Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 71

The old soul takes the road again

Today our betta went to that big fishbowl in the sky.

When we brought him home about a year ago we didn't know how old he was – but it became apparent within a few months that this was a gent well into his middle age, and then some. Gradually he lost his color; by the time of his passing, he was nearly translucent. But he was only old, not sick or unhappy. He remained his personable little self, even as he grew slower and weaker … until about two weeks ago, when he began to fail in earnest.

I kept him warm and comfortable, and kept an eye on him. I promised myself that if he ever seemed to be in any pain, I'd do something. Otherwise, I'd let him live out his time in peace.

But this morning he didn't do his usual arthritic happydance when I showed up to give him breakfast, and I knew the end was near. He could scarcely rise from the floor of his tank, and his breathing had become quite labored. Whereas before he'd merely seemed tired, today he was clearly in discomfort and distress. He couldn't rise to reach the surface. He was slowly suffocating. So I did my research and bought a gentle anesthetic which sent him to sleep, and allowed him stay that way.

Honestly I feel kind of terrible about it, but he didn't linger, panting and struggling for hours or days. He was out in seconds, and gone in minutes. So yeah, I do feel terrible. But I don't regret it, and I'd do it again.

* * *

So here's to Tesla Rex. He was always a sweetly cheerful old man, happily greeting anyone who passed by and/or came to sit beside his tank. He made me smile every morning with his wiggledance of "HOT DAMN, IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST!" and he always watched me with interest and good humor while I cleaned his tank – never fighting me about it, and always seeming genuinely grateful for the spruced-up digs every time I put him back.

I wish his time with us had been longer. But I'd like to think that we provided him with a fine retirement home, and I hope that in some odd, fishy fashion, he knew that we liked him an awful lot.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

And all I know is still the beast is feeding

Today, a new cousin of mine was born. Nathaniel Ryan Chamberlain is a both a pi baby* and a relative of mine, so you know he's destined for greatness.

Nathaniel's daddy, Ryan, is a week older than me – and we grew up quite close; so it feels rather like becoming an auntie, rather than a cousin once-removed (or however that works). It is to be hoped that I can find my way back to the area and visit the little booger in person one of these days soon.

__________

In other news, things are about to get pretty busy from a work standpoint sometime in the next few days. Some of it I can't really talk about yet, but I can definitely mention that the page proofs for Hellbent are on their way – and those proofs will be demanding my attention later this week. Likewise, it's totally safe to declare that I've decided to move forward with the mystery YA project I've been blabbing about on Twitter … even if it's only in bits and pieces. Will it ever sell? I don't know. But I'm starting to fixate on the core idea of it, and I need to fiddle with it while the fiddling muse is good.

It's essentially a continuation of a short story I wrote for someone that never panned out (it's not steampunk – more fantasy/horror) … and I've been sitting on that story for ages, thinking to myself, "Self, that'd be a great starter for a longer project, but when would I find the time?"

Well, to hell with finding the time. If I can get a few hundred words written on it every day or so, I'll have a good partial under my belt within a couple of months. But before I really get it started, I might dredge up a proposal for it – if only to give myself a solid idea of its direction and potential "meatiness." I don't know. I'll noodle around with it tonight and see how I feel about it.

But first! Further progress has been made on Inexplicables, and by George, it looks like I'm working my way up to a proper start on this bad-boy. Obviously, as always, things can change – production schedules can change, projects can change … all kinds of variables here are up for negotiation. But for now, I think I feel pretty good about laying this out thusly.

*ahem*

Here's today's progress on my fifth Clockwork Century novel – a book about teenage juvenile delinquents, hypothetical ghosts, ex-Confederate spies-turned-Pinkerton agents, and gangland mayhem within the walled city of Seattle … now with Bonus! zombie Sasquatch and the return of everyone's favorite elderly cross-dressing Native American princess:



Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 2122 (low end of respectable)

Present total word count: 13,548 words

Things accomplished in fiction: Got inside the city proper, got the crap scared out of protagonist.

