This is one of the best parts about publishing books: seeing the confirmed cover for the first time.
One more step towards it being real! Yes, I’ve gone through this three times. No, this step never gets any less exciting.
Seven months to go before it hits bookstore shelves!
I’m taking a quick moment to wish everyone a peaceful, prosperous, successful, and rewarding 2008.
I hurt all over, but there was a damn fine turkey yesterday, and joy and laughter had by all. The gifting was a blur thanks to the enthusiastic two and a half year old who opened everyone’s presents with them and then joyfully pushed the next ones on them. “Oh! What inside?” he kept saying, running with gift bags and wrapped boxes to their designated giftees. Last night after the boy was in bed, both sets of grandparents had left, and the kitchen was clean, I realized that I couldn’t remember more than one or two things I’d opened. Sitting down and sorting through it all again was like opening new presents. I discovered that it was mostly clothes and chocolate; this year was unusually short on books and music, which left me kind of drifting aimlessly today, when I usually settle down with one of a stack of new books to read and the new CDs playing. I got gift cards for both, though, so the enjoyment is only delayed. (I’ve already read Nigella Express, the only book I got yesterday, from cover to cover, and the copy of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe score that Blade gave me has been in the player since I opened it.)
Santa came through and brought Liam his wished-for trains and train-related equipment. Way to go, Santa.
For me, Christmas is a time dedicated to family, food, and friends, and we are blessed by having all those things in abundance. Yesterday was an excellent example of all of these, including a surprise visit from Karine and family. We’re thankful for the innumerable blessings we are fortunate to experience within our lives. I wish the same for all of you: lives that are touched by peace and love. Be well, be safe, and cherish one another.
Possibly some of the worst news I could have woken up to:
Terry Pratchett has “a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s”. He stresses that there’s plenty of life and books left in him yet, but the reminder of mortality is a sobering one.
His letter to his fans is here.
(Via Bakkaphoenix.)
And I thought my 1,600 words-per-day quota was ingrained:
Pullman spent seven years in a shed at the bottom of his Oxford garden, doing his three pages a day (no more, no less). About one in ten pages made the cut. The mathematics alone is impressive.
– From An Interview With Philip Pullman, which also features the quirky statement, “He is the most successful writer since Roald Dahl to have worked in a shed.” Pullman makes a few interesting observations about films from books, and how people receive and interpret a story, as well as giving background.
And my other writing/reading-related link for today: Why Don’t We Love Science Fiction?, an essay that sports the subtitle of ‘The British are sniffy about sci-fi, but there is nothing artificial in its ability to convey apprehension about the universe and ourselves’.
(Both via Arts & Letters Daily.)
Total word count, hearthcraft book: 10,269
New words today: 1,468
Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane really is quite illuminating for a neo-pagan who creates a temporary formal sacred space as necessary for worship and/or spiritual work, as it examines the definition, concept, and construction of sacred space quite thoroughly. Anyone who does this should read it; they’d likely go ‘hmm’.
The more I throw into the document, the more I move around. It evolves more in form and flow every time. Each day it’s a little closer to something coherent.
One-sixth complete!
I wasn’t there, but reliable sources say this exchange happened last night while reading Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse at bedtime:
BOY: Mouse.
HRH: Yes.
BOY: [LOOKS AT NEXT PICTURE] Mices. Two mices.
HRH: Almost! When there’s just one, it’s a mouse. When there are two, they’re called mice.
BOY: Two mice.
HRH: Yup.
[NEXT PAGE]
BOY: One mouse… two mice.
HRH told me that it was incredible to sit there and watch Liam recognise that there should be a collective term for several of one kind of thing, and extrapolate it from a word he’d heard us use. “Language development is so mind-blowing,” he said. “I am so the wrong person to be teaching him this.” Which isn’t true, of course, but points to how overwhelming it can be to observe a small creature learn like this.
This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin
Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
Undertow by Elizabeth Bear
Magic & Malice by Patricia C Wrede (reread)
Reserved for the Cat by Mercedes Lackey
Mistral’s Kiss by Laurell K Hamilton
Broken Music by Sting
Children of England by Alison Weir
Have His Carcase by Dorothy Sayers
Mistress Anne by Carrolly Erickson
The Mozart Season by Virginia Euwer Wolff (reread)
Brief notes:
Reserved for the Cat: Better than The Wizard of London, that’s for sure. I almost swore off buying these in hardcover because I was so disappointed in that last one, but the subject matter of this one was more interesting to me. Glad I bought it; it provided me an afternoon and evening of comfortable reading. Actually, I don’t know why I buy Lackey in hardcover at all any more, other than for the instant gratification of this fairy tale-based historical fantasy series. It’s the only thing of her’s I’m following.
Mistral’s Kiss: Why do I buy these? They’re too short now, and they only cover a very brief period of time. I think they’d read better if I read a lot of them at once to get a better idea of how Merry was changing Faerie. Except I’d have to wade through a million sex scenes to do it, as the whole union of life force thing is what’s doing the changing.
Broken Music: A look at Sting’s childhood and very early music years, outlining a lot of the compromises he made musically. Pretty much ends with the launch of the Police’s first full album, unfortunately.
Undertow: A very enjoyable planetary romance (in the traditional sense of the word) that calls into question the native-colonist ethic. Really interesting native species, technology, and one of the best observations about humanity I’ve come across lately: human are climbers, not schoolers.
This Is Your Brain On Music: A well-written and accessible layman’s book that examines how our brains encompass, interpret, and respond to music, written by a musician/producer who reinvented his career and became a cognitive psychologist instead. One of those books I wish I could buy for lots of people because lending it out will take too long.