Oh, negligent blogger is negligent.

It was like I told you: dinner guests and house guests and a giant pile of freelance work and a novel to rewrite…and laundry and chores and going to the gym and, you know, life.

But I like blogging, I do–I think it’s grounding, perspective-izing. It’s good to stop a moment and reflect, rather than rushing ever forward (as I do the rest of the day, it seems). I kept a private diary for decades; I’d stopped by the time I took up blogging, and the blogging sort of scratched that itch, provided that reflective moment in the day.

So, I’d like to find the habit again. Even if nobody reads this, I think it’s an important part of my day.

It’s been the same with yoga. I have a class I go to twice a week, but my home practice has fallen VERY far down. I’m working on reestablishing that as well (though I didn’t do any when the house guests were here). If I can get some of my good old healthy habits back, maybe I’d feel more…balanced?

Because, really, things are great. I have my dream job: working at home, writing, plus editing and proofreading (i.e., getting paid to read awesome books). I’m married to my dream man (and best friend). We have an unbelievable wealth of amazing friends. It’s just…so MANY great things! I feel a little frenetic and overbooked. But it’s hard to say no–each new thing is just one little thing, no big deal, right? But oh, they do add up.

Anyway. The point being, I’d like to get back to a place where keeping a near-daily blog is not such an insurmountable task. Is that doable? I hope so.

I’m getting a new computer tomorrow. At least, that’s the plan. (I’ve had the budget for it for a month or so; I just haven’t had the time to deal with it!) Maybe the excitement of a shiny new machine will lure me back to the blog. This old computer…it’s coming up on six years old. It’s served me well, but it is time to say farewell. Goodbye, old computer!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

We are home from the Grand Mini-Reading-Tour of the Northern Parts of the California, hoorah! And a fine reading tour it was. SO MANY PEOPLE came out to see me! Including a dear friend from elementary school days who I hadn’t seen in FOREVER.

(If you follow me on Facebook, and you happened to log in every time I posted, then you’ve likely seen all these photos. But I’m collecting them here, because.)

Mom took lots of nice photos of me for my first reading.

And one after.

I took a page from Scalzi’s handbook and took pictures of my audiences.

Ukiah

Mendocino

San Francisco

I also realized that, on this five-night trip, we were sleeping in five different beds. (“If it’s Tuesday, it must be…”) So I took pictures of them. The first one after sleeping in it; the rest before.

This one before remaking with our own covers:

Motel on the way home:

And then home!

So, so happy to be home–though it was SUCH a good trip. Saw lots of marvelous friends and family, and sold lots of books! And being on stage is getting easier for me, the more I do it. It’s never going to be truly comfortable, but my stagefright is getting smaller and smaller. Which is a good thing, I have to say.

And now, peace and quiet and time for reflection more busy times ahead, with dinner guests and house guests and too much work to do and a novel to rewrite. La!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Busy times around here–as usual! Workity work. I’m making slow but steady progress on Queen & Tower, as well as doing All The Proofreading.

But that didn’t prevent us from taking a few hours off last night to attend a fancy party–a launch party for our fellow book-grouper Daniel‘s new app, Mayday! Deep Space.

It was in a neighborhood that reminded us of San Francisco! Gorgeous houses, impossible parking. Seriously, we almost gave up and went home, but then we found a spot–in a “neighborhood” zone, where we had to move the car every 90 minutes.

But then it was totally worth it. Half our Portland writer-friends were there. Daniel’s home is lovely and gracious; I have big-time house-lust.

And the funny part for me is that it underscored just how not-clued-in I am, not having a TV, not watching. “Ooh, look who that is!” I kept being told. I never had a clue. Apparently, the entire cast of Grimm was there. That’s a TV show. And then a very, Very, VERY tall man came in. “Isn’t he tall!” we all marveled. Well, he plays for the Portland Trail Blazers. (which I just had to google to see if it’s spelled as one word or two)

Yeah, I don’t get out much.

But it was a lovely party! And you should all go download the app, which is a playable science fiction story, and looks very cool. I’d go play it, except I’m so busy doing all this work. Workity work.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Nomination season is upon us!

May I suggest you take a look at Our Lady of the Islands, collaboratively written with the late Jay Lake?