Things accomplished in real life: Ran errands on foot (up and down the hill) but didn't make my daily run/climb, alas; chatted with (a couple different) friends on the phone; likewise had a potentially interesting business chat via phone (not talking about that yet, though); talked to Mom, who had to call and tell me what the internet had already told me about my new cousin.

Darling du Jour: "And all the light, all the darkness, all the rustling sounds of nearby water and scuttling clicks of crabs, and the tiny splurts of spitting clams half buried in the soggy sand … every soft noise scraped against the inside of his skull—loudly but not quite unpleasantly, rather like a headache made of candy." (Might be too corny to keep. But for now, I'm liking it.)

Next up: Fall down and go "boom." Also, Houjin will arrive so the party can begin all proper-like.

Total word count for 2011: Eesh. Um, let's leave out the earlier partials and just start here – 13,548 words.**





* Birthday: 3.14 … or March 14th, ahem.

** It's probably closer to 20K, but I don't feel like looking up those other projects and being more precise. I'll get back to them later, don't you worry.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

They say I'll blow it off, someday I probably will

Well folks, it's been an action-packed Saturday over here. I went to lunch with the husband, finished reading and blurbing an AWESOME book that isn't available yet (sorry), booked plane tickets to my brother's college graduation in May, called Dad and conferred with him on this same subject, went grocery shopping, did some research for a potential upcoming project … and finally, ended up buying a $10 pair of hot pink Keds (with lime laces) at Ross as a treat to myself because I deserved it, dammit.

And oh yeah. Squeezed a little writing in, too.

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 1382

Present total word count: 11,426 words

Now, I think I'll settle in for the evening: wash my face, throw on some jammies … and take a crack at Dead Space: Extraction, which the husband picked up for the Wii yesterday. Yes, it's a couple of years old – but I dig the franchise, and this is the only bit of it I've missed thus far.

Anyway. Tomorrow there will be tea with Ellen and Suezie. Also a time change, I believe. Mustn't forget that bit.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

He played it left hand but made it too far

Today has been … a day. One of those days when every time I tried to sit down and be productive, some new task landed in my lap – but that's okay. The day brought a bit of publishing money (YAY!) and some bills (BOO) and some dayjob work (YAY JOB SECURITY) and then some errand-running, which was not planned for.

These things happen. They actually happen quite often, these days. But anyway, I finally got my daily allotment of words composed, and now I can log off and prepare for tomorrow with confidence. Or at least, a nightcap of rum.

Holy crap, y'all! 10,000 words!

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 1500

Present total word count: 10,044 words

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

You and me and the devil makes three

I've been a terrible blogger and twitter-er for the last day or two, yes, I know. I've been doing all that stuff that piles up and waits every time I leave town – unpacking, cleaning out the inbox, going to the bank, hitting up the post office (twice), nabbing groceries, diving into a rush-rush day-job project, and generally playing Whac-A-Mole with the thousand and one errands and assignments that fell from the sky while I wasn't looking.

However, I seem to have gotten the worst of the mayhem under control – and this afternoon I even forced a couple of hours clear in order to get some writing done. Mind you, the stats are still low; I spent about half my "writing" time going back over what I'd written previously, trying to find my place again (so to speak) and cleaning up the content that came before.

So…yeah. This is all I can offer in the blogging department right now. The husband will be home soon and we'll want supper, and following that, I might try and get a jump on tomorrow's day-job assignment. Until then, here you go:

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 1350

Present total word count: 8544 words

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Albert goes west, he crossed the vast indifferent deserts of Arizona, oh yeah

As you know by now if you keep up with my Twitter feed, I have returned from Tucson and Wild Wild West Con – which was held (largely) out at Old Tucson Studios. I might have hypothetically been a huge flailing fangirl over the studio itself, a nifty place I explored and climbed all at copious length; and I might've also hypothetically had a few prickly pear margaritas and nommed a vast platter of chiles rellenos that was pretty much to die for – right outside the spot where much of Three Amigos was filmed.

Also, there were root beer floats. But those sound a little less "the oooooold west" and more "it's rather warm out here and ooh look, an ice cream shop." I don't care. They were delicious.

