Spring, as I reckon the seasons.
Mar. 1st, 2006 11:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greygirlbeastI have always, since I was a small child, imagined the year as a wheel or a sort of clock. The wheel is divided into four portions: Winter (December—February), Spring (March—May), Summer (June—August), and Autumn (September—November). The new year falls roughly at midnight on the wheel/clock. So, for my part, forget about March 20th or 21st being the first day of Spring. Sure, it's the vernal equinox and a low sabbat, Alban Eiler, Ostara, whatever word one prefers to know it by. That's fine. But, for me, March 1st is always the beginning of spring. Winter ended yesterday. Here in Atlanta, we'll have appropriate springy weather, highs around 71F and sunny and everything is budding and blooming. Yesterday, Spooky and I gathered oak (duir) branches, and I spent part of this morning working them into wreaths and hanging them to dry. Those of you who wish to continue with winter for another three weeks are welcome to do so.
Some niggling git over at Amazon.com, calling itself simply "Gay Liberal Agenda 'I'm coming for you next!'", has posted the following one-star "review" for To Charles Fort, With Love:
Treading water., February 27, 2006: Wake up Caitlin. It's not 1996 anymore! Poppy Z. Brite and Christa Faust have both moved on to other things, maybe you should take a hint!
Yep. That's the whole "review." Its inappropriateness should be obvious, as it completely neglects to discuss the book that it's supposedly commenting upon. Personally, I'd also say that it's inappropriate in that it addresses me in the familiar and fails to insert a comma after "wake up," but let's not get picky. I'd very much appreciate it if those of you who also find offensive the use of Amazon.com's reader's comment feature to annoy authors would click this link to the the book's page and report this to Amazon as inappropriate. In the past, I will admit that Amazon has been very good and prompt about removing this sort of nonsense. Meanwhile, I should ponder where exactly it is this entity thinks I should take a hint and move on to. Perhaps it's time for me to write het chick lit. Maybe I should throw caution to the winds and start writing Westerns. Perhaps I could be the next Larry McMurtry (which is meant as no slight to Mr. McMurtry, whom I rather admire). Maybe, instead of remaining mired in this bog of weird fiction and sf and dark fantasy, which is oh so 1996, I should move along to a series of wildly popular novels about an elderly spinster librarian who, with the help of her taxidermied cat, Mr. Treacle, foils the dastardly plots of a world-wide terrorist syndicate. Yes, Mr. (or Ms.) Gay Liberal Agenda "I'm coming for you next!" definitely has me thinking. Because, clearly, whatever![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
docbrite and faustfatale do, I should do next. After all, that's why they call it art and not follow-the-leader.
Speaking of To Charles Fort, With Love, I am very pleased to announce that "La Peau Verte" has been selected for both John Betancourt's Horror: The Best of 2006 and Stephen Jones' Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 17. "La Peau Verte" was always my personal favourite from the collection, followed by "The Dead and the Moonstruck" and "Spindleshanks," and it's drad indeed to see that others agree with me. The moral: drink more absinthe, Caitlín.
Yesterday, Bill Schafer sent me Gail Cross' layout of Ted's cover for Alabaster, and I'm very happy with it. Gail used the same font she used for the "Waycross" chapbook, which seemed right to me. I'm especially pleased there will be no lettering on the spine, which Bill and I agreed would defeat the composition of Ted's painting. Anyway, it's behind the cut, if you wanna have a peek:
As for yesterday, there isn't much to say. The black mood began to break apart in the early afternoon, but I was still too...whatever...to begin the new vignette, so, after sending Daughter of Hounds away to my editor in NYC (about twelve hours ahead of the DL), I spent the entire day and much of the night working on paleontology entries for Wikipedia, which has become a new obsession of mine. I completely rewrote the entry for Tylosaurus and added an entry for the hadrosaurine Lophorhothon atopus. That's what a dork I am. Later, we noted Fat Tuesday with red beans and rice and collards and lots of Nutella. No, there's no connection between Mardi Gras and Nutella, at least not one I am aware of, but we were both craving the stuff, so there you go. By the way, Poppy's Mardi Gras photo had me snickering all damn day. Later, we watched Miami Ink, because we both have the hots for Cat Von D, and then I read two stories from Bradbury's The Day It Rained Forever aloud to Spooky, "The Beginning of the End" and "The Time of Going Away." Later still, she studied Jessica Macbeth and Brian Froud's Faerie Oracle while I did a little work with the Ogham cards and my Irish dictionary. Sleep came sometime after 3:30 a.m. And that, kiddos, was my final day of Winter 2006.
More later...
Postscript: That was fast. The niggling git's "review" has already been swept away...
Some niggling git over at Amazon.com, calling itself simply "Gay Liberal Agenda 'I'm coming for you next!'", has posted the following one-star "review" for To Charles Fort, With Love:
Treading water., February 27, 2006: Wake up Caitlin. It's not 1996 anymore! Poppy Z. Brite and Christa Faust have both moved on to other things, maybe you should take a hint!