It is a second-world fantasy novel featuring two middle-aged women protagonists. Though it’s set in an unexplored corner of Jay’s Green universe, you don’t need to be familiar with any of Jay’s writing to read and enjoy this.

Our Lady has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, and was named one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2014.

It is also one of Jay’s last novels; he died last June.

Thank you for your consideration!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

What a year it was! Mark and I feel like we completed the Seven Impossible Tasks, and now we’re sort of looking around, wondering what “normal life” looks like. Hahahhaa.

The year began with us in the middle of our three-month stint as replacement innkeepers at a lovely bed and breakfast on Orcas Island, and newly engaged. Orcas Island was amazing. We will totally live there some day. Even though it was the dead of winter, it was gorgeous, at any time of day, from any angle. And peaceful (it’s probably not like that in the height of tourist season…), and warm and friendly. We loved it. A number of friends came to see us at the inn; we never felt isolated or far away.

Mid-February, we returned to Portland (and started dieting). I was already deep into the rewrite of Our Lady of the Islands, and the project just kept getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger… Mark, meanwhile, began working on the deck demolition-and-rebuild. Which coincided with some of the rainiest, most miserable weather of the winter.

But then it was May and the deck was done! The novel, alas, wasn’t. That remained a huge project, and Mark gave me lots of input. Which was totally helpful. No, really, it was.

Sadly, the rewrite did not get done in time for Jay to read it. He died June 1. Sick as he was, we had not talked for some months before that, though he knew I was doing a deep rewrite, and was glad for it. I remain deeply sad that he never got to see it, or the positive critical acclaim it’s gotten.

The novel finally got turned in in later June, in time for us to have a nice deckwarming party. Fifty people came, which gave us a taste of what to expect for our wedding with several hundred guests…yikes!

Speaking of the wedding! That was the next huge project. To save money (money we didn’t have, even before we spent more than a new car’s worth on the deck), we planned it all ourselves, cutting corners everywhere we could. We went to California again and again, meeting with the caterer, the florist (a friend), the owners of the ranch (also friends), tasting wine and beer and champagne (how we suffered!), trying to get all the parts and pieces put together.

Meanwhile, it was an incredible summer here in Portland–some of the best weather I’ve ever seen, in my five years here. We gardened like crazy, and really enjoyed that new deck. It was warm and pleasant all the time–okay, sometimes hot and pleasant. Well, I loved it. We rode our bikes all the time, including long rides out to Boring and Gresham; did all ten bridges on the Providence Bridge Pedal, and were surprised at how easy it was.

And the wedding. The planning. Things got busier and more frenzied and more crazy leading up to it…we went to California a month before, with a carfull of liquor to store at the ranch; we went to California again a week before the wedding, to make all the final preparations. There was WAY too much to do, and not nearly enough time; a jillion little things went wrong; several major things appeared to go wrong and didn’t; several other very bad things happened to close members of our wedding party (one of which I only learned about last night); and the weather was cold and gloomy and drippy all week.

And then. The morning of the wedding dawned…bright and sunny. All the troubles fell away. Well, except for Mark’s awful chest cold. But he took Day-Quil, and soldiered on. The wedding was spectacular, gorgeous, amazing. Perfect. I married my best friend. What a journey we both took to get here–all our lives, not just this year, not just the last five years since we met. I smile every time I see that ring on his finger. My husband.

My poor husband was SO SICK for several days after the wedding…he only started feeling better once I started getting sick. We gave up on trying to go see his dad in the board-and-care, not wanting to bring sickness there, and headed for home. On our way, I learned that Our Lady, not to be published for two more months yet, had already gotten a FABULOUS starred review from Publishers Weekly! Amazing! But even that was not enough to keep the flu at bay. Oh, sick, sick.

Fortunately, having been married before, I had known enough to schedule our honeymoon for several weeks after the wedding–not right away. So by the time we went to Orcas Island at the end of October, we were both feeling quite recovered.

And such a lovely honeymoon it was! Seeing so many people we’d met the winter before; being hosted in the bed & breakfast we had been “keepers” of; and my birthday. AND, on the morning of my birthday, in the middle of our honeymoon, in the most beautiful spot on earth: that’s when I got Publishers Weekly‘s even better news–that they had named Our Lady one of their Best Books of 2014.

