Caitlín R. Kiernan

Yesterday, I did a very decent 1,416 words on "The Wolf Who Cried Girl," but still did not find THE END. What I'd planned as a 3,000-word vignette, is now almost 5,000 words long and will likely go to 6,000 before I'm done. It was a case of the idea being bigger than I'd thought, hoped, intended. Pick one. But I refused to rush it, despite the frelling deadlines (technically, this is one of the frelling deadlines).

It's damp, cold, overcast here in Atlanta. Last night there was fog, and more rain this morning. Regardless, I hope to have a good walk this evening, as this whole not-exercising thing was, at best, ill-advised.

Last night, Spooky made a very delicious stew from the carcass of the turkey (adding tomatoes, celery, white onion, baby porta bellas, tons of garlic, bay, rosemary, sage, thyme, etc.). Then we popped into Miss Hyasynth Tiramisu's ice-skating social in Second Life, a mostly NeoVic and steampunk crowd skating to lots of synthpop, future pop, etc. I never learned to ice skate worth a damn in RL, but in SL, I've found it quite relaxing (and far less painful). Later, we watched Stanley Kramer's adaptation of Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's Inherit the Wind (1960), one of those films that had a tremendous impact upon me as a preteen. Spooky had never seen it. Afterwards, we briefly returned to SL, as I needed to take care of some business at the Abney Park lab in New Babbage. That was yesterday, near as I can remember.

Commenting on yesterday's entry, Justine Musk (moschus) wrote, regarding those bizarre Quizno's "confimercials" that aired during Battlestar Galactica: Razor:

I am officially boycotting Quizno's for the rest of my life and encouraging all friends and family members to do the same because of those FUCKING. COMMERCIALS. Note to Quizno's and their ilk: people who watch a show like BG are not. fucking. idiots. Save that kind of shit for The Hills, okay? (I'm sorry. Do I sound bitter?)

Well, I can't boycott them, because I already never eat at Quizno's, but I was glad to see, poking about the interwebs this ayem, that lots and lots of other people were just as annoyed at those "Yes! It's true! Admiral Kane is a big ol' dyke! Now, go out and eat a large phallic sandwich!" spots as I was. Like I said, I wish I'd known the DVD would be out December 4th, then I could have avoided the obnoxious, homophobic Quizno's ads.

And getting back to Miss 박경범 in Korea's objections to the "malicious international cheat" that is my novelization of the Beowulf film, her allegations that I am "some rash story twister," I would just like to wonder if she is aware of the story's genesis? Which is to say, all we have of Beowulf is a Xtianized version of an obviously originally pagan story (likely concerning the clash between worshipers of Odin and the goddess Nerthus, a recollection of the defeat of the Vanir religion by Aesir-worshiping Danes). So, mind you, the story comes pre-twisted, courtesy some Xtian Anglo-Saxon monk, ca. 1,000 A.D. But, I lavish attention on an email that never warranted a reply to start with, so I shall now desist. It's just that this admittedly rather obvious question only just now occurred to me.

Have you preordered a copy of the Subterranean Press edition of Tales of Pain and Wonder? Well, it's still not too late. Also, the last Monday in November is a wonderful time to indulge in, say, a crisp new copy of Daughter of Hounds or Threshold or even Low Red Moon. Thank you.

Generally, I avoid talking about health issues on LJ/MySpace, as I usually consider that sort of thing firmly in the realm of the private. But I've been suffering from an apparent TMJ flare-up since mid-October, and the last two days, in particular, have been excruciatingly uncomfortable. Not sleeping well, and during the day, the pain makes concentration almost impossible. And there's all this work that absolutely will not wait for this thing to pass. Though I could ill-afford the time away from the desk, I took yesterday off, trying to recover a bit, but the way I feel this morning, I'm pretty sure it was a futile gesture. (And please, no suggestions for treating TMJ).

