So here I am in sick bay, doing my best imitation of Nurse Ratched, and my Child With Stitches sort of needs me, but not in a hard core way, so we spent the morning redesigning my LJ and my MySpace.
Any comments?
And Child With Stitches thinks I should have a FaceBook page, too. What do you think?
Stef is here and shared some Deutsche silliness with us. (Watch if you dare, the song sticks in your head.)
…. not because he’s one hell of a storyteller (though he is one of the best), not because he supports his community in a wonderful way, not even because he had the smarts to marry a great woman.
I just fell in love with Stephen King again for writing the most common sensical piece about the Harry Potter phenomena and quietly eviscerating the arguments of the literary snobs and handwringers. (Note: link contains HP7 spoilers.)
I am out of town taking care of another family member recovering from surgery. All is well, not to worry; she came through the long procedure well and is fairly comfortable, thanks to medication. (I am pretty sure BH is taking advantage of my absence to finish the basement. This should be interesting.)
I am kind of in limbo right now…. trying to develop the new story, but feeling unsure about so many elements… waiting for the last reader comments on my historical so I can do the last “polish” revision…. starting to think about the speeches and workshops I’m giving this fall, but not quite ready to write them yet…. still very confused about how it got to be August.
But you know what is helping to ground me? The NFL preseason has started. I don’t even care that the Evil Empire beat the Colts last night. Football means autumn means apples means bonfires means chili means color means rightness. Autumn is my time of year and it’s coming. I swear.
Back to my chicken soup and TLC duties!
PS – I’ll give the hint I promised for the TWISTED teacher contest next week, when I get home.
Uncle Viking-Penguin (my publisher) has 30 TWISTED advanced reading copies to give away. Are you a teacher who is interested in having them as a classroom set?
All you have to do is answer two questions. Email your answers, your name, and the address of your school to comments AT writerlady DOT com.
Slightly edited deadline details: You have until midnight, EST, on August 31st to get your entry in. I will put the winning emails in a hat and draw one. We’ll take pictures of the drawing and announce the winner as soon as the drawing is complete.
So…. the questions:
1. What is the significance of the name of the game Tyler plays on his computer?
2. Which classic American play, often taught in high schools, helped inspire TWISTED?
If that last question is too hard, I’ll post a clue later. But you are teachers. You can handle the pressure.
Good luck!
Ack. It is officially hot here. I don’t do hot. Nor do I do humidity. I am the Ice Queen, fond of blizzards and lake effect snow.
Last night was horrific. The air was so sticky that I kept waking up convinced that critters were crawling on me.
Then a bat flew into the screen window TH-WACK!
BH and I lay there, in a pool of sweat, debating whether the bat was outside the house, trying to get in, or (much worse) inside our bedroom, trying to get out. As my husband drifted back to sleep I held my breath, listening for the flutter-flutter of bat wings. Because I knew, I just knew, that the bat was waiting for me to fall asleep so it could swoop down, nest in my hair, raise a brood of baby bats which would all latch their fangs into my neck and suck the life out of me. No, wait, they would almost suck the life out of me, but they would leave just enough so that I would become Undead. Then when the sun rose in the window directly across from my pillow, it would pin me to the sheets and fry me alive.
Don’t even try to tell me how silly this is. It was hot, I was tired, and I hallucinate at the drop of a hat (or bat) under stress.
Anyway, I woke up. I was not a pile of ashes. I was just sticky. No bats in the house. A few bats in my belfry. I keep checking the weather channel in vain search of a cold front that will rumble through here and save me from my fevered brain.
STARVING ACTOR ALERT: If you live in or can travel to Central New York and want to become a voice actor for the amazing, fantastic Full Cast Audio company, then pay attention. They are auditioning men and women ages 16 to 18, and men ages 28 to 32. Auditions are August 28th. See Shelf Life for more details.
In other news, Mom is doing great and my new sneakers make me run faster. Now I will go lay in front of the fan and whimper.