I am still not quite believing that.

We got home from the honeymoon, scrambled to get ready to run a dealer’s table at OryCon (and didn’t quite get everything together we’d wanted to), sold a lot of early copies of Our Lady, and saw a lot of good folks. Before we knew it, it was time to head to California for Thanksgiving…where we got the news that my brother and sister-out-law are going to have a baby boy next May!!!! They already knew at our wedding, but weren’t announcing it yet–wanting to get all the tests done to make sure it was a go, and not wanting to steal our thunder.

I am SO EXCITED and happy!! I’ve always wanted to be an aunt. They will be amazing parents. We are all THRILLED.

Mark and I stuck around California, secretly, after Thanksgiving, to attend a surprise 70th birthday party for my dad a week later. He was very, very surprised! It was great.

Alas, on this trip was when we got the news that our good friend Kate had a malignant brain tumor. She’s had surgery, and is recovering well from that; she’s now undergoing chemo and radiation. Once we got home, I began writing several times a week with her husband David; Mark goes to sit with Kate while we do that. They are still reeling from this, as are we all.

Then on December 9, Our Lady officially published; I had several readings (and more are coming); my Amazon numbers got really low for a while (which is good!); I got a starred Library Journal review, and lots of people told me they read/are reading the book and liked/are liking it. Go, little book, go!

We had a tree-decorating party, and then hosted my mom and stepdad for Christmas, which was lovely. Then we had a reasonably quiet New Year’s Eve, with my friend H., who gave us the happy/sad news that her financial and career situation had changed so that she can leave Portland and move back to California to be near her parents. Which she’s wanted to do, but…I will miss her! Though, as she points out, we go to California often enough. It’s not like we’ll be strangers.

So it was a pretty darn good year, for us, with some notable dark spots. There appears to be rather too much cancer in this world of ours. I’ve only mentioned the people I know closely; too many others in our extended circle have much sadder stories to tell than my year of publishing success, marriage, and a new generation underway.

And for 2015? Onward, onward. I’m months late on my rewrite of The Queen and The Tower; working on it (during those writing dates with David), but I’ve got quite a ways to go. We have some interesting projects planned, both Mark and I, which I will tell you about if/when they come to fruition. We’re thinking about our travel–if we can afford to travel–WorldCon for sure, probably World Fantasy, and then some smaller cons. California in May or early June, of course, to meet the new Page boy! Oh and California in a few weeks, for more bookstore readings. Tomorrow the diet starts again. Neither of us have been on our bikes in months (in our defense, it’s COLD outside!). I hope to hang onto all the freelance proofreading/copy editing clients I have; if this keeps up, it may actually be a sustainable career for me. Getting paid to read books: wow. If you had told me, when I was a kid, that this could be a career, I would not have believed you. I still don’t quite believe it.

And getting paid not just to read but to WRITE books? Yeah. Pretty much ideal.

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2015 be full of wonder and challenge and love and wine and growth and laughter.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

I’m going to do my New Year’s Day book tally a little differently this year.

Last year, I read 110 books total; this year it came to 98. It’s my first year since I’ve been keeping track that the number went down. I’m not surprised; in fact, I was surprised it hadn’t come down further.

But then I dug into the numbers a little deeper and figured out why. Of that 98, 62 were for work, and only 36 were for leisure. Including book group reading, background rereading for Our Lady of the Islands, and a friend’s novel for blurb.

I got a LOT of new clients this year, which is awesome! It kept me very busy. Obviously.

And I don’t know which (if any) of these clients want me to publicly announce their names and their book titles, if they haven’t been released yet; and even some of my longer-term clients had me work on as-yet-unannounced books; so, what I’m going to do this year is only list the books I read for leisure.

