greygirlbeast: (Neytiri)
The Dancy Box went up yesterday at 2:23 p.m. CaST. It is going...well, it's amazing how well it's going. My thanks to the bidders. Also I should note that the proceeds will be going for an eye exam and new glasses I've needed for years. Also, there are a couple of other items up on eBay, and I would feel remiss not mentioning them.

Yesterday was a pretty fine day, in almost every way that it could be (except I didn't go to the sea or have lasagna). I finished up the layout of Sirenia Digest #60, and did a little last minute tweaking on "The Prayer of Ninety Cats." I reworked the Table of Contents for Two Worlds and In Between, the "best of CRK" collection (this is the fifth version, by the way). I have decided that the book will now be limited to stories written between 1994-2004. If Volume One does well, Volume Two will cover the years 2005-2015. Which means I'm halfway there. I also located a new cover artist for the book. I also also spoke with my editor at Dark Horse, and that's what I'll be working on today. Spooky and I read all the way through Chapter One of The Drowning Girl, and I'm extremely pleased with it. I'll be starting Chapter Two at some point in the next few days.

Yesterday, the mail brought my contributor's copies of The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010 (edited by Paula Guran), which reprints "The Bone's Prayer." Opening the box, I almost stabbed myself in the right leg. Which I take as a hint that my hands are now trembling too much (meds side effect) to continue using my old butterfly knife as a letter/box opener.

Last night, we watched Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman's 2009 documentary, Cropsey, which should stand as an example of how not to make a documentary. Bad, stupid film. Afterwards, we leveled our orcs— Garóna and Margdah —to Level 27. I've got this goofy idea of getting Garóna to Level 40 before our guild's Goblin-a-thon, which will begin on December 7th. By the way, if you're a guildless player planning to roll a goblin toon, we'd love to have you on Cenarion Circle. In particular, we're currently seeking a goblin who will tank. By the way, post patch 4.0.3a, the Horde is so much...Hordier. It seems that the days of unlikely alliances are gone, which makes things much more interesting.

Afterwards, we read more of Shirley Jackson's The Bird's Nest.

Tuesday night, Spooky and I watched the extended cut of Cameron's Avatar, which adds sixteen minutes to the film's running time. Often, I find that "director's cuts" or "extended cuts" do little in the way of bettering a film. Other times, I'm amazed the shorter version was released. The extended cut of Avatar falls into the latter category. Not only does the film open on Earth, which provides much needed contrast for what is to come, there's some crucial characterization in these extra sixteen minutes. For that matter, there's a whole subplot that was absent from the theatrical release. I'm speaking of the story of what happened at Dr. Augustine's school and to Neyteri's sister, Sylwanin (a character who isn't even mentioned in the shorter cut). These scenes inform much of both Augustine and Neyteri's actions (and happen to include Sigourney Weaver's best lines). Also, we get Tsu'tey's death scene, which is handled very nicely, and, again, adds depth to the film. So, highly recommended. The extended release only made me love the film that much more. Four out of four stars. It's a beautiful film, an earnest film, and a good film (which, of course, makes it an easy film to mock and deride).

Very cold and sunny here in Providence, and it looks like that's our forecast for the next few days. I've begun looking forward to snow.

I learned this morning that [livejournal.com profile] dragau, who frequently posted to the LJ, died on September 22nd. The news came via [livejournal.com profile] xjenavivex. People stop by here, and they says things. Only very rarely do I know when one of them dies. And it's a strange feeling. And I don't know what to say, except we all make ripples in the fabric of the world and the lives of those around us. There are big ripples, and little ripples, but no ripple is any more or less significant than any other.

Time to make the doughnuts.
greygirlbeast: (walter3)
Sorry that I missed the post last night, "The New Weird in Music Videos (Part 4)." I got caught up in rp in Insilico and lost track of time. But the series will resume tonight.

A nice change this morning from the breakfast routine, because Spooky baked an apple and blueberry pie last night, using apples and blueberries from her parents' place.

Yesterday, after hours spent reading through many dozens of old bits of correspondence from 1997, 1996, and 1995, I discovered a letter that refers to "Breakfast in the House of the Rising Sun" as a story "in progress." The letter is dated November 27, 1995. So, I think it's safe to presume the story was written in November, and that it might have strayed into December. It looks as if there will be a 1995 story, after all. Also, I found a title for "Untitled 4." It will appear in the "Best of" collection as "Bray Road." Likewise, "Untitled 17" will appear as "Rotkäpchen." Also also, yesterday, I received the galley pages for "The Bone's Prayer," which was selected for Paula Guran's The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror (Prime Books). I have to read over those and get any corrections back to her by next Saturday.

I did not leave the House, which makes four full days I've not gone Outside. Which really isn't so bad, considering I went fourteen days back in the winter.

Bill Schafer has given me permission to post the "Best of" collection's table of contents. Note that the published ToC may differ slightly from what I'm posting today, but it's safe to say this is 90% finalized:

1. “Persephone” [1993]
2. “Two Worlds and In Between” [1994]
3. “To This Water (Johnstown, Pennsylvania 1889)” [1994]
4. “Tears Seven Times Salt” [1994]
5. “Breakfast in the House of the Rising Sun (Murder Ballad No. 1)” [1995]
6. “Stoker’s Mistress” [1996]
7. “Estate” [1996; 5,400]
8. “Rats Live on No Evil Star” [1997]
9. “Postcards from the King of Tides” [1997]
10. “By Turns” [1998]
11. “Zelda Fitzgerald in Ballet Attire” [1995-1999]
12. “Spindleshanks (New Orleans, 1956)” [2000]
13. “The Road of Pins” [2001]
14. “Onion” [2001]
15. “In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers” [2001]
16. “From Cabinet 34, Drawer 6” [2002]*
17. “Andromeda Among the Stones” [2002]
18. “La Peau Verte” [2003]
19. “Riding the White Bull” [2003]
20. “Waycross” [2003]
21. “The Dead and the Moonstruck” [2004]
22. “The Daughter of the Four of Pentacles” [2004]*
23. The Dry Salvages [2004]*
24. “Houses Under the Sea” [2004]
25. “Bray Road” was "Unitled 4" [2005]
26. “Highway 97” [2006]*
27. “Rotkäppchen” was “Untitled 17” [2006]
28. “Pony” [2006]
29. “A Season of Broken Dolls” [2007]

Those stories followed by asterisks have not previously been collected. So, that's 27 short stories, a novella, and one poem. And I'm pretty pleased with the lineup. The limited (lettered and/or numbered state/s will include sixteen pages of illustrations, and will come with "The Crimson Alphabet" published as a chapbook).

I'm very seriously considering Two Worlds and In Between as a title for the collection, as per Spooky's and Bill's suggestions. A surprising number of people informed me they'd never heard the Sisters of Mercy's "Lucretia, My Reflection" (1987), the song in which the line appears. So, here's the video, with Andrew Eldritch and Patricia Morrison at their coolest:



---

Please have a look at the current eBay auctions.

And now, time to make the doughnuts.

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Caitlín R. Kiernan

February 2012

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