Kelly McCullough's Blog, page 92

Next, NYT Bestseller List!!

My editor just sent me this, and I nearly died:

STARRED Review, Publisher's Weekly:

"Hallaway's witty, fast-paced series starter cheerfully details the horrors of magical war and high school. Anastasija Ramses Parker is a modern day witch's daughter fond of wearing "black with black and black" but hopelessly unable to perform actual magic. When she flunks her coven's initiation ceremony, she learns her father is a vampire -- and not just any vampire, but a vampire leader, which makes her "some ...

Some days, you don't want inspiration

My Muse came to visit me this morning. It went something like this:

Muse: Hi Doug. How's it going?
Doug: Shitty. I've been banging my head on this scene for days. It keeps dragging on and on, and I need to tighten it up.
M: (pouty) Aww, that sucks.
D: I don't suppose you could lend a hand?
M: Well, I do have...(reaches into a fold of her skimpy toga)..THIS!
D: Wait, isn't that....
M: Yes! An entire new beginning for your book!
D: But I'm already over thirty thousand words into...
M: But look how *spar...

Anthology News

I just wanted to let everyone know that SHE NAILED A STAKE THROUGH HIS HEAD: TALES OF BIBLICAL HORROR in which my short story "Jawbone of an Ass" is reprinted has an official release date: October 19. It's also available NOW for pre-order on Amazon.com

"Jawbone of an Ass," of course, first appeared in our second Wyrdsmiths' chapbook, NEW WYRD, which is available for purchase in the sidebar. I've described the story to other people as my IRA/Samson story, but a niftier blurb might go like this:...

Friday Cat Blogging

North-going zax meets south-going zax?



Suh, what ah you doin' in mah boudoir?



Oh the felinity!



Practicin for my zero-gee jump shot, why?



Walrus cat says: Who stole mah bukit?

Martian Ocean

The idea of this is simply too cool.

Writing

Lyda and I went to a coffee shop and wrote yesterday, as we do most weeks. Naomi and Doug are taking the summer off from our meetings, due to child care and (in Doug's case) a book deadline.

Work does get done, when one writes with other people. I finished revising a story yesterday. But there is always the temptation to talk.

I'm planning to go to another coffee house today and revise another short story manuscript. Writing in coffee shops gets me out of the house, which is good. Picking a p...

Courtesy of NASA -- Something Really Unusual

How was the unusual Red Rectangle nebula created? At the nebula's center is an aging binary star system that surely powers the nebula but does not, as yet, explain its colors. The unusual shape of the Red Rectangle is likely due to a thick dust torus which pinches the otherwise spherical outflow into tip-touching cone shapes. Because we view the torus edge-on, the boundary edges of the cone shapes seem to form an X. The distinct rungs suggest the outflow occurs in fits and starts. The...

Today

I went to the bank and the library, then sat in a coffee house and read workshop manuscripts. (Kelly and Sean: I am done with you submissions.) After that I walked by the river, seeing two robins bathing in a fountain, a great blue heron, two young men sculling, a man and his child fishing and the Andrew Cannava, a tow boat out of Jeffersonville, Indiana.

The day is overcast and humid. The air smelled of summer and the river. Now I am home with the air on. I am thinking about a nap.

Friday Cat Blogging

What do you mean I have to go to the vet today?
(Meg's having her teeth cleaned and not happy about it)


Lookatthat! Lookatthat! Lookitthat! Lookatthat! Lookatthat!



That



Stoopid levitating squirrel. I killie you with my brain.



Brain killieing squirrels is hard work. Napz now.



2 cats got to vet 1 comes back—makes me very nervous.*



*Jordan is acting very insecure and part of it is
probably that we won't get Meg back until this
afternoon once the vet is done with her teeth.

How's YOUR Lightsaber Skill?

Naomi Kritzer sent me this, but it's just too damn awesome not to share with everyone. On Craig's List, she found:

Star Wars Character with Lightsaber Skills Wanted

My favorite line is, "Lightsaber skills a must." Because, you know, that's demonstrable... Actually, I'd bet that you could get a bunch of local fans to do something really, REALLY awesome including an entire battalion of stormtroopers to bust up the party near the end. Heck, one of our very own Wyrdsmiths (you know who you are) ha...