1. Leicht, Stina, …and Blue Skies from Pain
2. Sanderson, Brandon, The Emperor’s Soul
3. Morgan, Lou, Blood and Feathers
4. Gaiman, Neil, The Ocean at the End of the Lane
5. Kay, Guy Gavriel, Under Heaven
6. King, Stephen, 11/22/63
7. Atwood, Margaret, Cat’s Eye
8. Perez-Reverte, Arturo, The Club Dumas
9. Atwood, Margaret, Lady Oracle
10. Saintcrow, Lilith, The Iron Wyrm Affair
11. Berry, Karen, Love and Mayhem in the Francie June Memorial Trailer Park
12. Simmons, Dan, The Hollow Man
13. Brenchley, Chaz, Mall Time
14. Tallerman, David, Giant Thief
15. Griffith, Nicola, Hild
16. De Jager, Liz, Banished
17. Eskridge, Kelly, Solitaire
18. Scalzi, John, The Human Division
19. Johansen, Erika, The Queen of the Tearling
20. Elliott, Kate, Cold Fire
21. Lake, Jay, Endurance
22. Lake, Jay, Kalimpura
23. Elliott, Kate, Cold Steel
24. VanderMeer, Jeff, Annihilation
25. Kay, Guy Gavriel, River of Stars
26. Russell, Mary Doria, The Sparrow
27. Russell, Mary Doria, Children of God
28. Helprin, Mark, Winter’s Tale
29. Finney, Patricia, Unicorn’s Blood
30. Walton, Jo, My Real Children
31. Lynch, Scott, The Republic of Thieves
32. VanderMeer, Jeff, Authority
33. Haskell, Merrie, The Castle Behind Thorns
34. Leckie, Ann, Ancillary Justice
35. Weir, Andy, The Martian
36. King, Stephen, The Wind Through the Keyhole

A pretty good year of reading! And a giant TBR pile for 2015. Onward…

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

So many days since I last blogged! It’s no longer a daily habit with me, though I do come to LJ every day and read my friends list. More than once a day.

I’ve kind of given up on the Twitters again too. It’s just…not my natural form, short-and-witty. It’s impossible to keep up with, and then I leave it for a day or two and thousands of tweets pile up, and then my account gets hacked, and, bleh.

I do try to drop into Facebook every now and then. Facebook is good for pictures of food.

But mostly I am off DOING things, these days, it seems. Writing–I am making good progress (AGAIN) on Queen & Tower, yay! My parents’ visit was lots of fun, and food, and three jigsaw puzzles. Speaking of food, and pictures what-of, Mark made his famous ravioli:

I’ve got several giant piles of freelance work which are keeping me busy in every spare moment. All while trying to squeeze in time for exercise, and keep up with household tasks, and a jillion other things.

Speaking of other things! I’ve been in conversation with the delightful Allyson Johnson, who is about to start narrating the audiobook of Our Lady of the Islands. My task now is to come up with a comprehensive guide to how everything is pronounced–people, place names, all that. Some of which are…a little fluid. I have to think about how it all sounds in my head, and make some decisions, and convey that to her (probably I’ll make a recording of me speaking them all). A lot of these names, Jay came up with them, but he’s not here to ask, so I will have to do my best.

What else? Planning our trip to California in January, for more readings from Our Lady. Seeing lots of friends. Getting my first Amazon review for Our Lady! (Is being Klausnered not a thing any more? Or is the book not high profile enough to have captured her attention?) Secret things I can’t tell you about yet. Going to see the Hobbit movie later this afternoon. Lots of things. I should get back to them.

Here, have a picture of a snail on a rock, in my tiny desk-aquarium.

Happy New Year!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Tomorrow the Mom and the Stepdad arrive. They’ve already texted from Grants Pass, more than halfway (and stopping for the night). The house is not entirely clean yet, but it’s getting there. The yard is being worked on too, which in December consists of cutting down and digging up dead things and putting them in the appropriate receptacles, or at least in tidy piles. It’s kind of like cleaning. Only muddier.

It is 11:40 p.m. and Mark has just run off to Safeway in search of different/additional cookie cutters. Because apparently unicorns and dolphins and hummingbirds aren’t Christmas enough. It’s just that kind of night.

Myself, I went to only two grocery stores today, but that’s because he went to three yesterday. And he also went to one today. Not counting this Safeway run.

Holidays are complicated!

Also: yesterday, without (much) warning, Camille & Claude wafted through town, and arranged a little gathering at a local food/drink spot, for a congenial crowd. So we went to that. This evening, with rather more warning, a friend of mine from high school wafted through town, and we met her at the airport for an entirely delightful (and far too short) session of catching-up, with adult beverages and airport-priced (but delicious) food.

