monette's work. I am going to link you to things now, and I demand that you give at least one of them a try. Okay?

For a start, she has a LiveJournal. Which is a good place to go just to read her thoughts on writing. Also, there are online short stories listed in her sidebar, some of which I will demand that you read below.

It is really difficult not to just link you to all of them, by the way.

Meta makes me glad I'm not always totally awful to my characters. (Shut up, Xolotl.)

A Light in Troy is one of those beautiful snippet-verses that make me long for the rest of the story and yet know that the lack of detail there is kind of the point - what makes this short so complete.

A Night in Electric Squidland makes me want more stories in this 'verse for a different reason - like the Booth stories, there's a lot more you could do in a world like this, and I sincerely hope she does.

Sundered is a beautiful piece on understanding, where once again I want more of the world but am satisfied because this story feels real.

Under the Beansidhe's Pillow made Chaz come out into the middle of my head and sit and wait while I read it and gained knowledge and understanding from it.

Wait for Me is one of the Booth stories, part of the short story novella called The Bone Key, which I love as a collection possibly more than I love The Doctrine of Labyrinths. This is the sort of thing I hope for in Squidland!verse.

The Watcher in the Corners is a brilliant standalone. I really, really liked this.

Absent from Felicity is a Hamlet fic. It goes by the tagline, Fortinbras is not Hamlet, and does, I think, what good fanfiction ought. I am very fond.

She also writes for Shadow Unit, which I've not yet read, but I plan to.

There's a full list of her writings at her website, but these are the easily accessible ones, the free ones, that I need you to look at before you discount me as a rambling loon. Just one, guys, one or two.

---

Big talks were had today. Mum would like to get me counselling for my social anxiety. I am not wholly against this, but I don't exactly feel anything positive toward it, either.

Now I'm going to go draw things so I fulfil my obligations toward stepstepjump and don't miss out on kuchibue's sculptures of my characters. Even though, having made a sand!Sanga on the weekend, I am remembering how much I actually like working things with my hands. XD;;; Fail, Rave. Fail.

So apparently when I said to myself, I'll just lie down for a couple of hours, the light will wake me around nine-thirty anyway, uhhh, 'a couple' translated to 'six'. I still woke up a lot, but my body wasn't having none of that getting-up crap. XD

The Elbow concert really was amazing. They played everything I could have asked them to play, except maybe 'Coming Second', and god, the power of their music with full backing when I was about six feet from the band and three feet from their amplifiers? AWESOME.

My non-spoilery thoughts on Corambis are that it was beautifully emotionally charged, a good round-off for the series, and I feel just... achingly, weepingly happy about where the series ended up, but this book didn't actually feel as if its plot was that imperative. Which is not to say that I was not stressed for large portions of the book. XD I was swearing and pacing the footpath outside the Tivoli last night because I met kessira just after I hit a REALLY BAD PATCH and kept thinking things to death and swearing back and forth over things I couldn't quite remember. And I still think I need to read it about five more times, although possibly not straight away, because I will do my book-spiral thing and that is bad. Um. I had a point. ...oh, yes: that if the plot had been at its usual level of imperative for a larger portion of the book, I probably would have started actually pulling at my hair and gnawing at my fingers.

Which I have been known to do, but is not necessarily healthy. >>; The level of distraught Fool's Fate put me at is not a good one to maintain.

Spoiler-post to come. Possibly after I've read it again. Because, honestly, this is going to take me some mulling-over. But Felix has a quote in, like, the end of the second-to-last chapter that just sums up his entire unique existence, and I just had to bury my face in the book and weep with laughter. Because it's so true. Only Felix. XD

[EDIT] Oh, and I'll probably be away from the net for the day while I rearrange my room to my satisfaction.