Yep. That's the whole "review." Its inappropriateness should be obvious, as it completely neglects to discuss the book that it's supposedly commenting upon. Personally, I'd also say that it's inappropriate in that it addresses me in the familiar and fails to insert a comma after "wake up," but let's not get picky. I'd very much appreciate it if those of you who also find offensive the use of Amazon.com's reader's comment feature to annoy authors would click this link to the the book's page and report this to Amazon as inappropriate. In the past, I will admit that Amazon has been very good and prompt about removing this sort of nonsense. Meanwhile, I should ponder where exactly it is this entity thinks I should take a hint and move on to. Perhaps it's time for me to write het chick lit. Maybe I should throw caution to the winds and start writing Westerns. Perhaps I could be the next Larry McMurtry (which is meant as no slight to Mr. McMurtry, whom I rather admire). Maybe, instead of remaining mired in this bog of weird fiction and sf and dark fantasy, which is oh so 1996, I should move along to a series of wildly popular novels about an elderly spinster librarian who, with the help of her taxidermied cat, Mr. Treacle, foils the dastardly plots of a world-wide terrorist syndicate. Yes, Mr. (or Ms.) Gay Liberal Agenda "I'm coming for you next!" definitely has me thinking. Because, clearly, whatever
docbrite and faustfatale do, I should do next. After all, that's why they call it art and not follow-the-leader.Speaking of To Charles Fort, With Love, I am very pleased to announce that "La Peau Verte" has been selected for both John Betancourt's Horror: The Best of 2006 and Stephen Jones' Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 17. "La Peau Verte" was always my personal favourite from the collection, followed by "The Dead and the Moonstruck" and "Spindleshanks," and it's drad indeed to see that others agree with me. The moral: drink more absinthe, Caitlín.
Yesterday, Bill Schafer sent me Gail Cross' layout of Ted's cover for Alabaster, and I'm very happy with it. Gail used the same font she used for the "Waycross" chapbook, which seemed right to me. I'm especially pleased there will be no lettering on the spine, which Bill and I agreed would defeat the composition of Ted's painting. Anyway, it's behind the cut, if you wanna have a peek:
As for yesterday, there isn't much to say. The black mood began to break apart in the early afternoon, but I was still too...whatever...to begin the new vignette, so, after sending Daughter of Hounds away to my editor in NYC (about twelve hours ahead of the DL), I spent the entire day and much of the night working on paleontology entries for Wikipedia, which has become a new obsession of mine. I completely rewrote the entry for Tylosaurus and added an entry for the hadrosaurine Lophorhothon atopus. That's what a dork I am. Later, we noted Fat Tuesday with red beans and rice and collards and lots of Nutella. No, there's no connection between Mardi Gras and Nutella, at least not one I am aware of, but we were both craving the stuff, so there you go. By the way, Poppy's Mardi Gras photo had me snickering all damn day. Later, we watched Miami Ink, because we both have the hots for Cat Von D, and then I read two stories from Bradbury's The Day It Rained Forever aloud to Spooky, "The Beginning of the End" and "The Time of Going Away." Later still, she studied Jessica Macbeth and Brian Froud's Faerie Oracle while I did a little work with the Ogham cards and my Irish dictionary. Sleep came sometime after 3:30 a.m. And that, kiddos, was my final day of Winter 2006.
More later...
Postscript: That was fast. The niggling git's "review" has already been swept away...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 05:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 05:33 pm (UTC)My first thought was "for the love of cod, no!"
Immediately following on hits heels was "you know, that would probably end up being really interesting..."
Happy Spring and Lent Greetings
Date: 2006-03-01 05:43 pm (UTC)I know you aren't really concerned, but over here in Texas, we have 11PM (December), 12AM (january), 1AM (February), followed by 5PM (Unseasonably Warm) then 6PM (Freakin' Boiling) for the rest of the year. I am concerned that your future move north of the Mason Dixon line might result in there being a lot more 11's and 12's (perhaps even a 13) on that clock of yours.
That's the whole "review."
Which can be responded to in an equally succinct manner: "Shut up, Asshat."
Maybe I should throw caution to the winds and start writing Westerns
Maybe a paleo-western?
Re: Happy Spring and Lent Greetings
Date: 2006-03-01 05:48 pm (UTC)Well, that would be properly Celtic of me, I suppose.
Which can be responded to in an equally succinct manner: "Shut up, Asshat."
Indeed.
Maybe a paleo-western?
I fear it's been done.
Re: Happy Spring and Lent Greetings
Date: 2006-03-01 11:17 pm (UTC)SWH
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 05:50 pm (UTC)I totally have the hots for Kat, too. :D
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 06:51 pm (UTC)*snerk*
Speaking of To Charles Fort, With Love, I am very pleased to announce that "La Peau Verte" has been selected for both John Betancourt's Horror: The Best of 2006 and Stephen Jones' Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, Vol. 17.
Congratulations! It is a marvelous story.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 07:29 pm (UTC)Thank you. I'm glad it will now be reaching a wider audience.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 08:16 pm (UTC)can't wait for this one!!!
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 09:00 pm (UTC)Some of us don't have a choice! It's only 30 degrees here today, and expected to stay that way for at least another week. :(
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 09:29 pm (UTC)1. Congratulations, I loved that story!
2. I've been planning on ordering absinthe for a while and decided on Mari Mayans as the brand after reading that story. Have you ever had any problems having it shipped into the States? I have no idea how this works...
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 10:22 pm (UTC)2. I've been planning on ordering absinthe for a while and decided on Mari Mayans as the brand after reading that story. Have you ever had any problems having it shipped into the States?
I've never had any trouble with customs. Mari Mayans is quite good, though lately I've grown fond of a French brand, La Fée.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 11:03 pm (UTC)Have you seen the Wiki area on Amazon? You can now insert *factual* info about a product. I'm sorely tempted to put "the artist for this worldwide distribution DVD has not been paid one thin dime" on a certain movie. That's a fact.
Congrats on La Peau Verte, and the cover for Alabaster is gorgeous.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-01 11:18 pm (UTC)All the best.
SWH
no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 04:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-02 04:47 am (UTC)Wolves
Date: 2006-03-03 04:37 am (UTC)