On Tuesday, I began the "reverse lycanthropy" piece for Sirenia Digest #24, which I am calling "The Wolf Who Cried Girl" (thank you, Spooky). I did 1,006 words, and hopefully I'll be able to pick up today where I left off, as I need to get this one written and away to Vince by Monday.

Yesterday, we attended a matinee showing of Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's novella, The Mist. I went in hopeful, but skeptical. I left the theatre stunned and duly impressed. As I have said so many times before, I'm not a film (or book) reviewer, but you can find a review that says a lot of what I feel about The Mist at "Aint It Cool News." My complaints are few. I do wish the film could have spent more time on build-up, showing more of the storm that preceded the coming of the mist, the water spout, etc. Also, I think Thomas Jane as David Drayton is a problematic bit of casting in a film that is otherwise very well cast. On the one hand, Jane has the sort of bland everyman quality that King so often brings to his protagonists, and I can't say that Jane's that far off from Drayton as written in the novella. The problem arises, I think, from Marcia Gay Harden's superb performance as the zealous Mrs. Carmody. Gay's Carmody calls for a more passionate counterpoint, someone with a lot more screen presence than Thomas Jane. That said, yes, I was impressed. This is a story I've been wanting to see filmed since I first read it in Kirby McCauley's Dark Forces almost thirty years ago, and I am very glad that it wasn't made until sfx technology was able to catch up with King's vision. The creature design, which includes work by Bernie Wrightson, is wonderful. But the most stunning thing about Darabont's take on "The Mist" is its ending (which I will not spoil). I went in figuring that we'd either get the ending from King's story or we'd get a much rosier ending dictated by test-audience opinions. Instead, Darabont takes away King's bleak and unresolved ending, and in its stead we are given an ending that is far, far bleaker, and perhaps equally unresolved. This is, I think, the first real post-Katrina horror film, and the blow delivered by the last five minutes of The Mist seemed, to me, very much a comment on the American government's too-little, too-late response to the flooding of New Orleans. All in all, a chilling, powerful film that's much more about the frailty of civilization and just how thin a veneer "humanity" is, than it is a film about the Lovecraftian monstrosities lurking in the fog. Strongly recommended.

And for everyone who's wondered what I mean when I speak of the Second Life town of New Babbage, here's a brief tour, including a few shots of the Palaeozoic Museum:

...and as long as I'm at it, I'll repost the clip from The Culture Show:

First off, I want to repost this, since it's still the top story at SL, and it was late when I made the entry last night (this morning):

Also, I made the front page at Second Life today (yesterday), under "Second Life in the News." "Caitlin Kiernan to be interviewed on Second Life for BBC2 Culture Show". Gotta admit, that's cool. First author ever interviewed in SL for British television. My UK publicist at Transworld is very happy, as are the folks at BBC2. Glad I went through with it. The episode will air Saturday night, but you can find all that out in the article. Near as I can tell, I may the the first author anywhere to be interviewed on SL specifically for television, but I won't make that claim just yet. Still, my nerd pride is in full bloom this ayem.

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So, let's see. Tuesday. On Tuesday I tried to start Chapter One of Joey Lafaye, and nothing came. Wednesday, I tried again, wrote maybe 200 words, gave up, and spent the day sulking in a Giant Blue Funk. Then yesterday, I sat down at the keyboard again and began writing in Addison Lynch's blank book (she has yet to decide whether or not it's a diary). By 3:30 p.m. or so, I'd written 1,329 words. I stopped, afraid it was all junk, and read it back to Spooky. She liked it a lot. Me, I'm still undecided. But at least I do feel as though the first chapter (and thus the novel) has finally begun in earnest. When Chapter One is done, I will be sending it to a number of first readers to get opinions. Sure, I wrote a pregnant paleontologist, and I've never been pregnant. I wrote an eight year old, and when I was eight we were still worried about the trilobite problem. And sure I've written from the povs of ghouls and vampires and androids, but trying to get inside the head of a twenty-one-year-old woman, well, that's another thing entirely.

