I had a bit of a soup-accident and was unable to do a lot of typing for a couple of weeks. That’s not to say that I didn’t write anything, it was just a bit of a workout for my fingers and I wanted to focus more on some short stories and a novel idea than blogging. What happened?

I burned the middle and index fingers on my left hand. Steaming hot (and, by the way, delicious) homemade roasted-garlic-eggplant soup splashed onto my hand as I took the bowl out of the microwave. Second degree burns. I watched my skin curl up and peel. Definitely put me into a minor state of shock.

I drove myself to urgent care and got to be a trauma patient. I’ve never been a trauma patient before. The best thing about it is that you don’t have to fill out any paperwork until they’re done taking care of you. Oh, yeah. And you don’t have to actually wait to see anyone. They call for a nurse, take you to an exam room, and take care of whatever is hurting.

It was actually a decent experience. But that might just have been because they prescribed me vicodin and that pretty much erased any negative aspects of that day. That happened three weeks ago.

It was difficult to bend my fingers the first couple of days, plus I kept them wrapped because they were kinda gross to look at, like I had leprosy. Now, however, the peeling is finished and my index finger only has one small red splotch. My middle finger was a little more damaged, and a little more red, but I didn’t lose any range of motion.

For those of you who are interested, there are pictures below, starting with the one I texted to Nick immediately after the event, when I wanted to know if I should go to urgent care.  He took one look at it and texted back, “Go now, you don’t want it to get infected.”

Enjoy.

right after the soup splashed

wrapped up nice & neat

day two, the shine is from the bacitracin ointment

getting better...still a little leprous

today: a little red, a little dry, but (for the most part) healed

When O’s father goes overseas to work on a project, he sends O to his sister, Emily.  Emily has been having some health issues, and the situation is more O taking care of her aunt than Emily taking care of her niece.  An old curse begins haunting Aunt Emily, and she tries to hide the problem from O, but of course things get out of hand.

I could not put this book down.  The plot moves quickly, and there’s a bit of a love interest but nothing inappropriate for teens and pre-teens.  The prose itself is lyrical and magical, breathtakingly appropriate for a book whose central characters are poets.  I cannot wait for this book to hit the shelves at Gulliver’s, there are quite a few young (& not so young) readers who I know will love it as much as I have.

Forthcoming from Tundra Books, 4/10/12

The children in this story are universal, every child and adult knows them.  Their adventures are real, and magical, their worries are authentic.  I love the development of Edda through the course of the story and how her friends help her to gain confidence.

There are some tense scenes in the story, like  when Edda goes out into the dark and stormy night to see if the golem is in her back yard and later when Edda and her friends are running from the golem.  They have just the right amount of terror in them for children.  Frightening, but you know everything going to be okay in the end.

I love the ending when Edda and her friends transform the golem from a frightening creature into a loving one.  I also like that Edda’s friends forget about Michael Scot and the golem and that only Edda knows the truth in the end.

The fantasy of magic in How to Make a Golem is light and playful.  The items Edda collects at the botanical garden for the golem’s heart are creative.  The whole premise of the novel is wonderful.  What child wouldn’t want to make a creature that would take away his or her fears?

This book is some wonderful magical realism for children who have enjoyed the first couple of Harry Potter stories, but who are not yet ready to read the more advanced books in that series.  It’s suitable for both girls and boys, though I think a certain kind of shy, creative girl will enjoy and benefit from it the most.  It is slated for publication 1/23/12 from Floris Books.

And so, my first book review is for Priestess of the Fire Temple by Ellen Evert Hopman (ISBN 9780738729251, publication date of 03/08/12).  Historical fiction, it follows the life story of an Irish princess turned Druid priestess.  It’s not something that I would normally read, but as I perused Netgalley, something about it intrigued me.  While I feel the narrative started a bit slow, it did draw me in.  It’s a fast read, too.

The glossary at the beginning proved to be an excellent resource for me, as I am unfamiliar with the pronunciations of the Old Irish terms and words.  However, I did not need to keep referring back to it as I read.  The author gracefully wove the unfamiliar terms into the storyline and I was able to understand many of them within the context of the story.  Still, for those places where I was uncertain, it was nice to be able to go back to the glossary for the definitive meaning.

I found Priestess of the Fire Temple to be meticulously researched.  The herb-lore was fascinating and instructive.  The details within the story of the various plants and their uses felt right and did not drag down the narrative’s pace.  Also, the inclusions of the prayers and songs added to the depth of the story’s world.

It did take me a little time to get immersed in the story.  I wish there had been more action first, perhaps starting with Aislinn’s marriage to Deaglan and then have her history and backstory worked in later.  Aislinn’s story is framed by her telling it to a younger priestess, one who will take her place.  I wish there had been more connection between the story of Aislinn’s life and the manner in which she tells it to the younger priestess.  Once the action started, with Aislinn fleeing her unhappy marriage, the story swept me up.

Priestess of the Fire Temple is a captivating story about a magical time in human history.  I recommend it for anyone who enjoys perusing the occult and metaphysical sections, as well as anyone interested in Celtic and Druid lore.

