Here’s my best advice for those starting the Clarion West workshop today.

I hope you all have a great time there.

I’ll post more about the CW Write-a-Thon as I get started with things.

The last six weeks in summary:

–Got my novel draft out to my first readers
–Went to DC, did not win a Nebula, but am delighted for those who did
–Visited ombriel & family in Indiana, met my baby niece for the first time (OMG CUTE)
–Went to WisCon, held FOGcon party, worked too hard and wore myself out
–Visited Shannon’s friends & family in Iowa, got some sleep
–Came home from the 18-day 5-state trip, took care of a sick Shannon with illness resembling WisCholera ’08
–Succumbed to that same illness myself, followed by resulting two-day migraine
–Printed out tons of paper for Shannon’s new job and helped him fax/prepare things
–Signed up for Clarion West write-a-thon, with plans to complete another series of novel revisions and get draft to second readers by Aug 1
–Destroyed free world, got bored, rebuilt it before anyone noticed

How about you?

Three days later and I’m still giggling about this. It’s the funniest thing I’ve seen on the internet in a long time.

An essay in which a British mom attempts to teach her 9-year-old daughter about the facts of life, and the conversation gets hilariously out of control.

Enjoy. 🙂

My short story Three-Legged Bird is reprinted at ChiZine today. Originally published in Black Static, a print magazine in the UK, this is a story that perhaps many American readers haven’t seen yet.

For anyone who attended the class on Writing the Other which I co-taught with Nisi Shawl, this is the story I used as an example. This is arguably the most radically different protagonist from myself that I have written yet. It was hard work, but worth it. Thanks to Gord Sellar and his fiancee for their help with the details of Korean culture.

I am looking for a very specific kind of cookbook and would welcome suggestions.

I want a cookbook that:
a) has few or no recipes containing beef, pork, dairy, lentils/beans, or tomatoes. (This might mean something Asian, which is fine; I have access to lots of interesting spices)
b) does not have long essays about culture and food and so on. Just recipes basically. I like essays about food and culture, but not in my cookbooks.
c) preferably straightforward recipes, not multi-hour endeavors.

I have plenty of cookbooks that have great recipes, and often I just skip to the sections that have recipes which suit me. But what I want is one go-to cookbook for rough days–the days where I’m not in the mood to be reminded of my newfound dietary restrictions. 😦 I want a cookbook where I can flip it open, and say, “Hmm, that looks good,” and make it.

My former go-to cookbook was 365 Ways to Cook Vegetarian by Kitty Morse. I’ve made about 150 of the recipes and only had maybe 2 duds, which is an astounding ratio. Unfortunately, too many of them rely on dairy, tomatoes, and beans. So now that cookbook just depresses me, unless I’m making one of the few recipes that still works for me.

Any suggestions for a new go-to cookbook for me?

My husband works at PlayFirst in San Francisco, which is near Embarcadero BART station. They’re hiring. Here’s the list of open positions with descriptions.

They are hiring for:

Human Resources Manager
Lead Artist (iPhone)
Game Designer (Mobile/Freemium)
Graphic / Web Designer
Senior Software Engineer, Core Services
Software Engineer, Mobile Games
Senior Software Engineer, Mobile Games
Director of IT & Operations
Director of Engineering, Mobile Games
Producer, Mobile Games
Software Engineer, Social – ActionScript 3
Senior Product Manager, Mobile Social Games

Drop me a note if you want to know more about the company or the jobs. Feel free to pass this along to any suitable candidates you know who are looking for work.

The red glowing eyes are part of being con chair.

Okay. So, there’s a lot of grim news in the world. There’s a lot of horrible things that happen, and a lot of crap.

This story was so Completely Fucked Up that I had to post about it.

Neighbors brutally harass kid with degenerative brain disease. Yes, these absolute treasures of the human race have been taunting a 7-year-old girl who’s dying of the same disease her mother died of. They put up Facebook pages showing the child with a skull and crossbones, and they built a hearse across the street from the girl’s home.

They did apologize, but only after lots of pressure. The good news is, the child received an outpouring of support, both emotional and financial. Even better news, the horrible neighbors were ordered to move away after they tried to run another neighbor over with their car. They are not allowed any contact with any of the families within a 5 mile radius of their old home.

Really, this video is worth watching just for the interview with the (in my opinion) sociopathic neighbors. Writers take note.

“Seeking Captain Random” will appear in a future issue of Realms of Fantasy. Not sure which one yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what art they commission for the story. I loved the artwork that went with “The Luckiest Street in Georgia” a few years ago.

I’m glad I asked you guys how to distinguish laziness and burnout. I’m really not good at seeing the difference.

Your answers convinced me I was about 75% burned out and about 25% lazy. I decided to focus on some basic things my life needs. Even a few days of reconnecting to my hobbies has done me a lot of good. Today I’m getting professionals in to help clean the house. (Because of my allergies, I have to keep a much cleaner house than most people, and this is intimidating to achieve when the house is a wreck.)

I suspect that once I ease the feeling of burnout, the laziness will go away. I’m already daydreaming again, which I hadn’t been doing in a while.

You know what I really want? Three months. A summer, like I had as a kid.