- shower
- breakfast
- make television
- figure out where things are going EXACTLY WHERE THEY ARE. XD
- pack away things that need packing away
- wait for your mother's kind assistance and do not go trying to move bookcases on your own, you idiot, because pretending like you're not a crip is a bad move, in case you never learned a thing from Mildmay >>; *whistles innocently*
- draw stuff
- figure out what it is you need to be looking for in town tomorrow
- stop talking like Mildmay sometime this decad. oh wait.
- hang washing
- make bed
- clean bathroom
- take down rubbish

I couldn't NOT read this review of the ARC of Corambis. But it does have minor spoilers. And I think I am going to cry with happiness whenever this story arc completes itself, and there are only twenty-three days to go and I should finish everything just in time, judging by my current reading speed.

....or I could just cry at the thought of it all being resolved! Either way! Oh, I am a sap.

Going to see Watchmen with James again this morning. XD But we have to clean a lot before we can leave or mum will eat us. So! Off I go.

in italy chrysanthemums are associated with death. i see what you did there, ms monette. if i could just figure exactly what trumps were, I'd be happier. i can't convince myself one way or another, but for some reason i suspect they might be zinnia flowers.

because I cannot convince myself that this is the flower Kholkis made crowns from for her kids, as it is poisonous, and I don't like her but she's surely not that bad.

see, this is what i should have asked in that long-ago Q&A post.

......felix's thing about dead people constantly makes me happy in my everywhere. his connection with them, i mean - and his compassion for them. if malkar set out to accomplish anything with him, it was surely not that.

yes, my hands are in agony but i can still ramble about the meanings of felix's witchlights. GO FIGURE.

;A; I am spoiled.

And not in the good way.

Whatever you do, don't go looking up the Publisher's Weekly review of Corambis. (Sarah mentions it here.) I fucking hate reviews that spoil things, ( and I don't spoil things here, except that there is a Bad Thing and it is the elephant in the room, and fuck Stephen if he had any inkling that this would happen. )

[EDIT] Ahahahahahahaha, found the rest of the reviews this chick has done of the DoL series and... oh my god, I have never laughed so hard. Felix and Mildmay: proving that opposites make the best friends. YES. THAT IS WHAT THEY DO, ALL RIGHT.

So... I can't stop listening to Mildmay. XD;;;; ( SEND HELP. )

Uhhhhhhhhhhh can you tell I want the book now >>

HERE HERE HERE

DFSDJFHSKJDFJKDSHFSDJFKSD

( Spoilers I suppose. )

[EDIT] This series feels like it could merge seamlessly with Vagrant Story, tonally.

Also, "Would you just wake the fuck up already so I can belt you one and go back to sleep?"

SARAH MONETTE HAD UPLOADED PART OF CORAMBIS AND I WAS ASLEEP AND NOW THERE IS A FILE PROBLEM.

I WANT TO DIE.

Came home from work early to sleep. Plan to sleep at around eight. May watch a movie with James beforehand, but he's out with Uncle John right now, so may just have a bath in an attempt to revive my neck muscles.

Apparently we need a new compressor for out air conditioner, which makes us weep epic tears. Those fuckers are expensive.

Also, for those I have not yet screamed at: SARAH MONETTE TO PODCAST SAMPLE CHAPTERS OF CORAMBIS. SHE IS FROM TENNESSEE. SHE WILL ACTUALLY SOUND LIKE THEM. MY LIFE IS FULL OF WIN. I would not have known this had I not pestered her on her LJ. This bears remembering, but not too often, because then I will just become the needy pestering fan she wants to murder. :(

Also: Vagrant Sushi. Bless A. J. Durai. :3 Bless him.

Tonight: sleep. Tomorrow: BRA SHOPPING. And fic. And more sleep. Oh, god, more sleep.

kuchibue, this chai is fantastic, thankyou so much.

Woke up thrice last night because I was clenching my jaw so hard my mind recognised it was in significant pain and thought it might be a good plan to stop that. Jaw seems reasonably okay this morning, but my neck is not, and my stomach is not, because whatever had me stressed to grinding also had my stomach howling before dawn that there was something very wrong, here, and morale has not improved.