I also resumed writing critiques for fellow critters on Critters.org.  I hadn’t submitted anything since I finished my work as a dedicated reader on a ya fantasy novel.  I was going to try for a most-productive-critters award this week.  That would enable me to submit a short story to the front of the queue and not have to wait the usual three weeks to start receiving critiques on it.

I’ve got two short stories that I’m going to submit as my Clarion West sample writings and I’d like to get them critiqued on Critters.  While reading through them, I realized that they’re still in need of much tweaking and not yet ready for the light of day.  Instead of going for that most-productive-critter award this week, I’m revising them.  I’ll try for that award next week when I actually have something decent to submit for critiques.

I think my writing has improved since I joined Critters, not just from the critiques I’ve received from other sf/f/h writers but also from writing critiques of other people’s stories.  When I see what works (and what doesn’t) in someone else’s writing, I think it makes it easier to find what’s working (and failing) in my own writing.  Workshoping is great, I wish there was one dedicated to sf/f/h here in Fairbanks, but I guess I have to stick with Critters online for now.

It’s been a week since I finished my NaNoWriMo novel, and I’m back in the writing groove.  This month I’m focusing on getting more short stories submitted to the markets and polishing my Clarion West writing samples.  (And crossing my fingers about the book proposal that my store’s MPS rep submitted to Tor for me, but I don’t want to say too much about that before its time…)  Proof that I’m fully recovered from NaNoWriMo 2011: I’m itching to revisit those 50,000 words and dig for the diamonds in the shit.  It’s just going to have to wait until next year.

I pushed through the last 14,000 words in five days and finished a few days early.  Yay!  50,000 words (Okay, technically it’s 50,133) in 25 days.  It’s all verified on the NaNoWriMo site and I ordered up my Winners Circle t-shirt.  By the way, the whole point of doing NaNoWriMo is for the t-shirt.

I love the challenge that is NaNoWriMo, but towards the end there, the whole process was burning me out.  I’ve had a couple of really strong days, and I wouldn’t have finished early if not for my stress-free Thanksgiving.

It was just my brother and me this year, so I did two Cornish game hens instead of a massive turkey, and some easy side dishes (quinoa-stuffed peppers, carrots, and stuffing with pecans, bacon, and currants).  Cooking only took about an hour and a half and I had the rest of the day to write, write, write.  I churned out 5,000 words.  It was fantastic.

My story is okay.  (It’s a shitty first draft, it’s not supposed to be great.)  It has a decent story arc, I love the world that it’s set in, and finally, after fifty thousand words, I think I know who the protagonist is.  I like how my characters interact.  I like how the plot moves along.  But.  But.  But I know there is much that needs improving.

I’m going to set it aside and work on some other projects in December.  Then, in the frigid days of January, when it’s so cold out that my thermometer no longer displays the temperature, I’ll dive into the revisions.  It’s mostly set in a desert world and I’m looking forward to dreaming of hot sand.

A huge sigh of relief for finishing this.  Now it’s time to get to all the housework and filing that I haven’t touched all month.  My brain has been fried.  My fingers are numb from typing.  At least I remembered to pay the bills on time.

I am working from a very loose outline.  I know the ending (no spoilers) and I know a lot about how Anom and Tinar get to it, but more characters are coming in along the way, as well as a not-so-stable pantheon.  I made up a creation myth for the Numa Se cult.  (Religion?  I still don’t know what term to use.  I like cult, but sometimes its connotations are a bit creepy.  As it’s the world’s largest established belief system, I don’t quite know how I feel about using cult.  But that’s what revision is for.)  I’ve been doing a lot of world-building and I know that a lot of these raw words will be edited out in the future, but I can’t but help feel as though they are a fantastic foundation.

Regarding the story arc, it’s a little slow-going right now.  I’ve got the gals on their way to the secret temple of the moon goddess Vyn.  There have been a couple of bumps in their road, and I’m anxious to get them where they’re going.  I’ve got a whole bunch of conflict planned, but as Vyn’s temple and worshipers are a secret sect, there’s this whole discovery thing Anom and Tinar must work through.  I can’t make it easy for them to find, right?  I think it does, however, make for a good midpoint turn in the storyline, so they’ll be getting there sooner rather than later.

I’ve been having unofficial word wars with my bff Jenn and totally kicked past her count during my travel day.  (She has subsequently passed me again, damn her!)  I was able to write 4,000 words for my nano novel during my flights back to Fairbanks from Chicago.  It was the most productive writing day I’ve had all year.  In addition to that, I got a lot of work done on another important writing project.

And then I got home and my Nanowrimo writing came to a screeching halt.  I’ve got that other writing project to finish and it’s taking a lot more thought and care than a shitty first draft.  But it’s also taking a lot less time, too.  My goal is to have the largest chunk of it (the synopsis) done this evening.  The rest of it is some simple formatting and shouldn’t take too long.  I don’t want to get more than a day behind in Nano-land, but this project is too important to delay.  I’ll be back at the Nanowrimo by the end of the week, I just hope I’m not so far behind that it begins to feel like a mountain.