Got an email this ayem from Steve Jones, about a Russian website that's offering free Russian translations (audio files) of stories by just about every fantasist and sf writer alive (and some dead), and including a certain "Skachka na belom byke" ("Скачка на белом бике") by a certain "Keytlin R Kirnan." That would be "Riding the White Bull," if your Russian is as bad as mine. And I listened to a little of it, but the weird seventies music in the background ruins the whole effect, I think. The site claims the stories have been posted for "educational purposes only," which is really neither here nor there, as it's still a copyright violation, except the site is running obviously paid adverts from such big-box stores as Circuit City. Oh, and the ads are in Spanish! Anyway, Harlan is one of the authors whose work has been pilfered, so I figure this won't go on for very long.

Yesterday morning, FedEx tossed a Xerox copy of the tpb of Daughter of Hounds onto the front porch. I need to look it over, make any changes I need to make, and get it back to Anne, my editor at Penguin, by January 10th. I need to get the ms. for Tails of Tales of Pain and Wonder to subpress by the end of November, and any corrections to the Tales of Pain and Wonder galleys in by the end of December. And I have two issues of Sirenia Digest to write and produce during this same period, so it's safe to say work will save me from the horrors of the "holiday" season.

Some cool stuff from Spooky. First, her latest doll, Prudence, just finished Wednesday, which I think is one of her best. Also, we've both been playing with Windlight in Second Life, and she's taken some truly amazing photos of New Babbage. That first one, of Penny Patton's Iguana State pirate compound in the Canal District, looks like a goddamn painting. Truly, Windlight will change the face of SL. There are also a couple of the Palaeozoic Museum. There are few things I like about living in "the Future," and this is one of them. Note that I mean this particular and relative future, defined by the moment of my birth -03 years ago, as no one will ever live in The Future, sensu stricto.

Okay. This is getting long, so I'm gonna go now and drink my coffee before it gets cold. The sooner I finish today's pages, the sooner I can begin reading Alan Moore's The Black Dossier, which we picked up at Criminal Records yesterday.

When I was finished with the Beowulf novelization, at the tail-end of the ms., after the glossary, I wrote:

Author’s note: If a teacher or professor has assigned you Beowulf, this novelization doesn’t count. Not even close. For readers who would like to learn more about Norse mythology, I strongly recommend John Lindow’s Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs (Oxford University Press, 2001).

It was one of those things I put in the manuscript that I figured had a zero chance of making it into the printed book. So I was surprised when I got the page proofs and discovered it was still there. Even so, I thought someone would surely cut it at the last minute. They didn't, and it appears in the novelization just as I wrote it. So, kudos to HarperCollins on that count. However, a few days back, Spooky brought to my attention the following, from Neil's blog (dated November 6th):

Incidentally, I think the educational pack done for Beowulf is simply wrong. Part of the point of the Beowulf movie that Roger and I wrote is the places it diverges from the story of Beowulf, and the ways it explores the relationship between a person and a story about a person. I don't think they should be putting the stuff we made up on material intended for schools -- it seems like a way of justifiably irritating teachers, who have enough to put up with when they try to teach Beowulf without us making their lives harder. It would have been much more interesting to have put up either the original, or one that talked about the differences -- I'd absolutely encourage high schoolers to see our version and talk about what changed and why.

I think my first reaction was, "Kids still go to school?" But after the initial shock, I was even more amazed that the studio didn't step in and remove my disclaimer from the end of the book. Here's the link to the laughable "educational" pack (a downloadable PDF). Looking at it, I assume the pack was compiled by YMI ("Young Minds Inspired") with the approval and aid of the film studios (Paramount and Shangri-La). So, anyway, yeah, a big thumbs-down to YMI, etc. for attempting to pass this film version of Beowulf off as the real thing to bolster group ticket sales, but kudos to Neil for calling them on it. Sadly, most teachers will use the "educational" packet and never see his blog entry (much less mine). Frankly, if I were an English teacher and I were going to show my class a film version of Beowulf, it would be Sturla Gunnarsson's Beowulf and Grendal (2005), which also diverges significantly from the source material, but not nearly as significantly as the Robert Zemeckis film.