During my time in Tucscon I met many super-cool readers plus the inimitable O.M. Grey – with whom many shenanigans did occur; and likewise I got to hang with Nick Valentino & Liz Darvill, plus Hans Meier – all folks I already knew and liked quite a lot. Pictures were taken, and a most excellent time did occur!

The event had a few of the expected hiccups – you know, the kind likely to happen in a first-year event – but hey, nobody got left in the desert to fend off tumbleweeds, and I had a hell of a lot of fun. I'm terribly glad I went, and not just because of all this weird candy I brought back – or because it was a chance to test out some "casual steampunk" long-wear daytime costumes, and I learned that my favorite straw hat really can survive being stuffed into a rolling carry-on, only to fluff up fresh and adorable upon arrival.

GOOD TIMES.

But now I must tackle the mountain of paperwork and writer-business stuff that can pile up (over one! slim! weekend! plus a Thursday!) and head over to the University Book Store to sign some stock, as promised to Duane; and therefore, I will likely be offline the rest of the day.

Have a good Monday, everyone.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

They're always waiting for a thing like this

All right everybody – tomorrow I'm hitting the road again, this time for Tucson, Arizona, where I'll be a guest at Wild Wild West Con. I'm not 100% packed up yet, but I'm not leaving until lunchtime tomorrow, so I'm saving a few things for last-minute. Even so, the costumes are sorted, the hair doo-dads are selected, and it won't take another ten minutes to be ready to walk out the door.

I am utterly, totally, wackily psyched for this. I mean, I get to spend the weekend bopping around Old Tucson Studios while ludicrously dressed in wonderful weather. I ask you, WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE?

So there's a link to a schedule up on the main site, and it looks like I'm only officially down for the following:Friday – 4:30 p.m. at Old Tucson Studios, North Chapel – Signing & Q&A Session

Saturday – 1:00 p.m. at Old Tucson Studios, Grand Palace Saloon – Tea Party With The Baroness

But I'm pretty damn sure you can catch me all over the Old Tucson Studios lot … um, rather a lot. Likewise, I've packed swank garb for the masquerade night, and I'll be hanging around the hotel and/or the panels where appropriate and hoot-worthy.

As per always, my rules/FAQs with regards to events such as these are simple and short: There's a 10-ft. No Shyness zone around me at all times. Come up and say "hello," give me stuff to sign, all that jazz. Don't worry that you're interrupting me or bothering me; this is literally what I'm there for, and I'm happy to be of service. I'm not easily embarrassed, I'm not bashful, I'm happy to talk to you, and I'm delighted to meet you. Already. Even though I haven't met you yet.

So there you have it!

I hope to see some of you there, and as usual, blogging might be light – but tweeting will continue. Expect pictures and other assorted wackiness. I'm actually bringing my camera to this one, rather than just my phone, because hey – how often to I make it out to awesome Wild West studios where 300+ movies and tv shows have been filmed since 1939?

[:: throws the horns ::]

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance to those of you who make the trip. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go do a little happydance …

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Then at a deadly pace it came from (where?) outer space (thank you)

Today I did a few loads of laundry in advance of this weekend's travel to Wild Wild West Con in Tucson,* so once again my drawers are fully stocked – and tomorrow I can plot what I plan to wear while out of town. I need to know precisely what I'm dealing with from a packing standpoint.

I can often bend space and time with one rolly carry-on, no lie; but in case for some reason I can't change the laws of physics to suit my whims, I have no problem wearing extra stuff onto the damn plane.

Lest you think I'm joking, I have gone through security wearing (no shit) two fluffy cotton skirts plus crinolines, three shirts, a vest, a sweater, tights, and two pairs of socks. Do I always get a pat-down and a time-out in the radioactive phone booth? Sure. Do I care? No. Take your peek, get your jollies, and let me put my shoes back on.

I'm not shy. And I'm not checking a bag.

I am, however, posting links before I post today's (none too impressive) word counts. Behold:

Born This Way – I watched Lady Gaga's new video with no small amount of fascination, not least of all because she keeps pulling improbable objects from her hoo-hah like it's a magician's hat.