I went to a write-in with Jenn and got a ton of writing done. It was a little strange, because I usually don’t write in public. I’m just not the kind of person who goes and sits in a coffee shop to write. I get too distracted people-watching to get anything done. Having a writing buddy with me really kept me on track. I wish we didn’t live 3500 miles apart and could get and write on a regular basis.

On Friday everything changed. I woke up early to watch Sammy while my sister went to school and my mom went to a doctor’s appointment. After they got home, we got in the car and drove about three and a half hours to Wisconsin Dells. And the Nanowrimo word count came to a screeching halt.

My brother Mark and his wife Allie came up and I spent time visiting with them. Then on Saturday we met up with my cousin Jill, who I haven’t seen in years, and her four children at Knuckleheads, an arcade and bowling alley. There’s an outlet mall right next to it. Retail therapy made me feel a little better, but I still had a ton of words to get through. I had a fantastic time with everyone, but there was still a little part of me that felt guilty for sitting back in the room to get through some words while they went to the water park.

We left the Dells midday on Sunday and after we got home, I spent the rest of the weekend catching up on the word count, pounding my way through almost 3,000 words well into the wee hours of the night. I’ve been able to stay on-task since then and have reached the 12,000 word mark in the novel.

It doesn’t have an official title. I’m liking Moonstruck, but I’m not married to the idea. I think I’ve been able to keep the conflict moving. (For the most part. There are a couple of places that drag a bit, but editing them out is what the second draft is for.)

The gals have invoked the god for the second time (this time they got it right) and are about to set off on the mission that he gave them, but they’ve hit a little road bump, as the High Father of their temple knows what they have done. The question for the current scene is: Will he let them go, or will there be consequences? It’s a question that I’m going to have to answer with tomorrow’s word count. Hopefully week two will go smoother than the first week, although I am proud of myself for sticking with it despite being out of town and on vacation and slave to a two-and-a-half-year-old.

In years past, I’ve known in advance what story I was going to work on in November. I even outlined a few of them to keep me on track. This year, due to my scramble to finish editing Strange Essence before November, I gave little thought (okay,let’s be honest here, absolutely no thought) to my NaNo-Novel. Last night, at eleven pm, one tiny hour before NaNoWriMo commenced, I made my choice.

I wrote a short story a while back called The Cupbearer of Numa Se, in which a trio of votaries angers a god’s wife. It doesn’t end too well for them. The goddess Vyn turns one of them into a moonstruck simpleton. Another gets banished to a far-away temple, and the third is relegated to the midden heaps.

I love the characters and the world I built in this story, so I’m going to use it as my starting point. My NaNo-Novel is going to begin ten years later, at the next Convocation of the god Numa Se. Two of the trio (the ones who retained the use of their brains) are going to try to right the wrongs they committed as children and return their moonstruck simpleton friend back to normalcy.

It is going to be a novel of friendship, betrayal, and redemption and I’m really excited about it, now that I know what story I’m doing. (And for those of you word-count sticklers, don’t worry, I will not be counting the 5,000 words of the short story towards my NaNoWriMo word count.) Let the NaNo-Noveling Begin!

‘Do you sell ebooks?’ the man on the other end of the line asked.

‘Yes!’ I was excited. This was the first customer I spoke with about our new website. He was on the old website, so I directed him to the new one and helped him navigate it to find the information he needed to set up an online account with us. He had a Nook, which is a B&N product (boo hiss) but it’s better than Amazon’s Kindle (if you own a Kindle, Amazon owns you!).

The Google eBooks we sell can be read on a Nook, it’s just a more involved process than reading it on an iPad or other Apple device. (I suggest Apple devices, they’re so versatile & you’re not locked in to getting your ebooks from only one source. I’ve downloaded a couple of ebooks from our site onto my iPhone & it’s so easy. Netgalley has addicted me to ebooks. I have 11 ebooks on my iPhone and another eight on my iPod. The digital format has only increased my bibliophilia.)

I probably gave the customer way too much information, but I was thrilled to finally have the news out in the world. Gulliver’s Books sells Google eBooks! I want to shout it out & advertise the shit out of it. Unfortunately, I have to wait. The staff isn’t trained up on our new ecommerce website yet. Had someone else answered the phone, their answer to my customer would probably have been ‘No.’ or ‘Not yet, but I think we will be soon.’

DH has been wishywashy about the new website and selling ebooks. I really want to prove to him at we cannot ignore the digital pathway books are taking. I think this customer has put me on the right track. We haven’t done any advertising, but the word-of-mouth is out there now.

I printed out a whole bunch of training materials for everyone to review. I just hope sharing this info with my customer doesn’t bite me in the ass. I’m on vacation now and the last thing I need is Maria stressed out from filling online orders while I’m gone. So (to protect my sanity), if you’re going to start ordering & downloading books from the new Gulliver’s webstore, please wait until mid-November. You’ll notice that I was very careful not to mention the webaddress or provide a link to the new store. You’ll just have to check back for a later posting