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Yesterday was not bad, as days off go. We threw away the rotten old jack-o'-lanterns, had lunch at the Corner Tavern in L5P, and wasted much of the afternoon searching for used hardback copies of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune in local used bookshops (then came home and ordered online from Powell's).

Last night, we watched Mikael Håfström's adaptation of Stephen King's 1408. I have not read the short story. In fact, I think the last new work by King I read was The Dark Half in 1989. I didn't see this film in theatres because it just didn't look particularly interesting. But we got it from Netflix, and, well, it wasn't particularly interesting. The first half hour or so is somewhat intriguing, in a sloppy made-for-TV kind of way and might have served as the set up for something effective. Once Cusack enters the "evil" room at the Dolphin Hotel, though, the film quickly disintegrates into a hodge-podge of spook-house clichés, piled nonsensically one atop the other. There are moments where you can see the influence of House of Leaves and The Haunting of Hill House, and even The Shining and The House Next Door, but the film never gets anywhere near those sources of inspiration in terms of its artfulness or effectiveness. There's way too much, and much of it comes off as hoaky, confused comedy. That said, I was shocked to learn that the theatrical release ends very differently (we saw the director's cut), with a more upbeat ending. Test audiences are the death of "horror," and just about anything else worthwhile. Either version of the film would be disappointing, because it just isn't very good, but the practice of going with the opinions of a bunch of Middle-America know-nothings in hopes of scoring a bigger box office continues to baffle me every way I can be baffled.

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Finally, a couple of comments to the blog I wanted to answer, First, subtlesttrap writes:

Your mention of Winter's intro totally reminded me of a question I have been meaning to ask you about the inclusion of "Mercury" in the 2008 edition of Tales of Pain and Wonder. I know you stated in a previous post that it was going to be included, but I just wanted to double-check. I can't wait to have this edition sit next to my 1st edition signed hardcover. Can you believe the 1st edition hardcover from Gauntlet Press is already fetching $175-$500 on the out-of-print market?

I only believe it because I have seen it happen. But it's one reason I'm glad that Subterranean Press will soon be releasing the 3rd edition of Tales of Pain and Wonder, because it usually galls me to see people selling the book for such outrageous prices (and the mercifully-oop Meisha Merlin tpb galls me on principle). But yes, "Mercury" is included in the subpress edition, as is the new story, "Salammbô Redux," while "Angels You Can See Through" has been excised (but will be included in the accompanying chapbook, Tails of Tales of Pain and Wonder).

Also, corucia asks, Regarding the failed prologue for Joey LaFaye - perhaps you could consider it as potential fodder for a special-edition version of the book. To my knowledge, there will not be a limited-edition of Joey LaFaye, but I am considering including the unfinished prologue in Sirenia Digest. Wow. Over a thousand words, and the day has not even started...

So...yeah, the BBC2 interview for The Culture Show went well, I think. We did it this afternoon (for me, at least it was afternoon), in the Abney Park laboratory. The episode will air next Saturday, if you happen to get Scottish television and would like to know what a NeoVictorian Nebari/Gallifreyan time-traveler has to say about the relevance of Beowulf to the modern world. I have no idea how it's going to come across on the screen, but, if it works out, maybe I have a new medium for doing live interviews.

I have a long entry I want and need to make, but right now I'm just too fried. I'll save it for tomorrow morning.