And apparently the entire LJ design team has been laid off. Looks like things are going really well over there. :|

Wyrren's music store got broken into again last night. There's no point being furious when it happens constantly, but fuck right off, it's a small business and you do not steal from it. Fuck.

Sarah Monette wrote a post for Storytellers Unplugged re. short stories and this is basically the truest and most sob-inducing (for me) paragraph ever:
Short stories are not small novels, and novels are not big short stories. Beyond a certain amount of basic craft, you can’t learn to write a novel by writing short stories. It’s like trying to learn about rhinoceroses by studying tapirs. At a certain point, the ineluctable differences between the two animals become greater than their similarities.

I KNOW. T_______T I KNOW.

*goes to work cursing short stories*

*...and her stomach. and her neck.*

If Sarah Monette were not married already I would offer to have her children. Somehow.

Hamlet slash, guys. Hamlet slash. On her official journal, too. Somewhere in my mind, something is going, "THIS MEANS IT IS OKAY TO DO EVERYTHING." Also, wow. Way to slash accurately. *waves flags*

...of course, part of me is going WHY ARE YOU WRITING FANFICTION WHEN I HAVE NO CORAMBIS YET but that part of me needs stepping on.

Also, narnizzle, I apologise in advance for like... falling asleep in the cinema. I just feel like I need to keep sleeping and sleeping and sleeping and I think it's actually only because I let myself sleep past when I first woke up at a reasonable hour, but jfdfhjdhjfdjffjd. =_= Sleep.

Why would you make me work one shift just before I get a weekend, Meg? Why?

I sorely need a massage, and I really mean that sorely.

Also, Sarah Monette has finished the page proofs of Corambis, which I am going to hope like a mad creature means that we get the first chapter on the seventh of January. IT IS NOT THAT FAR AWAY.

(lmao, I have already warned Meg that I MAY NOT BE WORKING ON APRIL SEVENTH, JUST SAYING. She and Amanda think I'm crazy, but there you are. XD)

I guess I should get ready for work but I am not really feeling it, to be honest.

[EDIT] Also, also! I know my Squeaks is working and all, but squeakelala! Where are you! I have not heard from you in forever! D: Hope work is treating you right. (Or as close to right as work ever treats anyone, I guess.)

Good thIngs about today:
- got phone sorted
- got 98% in Dirty Little Secret
- ate delicious sushi
- saw kessira
- ate delicious lamb, vegetables, and a rum ball
- bought webhosting for Rosie

As for the rest of it? Fuck this shit. Fuck it hard and without pity, with the Venus Gospel.

It wasn't even that bad, but once again, the recurring knowledge that I have to keep saying just x days to go until I can rest/clean my room/fold my laundry is making me want to fucking stab myself.

Also, my phone does NOT allow me to upload my own ringtones from my computer, you lying fuckers, and given that this was the only thing that persuaded me to upgrade from my fucking brick, I do not fucking approve.

Twelve hour shift tomorrow. Just fucking shoot me. Or at least make my mother shut the fuck up for five minutes while I am trying to relax at the end of the day. Yes, I know my clothes are still in the laundry. Do you know what I do not care about right now? THE LAUNDRY.

---

[EDIT] Far and away, the most asked question is, When will Corambis be available in Fine Bookstores Everywhere?

I consult the Oracles of HugeSouthAmericanRiver.Com (Dude, you think my publishers tell me these things? Bwah, and also hah.), and it is revealed unto me that the official publication date is April 7, 2009.

Related question: will I be putting up sample chapters, as I've done with the other books?

Assuming my editor says it's okay (and I have a hard time imagining she won't), yes, I will. Probably the first four chapters again, probably December 7, January 7, February 7, and March 7.



I am assuming it is not up because she still has page proofs to correct, but akdjhfssdj. IT IS WELL PAST DECEMBER 7, OKAY.