Um, wow.

Realms of Fantasy just bought my short story, "Nell and the Devil."

Holy crap. I totally expected Shawna to pass on it, but, eek. This story is significant for a couple of reasons:

1. It's the first fairy tale I've ever sold, and one of the purest pieces of fantasy I've ever written.
2. It's my third professional short story sale, which means I'm very close to (finally) qualifying for Active SFWA membership, and equally close to the end of my Writers of the Future eligibility period.

I'm a little stunned right now. Also, I'm thoughtful, and this sale kind of makes me want to just pull in the old belt and see if we can just live on the Import's salary for a while. I had a horrific job interview today (for reasons I won't go into), so this kinda makes me think I should just try to go the writing-and Etsy route for a while. I'm crafty. I make cool stuff. Hmm.

Needless to say, I have much to think about now, and a .doc file to send off!

No more knitting, no more writing....

We installed our Wii Fit tonight. (Its purchase pre-dates the tally on the car trouble, btw.) I've done 40 minutes of exercise this evening, and I'm trying to decide if I want more. Nine minutes of that was jogging in place. It doesn't sound like much, but that's pretty good for an out-of-shape arthritic. :)

ETA, 20 minutes later: OMFG MY LEGS! AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!! *goes to find the Epsom salts*

*twitch*

Gettin' itchy to finish the book. For the first time in about five or six years, I'm fairly relaxed and have enough room to breathe. (House is still a mess, but c'est la vie.) It feels weird to have time to keep myself sane and (relatively) healthy. I need bone-crushing work!

Tonight is my monthly knitting and drinking night. Woo! I shall have a Harvey Wallbanger, and at IHOP, I'm getting pancakes. Strawberry, of course.

Everybody Loves Hypno-Toad!

Apparently, Kaitlyn Maher on America's Got Talent is the Hypno-Toad.

I, fortunately, am immune to child cute. (But if she were a kitty, it'd all be over.)

Public Service Announcement

Getting gauge on double knitting is a royal pain in the....

Also? Taking the car to the shop at 7:30 in the morning after approximately three hours' sleep is almost hallucinatory. WHEE!

I'm goin' back to bed.

ETA: Sleep ain't happening. Sigh. No word on the car, yet, either, which means it's REALLY screwed. The only real plus side to the day is that I've started knitting my blanket, and the yarn I'm using is amazing. My allergies say it's wool, but my fingers say it's a cotton blend. Mmm, cotton.

ETA2: Part of the A/C compressor is shot. However, we'll have to replace the whole thing because the part in question isn't sold separately, and the whole process will cost the better part of a grand. Oh, yay. Time to invoke the mystical power of the in-laws.

Did I mention that part of the electrical system on my car is shot? Blood pressure... rising....

*falls over*

Finished's knitting Mom's present. Now I just have to block it, then fold it up with some cedar balls until December. The biggest potential problem is that I have to borrow Mom and Dad's floor to wet block the thing, else it'll turn into a cat bed-slash-scratching post. (Baby adores wool.) I might just be able to order her to stay out of her guest bedroom for a day or so.

Next step: a checkerboard, double-knitted, lap-sized blanket. I am NOT making anything larger than that. For one, I don't have the yarn. Mostly, though, OMFG, just NO!

Seriously, I just need to take a break from gift stuff and make something for myself. It'll probably be a hat and scarf, but that's fine. I found some gorgeous German needlepoint designs from 1597 a couple of days ago, and most of them are just begging to be turned into knitwear. I wonder if I could design a princess-seamed or empire-waisted sweater with a colour-stranded stomacher? Hmm. *note to self: cut back on What Not To Wear*

Bollocks.

There's an Obama rally in Tulsa tomorrow morning. However, it's way, WAY north of me, and will be outside. If not for the promise of sunlight, I'd be there. (Even if The Man Himself comes to Oklahoma, I may have to bow out for the sake of sunlight. Or, y'know, it would be worth spending three days in bed for that chance. We shall see.)

Hmm. Should probably locate the Tulsa County Democratic HQ so I can put in a few volunteer hours. If nothing else, it'll net me an invitation to the watch party come November. Woo, watch party! Always a good time to be had.

DNC

I. Heart. Barack. Obama. SO much. I have never seen a public figure half in his league as a speaker, a thinker, or a man of the people.

Also? His kids are adorable, and Michelle is crazy smart and hot.

Hell.

I just found out about Del Martin. Poor Phyllis. Anyone worth marrying twice is priceless.

Different Editing

Since I can only go so long without trying to hurt my own brain, I'm paring down a novelette so I can try to sell it to Asimov's. (And, hey, I just checked my "do market research" file, and I've got a short that hasn't gone to WotF yet! This thing's gettin' polished for next quarter!) I've got about 200 words of novelette to go before it's within guidelines. The story is pretty solid, but I can't help thinking it could be a little tighter. It still needs most of its 15K words, because the storyline is fairly complex, but I'm going to sit down, condense the story into a paragraph, and start again from there.

Oh, regarding my sex scene post from a couple of weeks ago, thanks for the feedback, guys. :) I think that I'll leave it in for now. My big concern is that it kinda sticks out after so many revisions. Right now, the book goes, "Plot, plot, plot, plot, plot, plot, TEN PAGES OF SCORCHINGLY HOT PORN, plot...." I may have to tone things down, but I'll see what Colleen says. At the very least, I know it'll have to be shorter. (And, yes, it gives some character and relationship development--hoo, boy, does that relationship develop--but I don't think it gives ten pages worth.)

Knitting goes apace. Nearly finished with Mom's present. With luck, I'll finish the main body tonight, so I can get to work on the detailing. After that, we move into blanket territory. I think I'm going to be lazy and just knit the whole thing in one piece, with blocks of intarsia rather than separate blocks. (That makes sense to knitters, I promise.) I hate finishing, so that really is the cheater's method in my mind. This way, I'll just knit, block, and throw on a single crochet edging. Boom, blanket.