Oh, but I will note that someone at Locus is very fond of "The Ape's Wife", and my thanks to Sonya Taaffe and Sean Wallace for alerting me to the review, which reads:

"'The Ape's Wife' by Caitlín R. Kiernan (September) is a majestic novelette imagining varying scenarios for the climax of King Kong: does Ann Darrow, the beauty played by Fay Wray, truly return to New York, or does she stay on Skull Island? Is she marooned, a high priestess, or (back in America) an embittered, aging alcoholic, otherwise an older woman pondering Kong's skeleton, now a neglected museum exhibit? Is Kong god to a destroyed Manhattan? These possibilities progress through Ann's dreaming mind powerfully and very memorably."

Oh, and speaking of Beowulf, how about a letter from a reader, just to round it all out? Jason Schmus writes:

I recently picked up your novelization of the Beowulf script, and am enjoying it so far, but that little dedication at the beginning is driving me nuts. My high school Latin is twenty plus years behind me, and the little that remains serves me only to fill in crossword puzzles, translate the odd motto, or to work out unfamiliar word derivations. I just don't remember enough to puzzle it out. Something something defend us from the wolves?

The Latin phrase in question is Talibus laboribus lupos defendimus, which translates as "By such labours do we ward off the wolves."

Somehow, yesterday devolved into a bad day of gargantuan proportions. Too much stress, I suppose. Regardless, it took me by surprise, and today I'm still a little wobbly. So this might be a dull, short, uneven journal entry.

By now, everyone who is a subscriber ought to have Sirenia Digest #23. If you do not, please email Spooky at crk_books(at)yahoo(dot)com, and she will fix things. As I've already said, I am pleased with this issue. And I'd love to hear some thoughts/comments, but that's always the case. All day Sunday was spent getting the issue raedy to be PDFed, and layout and editing always takes me three or four times longer than I expect it to.

Yesterday morning, I awoke to a staggering array of peculiar email. For one, there was a request from the Culture Show on BBC2 for an on-camera interview about the Beowulf novelization and the legend's place in popular culture. Problem is, it would need to be taped in the UK by November 5th, so I'm having to pass on that one. Also, there was praise for the novelization from another rather unlikely source that I am not at liberty to name. And there were other weird things. I thought I was going to go into more detail about the even-weirder-than-usual barrage of email, but now I think I won't. Maybe later.

Oh, way back, months ago, I said something about the enormous first printing of Beowulf, and someone asked how enormous it is, and I never did say. Well, it was 200,000 copies, which is still utterly staggering. And that's just the US printing. I know it's being released in numerous languages worldwide.

A pair of Carolina wrens (Thryothorus ludovicianus) have a nest in the holly bush beneath our kitchen window (it was occupied by a robin back in the spring), and the eggs have hatched, so it's a little noisy at that end of the house. But it's a good noise.

Byron called yesterday, because he had an extra ticket to the She Wants Revenge show last night, but we passed, because that's how rotten the day was going.

And I do believe that's all for now. I think I'm gonna go do something sensible, like eat candy corn until I puke.

An email late last night from the South Korean translator for Beowulf, which is weird and cool and frustrating all at the same time. I have no idea how many languages the novelization will be translated into. A lot. That's a very safe bet. I cannot deny the frustration of seeing this sort of distribution going to a novelization instead of one of my actual novels. But I knew these things up front, so I can't really whine about it (not honestly, anyway). Same with the royalties I won't make off this book, no matter how well it does, because I signed a work-for-hire contract (no money but the advance). I went in knowingly, with open eyes. Anyway, the South Korean translator has a question about a bit of Old English, which I will try to answer later today.

I've spent the last two days on a piece for Sirenia Digest #23, a story called "The Madam of the Narrow Houses." As is often the case with the Digest, I asked Spooky for an idea, and we started talking about how I've really done nothing with ghosts. And so, I'm writing a piece about a woman who can only make love to ghosts. It's set in 19th-Century Boston, and I like it so far. I did 1,026 words on Monday, and then another 1,010 yesterday. I'm thinking I might be able to finish it today, tomorrow at the latest. I'm also thinking #23 is going to be a purposefully Halloweenish issue, as I didn't do that last October. My plan, during the writing of Joey Lafaye, is to spend the first week or so of each month on the Digest, then the rest of the month on the novel.