Speaking of hats: I give you Cat Helmet -It's a picture of my cat sleeping on my husband's head. It cracked me up and made me go "awwww!" so now I share it with you.

Immodest link is immodest – Mostly I'm just chuffed that there's a Tampa Steampunk community of any sort. I know it was hard as hell to be a goth when I was in Tampa; maybe being a steampunk is easier. It still involves wearing a lot of layers, but generally speaking, not so much black. And less melt-able makeup. Carry on, peeps. Keep fighting the good fight, and don't forget that some of those goggles make kick-ass sunglasses.

Bloodshot gets a heck of a review – It's not all good, but it's mostly good, and I appreciate that the reader went to such trouble, and gave the book so much thought. That's not an easy thing to do, as I know all too well from experience.

i09 looks forward to Bloodshot – Which is only funny because the book is already out. Not that I'm complaining! Anytime i09 wants to recommend me for anything, I am all up on it. I just don't want people to be sitting around, all dying with anticipation and everything…when the book is readily available right this moment, y'all.

Dreadnought likewise sees some digital action – Courtesy of the Laaaadies (and books) blog. Many thanks to the laaaadies, and I hope you have fun with the other books in the franchise, too.



All righty. Now that I've gotten the links out of my system, here are today's stats. Don't get your hopes up. The numbers will only disappoint you. (Still, not the worst figures I've posted as of late. Slow and steady wins the race, or that's the word on the street.)

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 1341

Present total word count: 7194 words

* Which for some reason, I can never spell correctly on the first try.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

I took her by the looking glass and forced her to agree

I'd like to pretend it's been a busy day over here at chez nous, but really we were so bored that we went to the mall for lunch (mmm…TacoTime) and then headed to Target so I could get a new bedside lamp. My old one tried to catch fire and melt into goo last night, so I figured the time had come.

Thrilling, I know.

In other news, work progresses (slightly less) slowly but surely on Inexplicables. Since the September deadline may as well be a million years away, I'm able to be a little careful with it…which is good, because this is a very different sort of protagonist for me. It's taking some time, learning my way around his head.

He's a reprehensible little shit, really. A cowardly juvenile delinquent who lies to orphans, steals from nuns, and nurses a nasty drug habit that's bound to kill him sooner rather than later. He's also a terrified kid who runs away from home before he can be thrown out, undertaking a what's essentially a suicide mission to confront his own guilt over [:: spoiler redaction - something he did six months previously ::]. He's either being haunted by the ghost of a bitter ex-friend, or his mind is actually starting to slip – courtesy of all those drug-fried brain cells.

And he has no idea which one is the case.

So … yeah. It's a shift in gears.

Anyway.**

People have been asking when I'll start fleshing out these word stats, and the answer is "in a bit." I have my reasons for playing this one close to my vest at present, not least of all because I'm not yet 100% certain I've found the right beginning place. I'm fairly sure I've got it nailed down, but it doesn't really feel like a toehold on the story until I've got 10,000-12,000 words for an anchor.

Superstitious? Sure, I guess. Silly? That too.

But there you go.

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 1611

Present total word count: 5853 words

* Which is not to say that I wasn't working. I was doing rewrites and editorial on two other books, Hellbent and Ganymede more or less simultaneously. I just wasn't composing any new material, that's all. It's a totally different brain wavelength.

* World's laziest transition. Yes, I know. But I'm tired and I don't care.

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

I never disrobe before a gunfight

Thus far the day has been somewhat slow and lazy, occupied largely by minor acts of housework, lunch with the husband, and researching an assortment of recreational drug use practices and trying to find out (with enough success to call it for horseshoes or hand grenades) precisely when tin foil came into common usage.

Oh, the things you need to know when you're writing books.

In my defense, I did in fact get some writing done – and there's a better than nil chance I'll do some more this evening, after I've gone to the grocery store to resolve the fact that there is nothing in this whole damn apartment upon which I feel like snacking.

Also, I think we're out of wine. IT IS A WINE EMERGENCY.

I'll get my cape.

Project: Inexplicables

Deadline: September 15, 2011

New words written: 1178

Present total word count: 4242 words

[Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]