Laura Anne Gilman's Blog

Just realized I'd never posted the winner of the last Feline Picspam Caption Contest! My bad.

There were a lot of good entries, and I finally decided on a tie for first place:

And on the count of four, the epic thumb-wrestling* tournament will begin... isabeau
and
Cat Fight: the energy-saver version neko_san

Step forward and name your prize, folks!


Today I went into Manhattan with The Folks to check out the new Costco up on 116th St. It is indeed a CostCo (although without the liquor section, whi...

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A week ago I heard that Robert Holdstock (author of Mythago Wood and much other fabulous work) was in the hospital for an e. coli infection. News was cautious but calm, so I wished him well and went on with the chaos of the day.

I checked the social networks this morning, and discovered that the infection proved fatal.

*sadness*

He was delightful to work with -- very much a professional even when things were going pear-shaped around us -- and always a joy to read. My sympathies go out to his f...

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No matter how hard I work at the crafting, no matter how many times I study the plot and consider the crosslines, no matter how well I research or how deeply I world-build...

A book, once written, will never match the dreams I had at the beginning.

That's normal. That's natural. The failure isn't in not capturing the width and breadth of your dream, but only in not trying to bring the dream to life.

And each time you try, you're further along than you think.

------------------------

I spent Bla...

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This was what I woke up to:



Having a puppy say "I love you, let's go for a walk!" is not a bad way to start the day. Even if the cats are sulking.

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Operation Gingerbread Cake has been deemed a success, and packed up for transport. Now to see if it actually survives until T'giving... am off to the Family Gathering, wine and food and puppy in tow.

This has been a year, like most years, of serious Ups and Downs. If I had to pick one thing to be thankful for, though, it's that I can say, with absolute honesty: It's a good life. Not every minute, not even every day. Lots of room for improvement on all fronts. But...good. And it's good ...

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Got a phone call today that... let's just say it really pissed me off. I would have sworn there was nothing that could make me laugh.

And then this appeared in the f-list. Muppets FTW, as always.

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Although it's actually been a done deal for a while -- my story "Dusted" has been accepted by Edge SF&F Publishing for their anthology "Those Who Fight Monsters", edited by Justin Gustainis

Yes, Cosa Nostradamus fans, this is the Danny story I've been talking about*.

I don't have an on-sale date yet, but I can tell you when you'll be able to get your hands on an electronic version of the story -- in January** I plan to make all my existing*** Cosa Nostradamus stories available in a single colle...

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For my sins (and because I really do buy into the "pay forward" theory) I've volunteered* to work with the incoming non-member queries about how to [fill in the blank:] with regard to publishing/writing.

Many of the queries run along the lines of "how do I become a successful writer?" Verbatim.

*is flummoxed*


I can tell someone where to go for information on agents, and manuscript formatting, and how to tell a scam from a real deal, and what questions they should ask when offered representatio...

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So very much to do this week, and my brain wants no part of any of it. Of the eight things on my to-do list today (the max allowed for realistic accomplishment), I got... 5 done. Ok, that's not too bad.

And I did make a start at organizing year-end finances and prepping for next year's budget. So that's good, if depressing.


Now, off to the SFWA Editors & Agents party (aka "the Mill'n'Swill" a term for which I share blame with Ginjer Buchanan for coining, amusingly enough). I try not to miss...

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