Yesterday, Richard Kirk sent me the final illustration for the 3rd edition of Tales of Pain and Wonder, the illustration for "Salammbô Redux" (a.k.a, "Little Conversations"). It's beautiful, and makes me eager to see the finished book. Oh, and the signature sheets for the book arrived on Monday, and I have to get to those soon, as well.

I've begun reading Carole G. Silver's Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness, for Joey Lafaye. It's a book I should have read years ago, but I didn't know it existed.

Monday, Spooky picked up the new Siouxsie album, Mantaray, from Criminal Records at L5P, and though she's a bigger Siouxsie fan than am I, I'm enjoying it quite a lot. Probably the most I've enjoyed one of her albums since Superstition. I'm especially fond of track 3, "Here Comes That Day," which I swear is a theme for a James Bond film. That is, if Siouxsie were ever asked to record a song for a James Bond film, this would be it. Also, today is the first day that the new Radiohead album, In Rainbows, is available for download.

Er...yeah. Caffeine, please.

Yesterday was exactly three years ago to the day that I began work on the prologue of Daughter of Hounds. So, it's fitting then that yesterday was the day I finally began to find my way into Joey Lafaye.

Spooky and I spent a good portion of the day just talking about the book — characters, theme, setting, plot, etc. This is usually what I do instead of outlining, writing character profiles, etc. Just talk and think and wait. I have a suspicion that I am now very near the prologue. I might even be able to begin it today. But there are several difficult points I have yet to resolve. For one, the novel is, I believe, set in the late 1970s (which should put to rest any suspicion that it will be in any way a sequel to Daughter of Hounds). For another, I have yet to decide whether it takes place in Georgia or in South County, Rhode Island (somewhere in the vicinity of Peacedale/Wakefield). And going into a novel uncertain of its locale is utterly alien, as place has always been so integral to the books I'm writing. But, in part, this is a novel about a carnival/fair that moves around a lot (though it's not moving around during the story), and in that respect — since most the central characters are carnies — locale really doesn't matter. I am leaning strongly towards Rhode Island, as I think I am done writing about the South. Truly, I have nothing further to say about the South, and I don't want this book to have a default Southern setting just because I am, at the moment, living here, or because I grew up here, or whatever. Silk and Threshold and Low Red Moon are set in the South because they are, to varying degrees, Southern novels. Joey Lafaye won't be. At any rate, the writing will begin very, very soon.

I also have to get started on something for Sirenia Digest #23. In fact, a really good goal for this week would be writing a vignette and the prologue for Joey Lafaye. That's awfully ambitious, so we shall see. Also, I'd still love to hear some feedback on the last couple issues of the Digest.

We still have ongoing eBay auctions, until October 8th. Check those out. Also, if you haven't yet seen Spooky's latest doll, Tilda...I mean, Amelia, you might want to have a look. And I should probably remind you that Beowulf is now available (I will not be auctioning copies of this book anytime soon).

Across the Universe is the first film since Danny Boyle's Sunshine to hit me so hard it just won't leave me alone. Which means we'll probably be seeing it in theatres again. All day yesterday, in between Joey Lafaye, we talked about Across the Universe. Oh, and I read Roger Ebert's review (these days, I try never to read reviews before I see a film), which is fairly spot on.

Oh, and there's a great piece in Spin by Anthony Bourdain about New York City in 1977, so you may want to have a look at that, as well. I admit I was tickled at his comparing the Sex Pistols to the Monkees.

And last night, Spooky made a stir fry with purple Jasmine rice — Khao Gram — which I'd never had before. And then there was Torchwood, and then mostly Second Life and the Dune sim and some of the most sublime roleplaying I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of. Really, some of the very best dialogue I've written, I think.

