OTP = Outside the Perimeter

[greygirlbeast]

Yesterday I wrote 1,576 words and finished "Highway 97," the chapbook for the limited edition of Alabaster. Essentially, it's a scene I'd originally intended as the opening of "Bainbridge," but which, when I finally set down to write the story, fell just a little bit outside the structure and time frame of "Bainbridge." It was good to have a chance to write it out, to put it somewhere. Now I won't be carrying it around in my head, a secret thing no one else will ever seen. I think "Highway 97" definitely shows the influence of the work I've been doing in Sirenia Digest. It has the ease of some of those pieces. I like it quite a bit. Now, really, I have no plans to write Dancy again for a long, long time. I won't say never. Saying never always makes a liar of me. But not anytime soon. It has occurred to me that there's a great blank space between the time she leaves Savannah ("Les Fleurs Empoisonnées") and the time the arrives in Birmingham (Threshold). Maybe I'll come back to that at some point. Though, sometimes the blank spaces on a map are the best parts.

My editor at Penguin e-mailed yesterday with what I believe to be the final cover copy for Daughter of Hounds. It's pretty much as I rewrote it, with only a few changes here and there. I see no harm in posting it here. It's probably as accurate as any 150+-word synopsis of the novel will ever be (which is to say, not very). Hopefully, though, it is intriguing enough that it will entice a few people to buy the book:

They're known as the Children of the Cuckoo. Stolen from their cribs and raised by ghouls, the changelings serve the creatures who rule the world Below and despise the world Above. Any human contact is strictly forbidden and punishment is swift and severe for those who disobey.

Eight years ago, Emmie Silvey was born on Halloween while a full moon rose in the sky. Raised in Providence by her widower father, she's a strange, yellow-eyed girl, plagued with visions of impossible worlds and fabulous beings. Now her path is about to intersect with one of the changelings, a violent young woman named Soldier who's quickly slipping from the favor of her ghoul masters.

Emmie and Soldier's fates are inextricably linked, and together they must face the monsters and unearthly forces that have shaped their lives...and threaten their futures.

And, of course, I'll post the cover as soon as I have it (which probably won't be very much longer).

This afternoon we have to take Sophie to be boarded at the vet and then head west et south to Birmingham. Something I've put off as long as I can. Two days lost that I really can't spare, what with the Daughter of Hounds deadline bearing down on me. But I'm going, anyway. At least I'll get to see my mother for a bit. We'll be back in Atlanta late on Wednesday, I believe. It's sort of a frelling boomerang, this trip.

Last night I followed the progress of Cyclone Monica along the northern coast of Australia. What a monster she has been.

Okay. That's it for now. Time to find something that can qualify as breakfast...

Comments

[z0mb1e.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to read Daughter of Hounds.

[sovay]

I am admittedly biased, but I think that text would definitely cause me to pick up a book. The liminal possibilities look entrancing.

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Now I am quite excited to read.

[moschus.livejournal.com]

I'm hooked. When we do we to bid for the ARC on Ebay (sold by you, not someone else)?

[blubeagle.livejournal.com]

It souns wonderful. I love the description of the book. I can't wait to read it.

[mb2u]

I've been watching Monica; it's part of my phobia of hurricanes. It's going to be devastating...

[stsisyphus.livejournal.com]

It has occurred to me that there's a great blank space between the time she leaves Savannah ("Les Fleurs Empoisonnées") and the time the arrives in Birmingham (Threshold).... Though, sometimes the blank spaces on a map are the best parts.

True, but there are sometimes monsters in those blank parts. Particularly since they are usually breeding grounds...for fanfic.

...the final cover copy for Daughter of Hounds...

Seriously. Can't we divert some of that mental energy being used to suck asteroids out of orbit into warping time sufficiently to bring the release date faster?

Hopefully, though, it is intriguing enough that it will entice a few people to buy the book

I figure that any copy that could reasonably double as narration for a movie trailer is enough to get someone to take the book to the register.

[z0mb1e.livejournal.com]

Also, my plans to go away to upstate NY for the summer are blessedly cancelled, so now you can officially come to New England whenever the hell you want. :)

[z0mb1e.livejournal.com]

This is my last comment, I swear.
I just tried to pre-order the limited of Alabaster, and there was an "internal server error." Has anyone else had this problem? And should I just email them, or try back later?