Over the halfway mark for Session 2008. 18 more days to go.* I’m getting a wee bit scared about how far behind I’ve gotten with regard to other obligations, but trying to keep my head above water and/or not think about the hamsters I don’t have time to attend to.
But I can see out of the corner of my eye that them hamsters are getting pretty hefty . . .
What’s really exacerbating things is that I had to send in my VAIO laptop for maintenance. It’s just a hardware issue: a loose A/C connection that was requiring me to clip the cord at an odd angle in order to get the battery to charge. But I had to backup the whole drive as I’m sure they’ll wipe it (as it seems to be standard operating procedure at every shop on the planet). And now they’re waiting for an ordered part to get in, so I don’t know when I’ll get it back. Plus when I do get it back, I’ll have to spend several hours reloading it.
The loss of my “cart around everywhere” computer has really hindered my productivity. I can’t reply to emails on the train, can’t do a bit of editing during the commute, etc. I really need that extra hour and a half per day to stay on top of the hamster pile. Wah.
* Don’t ask me whether I’m a “glass half full” or “glass half empty” type. Mostly, I’m a “thirsty now, gimme water” type.
Writing Stuff
I’ve put several more stories up at Anthologybuilder.com. All of my cyberpunk-esque Tales from Old Atlanta, including the Phobos award-winning one, “All in My Mind,” which prompted me to write the rest of them: “Oranges, Lemons, and Thou Beside Me,” “Addy in My Mind,” “Only Springtime When She’s Gone,” and “The Few, the Proud, the Leech Corps” (which was already up). I’ve got one more from that world, “The Music Company,” which I planned to submit this weekend, but never got a chance to.
I’ve also got several stories up for sale at the Sony eBook Store through a contract with Tekno: “All in My Mind” (again), “The Tiger Fortune Princess,” “Returning My Sister’s Face,” “Honor is a Game Mortals Play,” “The Bunny of Vengeance and the Bear of Death,” “The Wizard of Eternal Watch,” and “The Storyteller’s Wife.”
Much buying goodness!
Received:
• Payment from Baen’s Universe for “A Thread of Silk,” which helped offset some of the debt from Christmas.
New Words:
In the midst of the chaos of last week, I was bowled over by the urge to do some writing. Novel writing, even. I’m not sure which I’d rather have, no time but plenty of inspiration or plenty of time but no inspiration. They’re both exercises in frustration and thwarted creativity. Actually, come to think of it, the latter is worse. I did manage to crank out a little over 300 words. I’ll take that over grinding my gears, staring at a blank page, any day. But it still leaves me twitchy and irked.