Okay. Enough for now. Somewhere, there is coffee.

Here it is already Halloween the first once again. And I think that I shall celebrate by having a Very Good Day, even though I had to take two Ambien last night to jumpstart sleep, and then there were nightmares I cannot quite forget, and I only slept six and a half hours, and am still not truly awake.

Yesterday, I proofed all of Sirenia Digest #22 again, then did the layout, and by the time I sent the file away to thingunderthest to be PDFed, it must have been six o'clock in the pee-em. I am very pleased with this issue, and I hope others are as well. Comments welcome, of course. Don't be shy. The platypus is a curious being. So am I. Oh, and if you are a subscriber and have not yet received your copy of #22, just email Spooky at crk_books(at)yahoo(dot)com and she'll make it right.

Also, I might draw your attention to Last Drink Bird Head, edited by Jeff and Ann Vandermeer, to be released late in 2008. I did a piece for it (linking "The Road of Pins" and "Houses Under the Sea"), as did many other people, including Michael Bishop, Gene Wolfe, Tanith Lee, Peter Straub, Stephen R. Donaldson, Michael Swanwick, Henry Kaiser, Bruce Holland Rogers, Conrad Williams, Daniel Abraham, Ellen Kushner, Holly Phillips, Jay Lake, K.J. Bishop, Jon Courtney Grimwood, Sonya Taaffe, Tim Pratt, Sarah Monette, Rikki Ducornet, Nick Mamatas, Nicholas Royle, Marly Youmans, Liz Williams, Brian Evenson, Steve Aylett, Cat Rambo, and Richard Butner. All proceeds will go to a literacy charity, I believe. I'll keep you posted.

Today, it's back to "Salammbô Redux" and South County, Rhode Island.

We had a good walk yesterday, around the eastern end of Freedom Park. I had some exceptionally good Second Life, and Spooky put the finishing touches on Ogdred Weary House in New Babbage. I stopped by long enough to officially change the name of that plot of land from "Abney Park Blockhouse Laboratory" to "Ogdred Weary House." Later, we ate oatmeal cookies with raisins, and Spooky read aloud another chapter of Dune.

By the way, if you have not yet read "The Ape's Wife" in Clarkesworld Magazine #12, here's the link. And I'll remind you again that Beowulf is now officially in bookshops. The first printing on this book was truly gigantic, so I'm glad to see it selling well.

Okay. I think that's all for now. Must make words.

Yesterday, I did 1,230 words on "Salammbô Redux" (despite a grinding headache), and came up with a scene I'm very pleased with. I might be able to finish the story today, but by Saturday or Sunday at the latest. I think it's going to work very well as a sort of postscript to Tales of Pain and Wonder, in a this-is-the-world-almost-decade-later sort of way. Expanding it is not proving as difficult as I had feared. And it only grows more "blatantly autobiographical."

Also, more Beowulf sightings yesterday: Texas, southern New Jersey, Denver, and Portland, Oregon. Add to that New York City, because my agent has copies. Mine are probably, oh, in bloody frelling Belgium by now, but I refuse to go down to Borders and buy a copy just to see the damned thing.

A conversation with my lit agent yesterday regarding ongoing Hollywood business, which is how the day finally ended.

I'm thinking that Sirenia Digest #22 will go out on Sunday. This issue will include my new story "Untitled Grotesque," illustrated by Vince Locke, and a long story/novella by Sonya Taaffe (sovay), "The Salt House." Sonya is finishing up her piece, and I just gave the green light to Vince's initial sketch, so, yeah, I'm thinking Sunday. Sorry for the delay this month. Delivery shall be more prompt in October. I am very pleased to be able to offer another piece by Sonya, as her story "The Depth Oracle," originally published Sirenia Digest #8, was chosen for Best Paranormal Romance #2 and her fiction is always a joy to my polymorphous heart.

Okay. I have coffee. I have keyboard. Here were go...