And Mark is making the Famous Ravioli again. I am so excited: we won’t be giving it all away this time. Though tomorrow’s dinner is mine: my famous lamb meatballs, LE YUM.

Thank goodness for stretchy clothes. We’ll diet in the new year.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

So.

(How many of my entries start with “So”?)

We have had long-scheduled a gathering at our house today, with some dear relatives of Mark’s, who live hereabouts. An assortment of them, from here and there more-or-less locally.

So this morning dawned, well, rainy. Quite rainy.

It’s Oregon! What’s a little rain?

“It’s awfully rainy,” Mark said, this morning, as we listened to it drum upon the roof. “I hope everyone doesn’t cancel because they don’t want to drive in this.”

“It’s Oregon!” I said. “And your relatives are life-long Oregonians! They won’t even notice this! Of course they’ll come.”

Within the hour, the first phone call came. In short order, the lunch-party was…not.

Cleverly, we had done most of the cooking the day before. Uncleverly, we now had a truly excessive amount of soup on hand.

So we invited the across-the-street neighbors over for soup, and steak-and-mushrooms, and cards. They braved the rain (but arrived quite weather-drenched anyway, even from across the street), and a delightful time was had.

And we still have LOTS of leftover soup. And I won all the cards.

That’ll do.

In other news: here’s a lot of cherry shrimp in the aquarium. (And a catfish tail.)

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

So we dashed up to Seattle and back, and had a lovely reading at the University Book Store. A very friendly crowd, and wine afterwards, so what’s not to like?

Okay, wine beforehand too. Did you think I wouldn’t?

scarlettina graciously hosted us; it was so very nice to see her, and to spend some quality time, both in the evening after the reading and the next morning, when she introduced us to a dangerously delicious breakfast place.

And, as usual, the cats found the one person in the room who is Not Charmed (i.e., allergic). Here is Sophie, staking her claim:

Seriously, look at that face. She’s like, Okay, FINE, I’ll sit on him, ’cause it’s in the contract that I have to sit on Allergic Guy, but I don’t have to LIKE it.

Then we rushed back home and worked all week. Oh and had overnight guests. And a book group meeting (not here!). And a dinner party (also not here!). And a writing date this afternoon. And oh yeah, I did some laundry yesterday, like you do, and discovered that the utility sink, which the washer drains into, was entirely backed up. Laundry water on the basement floor, joy! So a nice plumber came this morning, and all is well again. (with bonus! fixing of the upstairs toilet, we hope.)

In conclusion, I present to you an Illustrated Example of the Horrifying Things You Suddenly See When Your Mom Is About To Come Visit:

Fridge Handles–Before

Fridge Handles–After

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

So…Our Lady of the Islands has received a second starred review! This one from Library Journal. Behold!

★ 12/01/2014
An unexpected gift from a god throws businesswoman Sian Kattë’s world into chaos. Her life had settled into a comfortable if unexciting routine: maintaining her loveless marriage to Arouf, directing the public-facing areas of their cloth company, and even meeting a lover on the sly. But a priest of the Butchered God has passed to Sian the power to heal anyone she touches, a power that could prove inconvenient to the local priesthood, whose members claim she is a fraud. As political turmoil erupts on her island nation, Sian tries desperately to get to the seat of authority where she believes she is meant to heal the heir to the throne. VERDICT A picturesque tropical setting, a mature, intelligent heroine, and a whole lot of action help make this collaboration between Page (Eel River) and the late Lake (Green) a great success. Set in a remote corner of Lake’s Copper Downs world, this will appeal to fans of Lake’s other novels, or anyone who enjoys rich fantasy adventure.

Stars! Good reviews! “A great success!” Yippee!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Yes, indeed, there WAS weather on Thursday. My reading at Powell’s was well-attended anyway–though I know of at least half a dozen people who stayed home because of the weather. But it was a good crowd, and the drinks afterwards were even better.

After the reading, I checked my phone and found a message from my next-door neighbor, wondering if our power was out too. Yes, turned out it was…we got home to find our street entirely dark. So we wandered around in the dark turning out all the lamps we thought might have been left on, and went to bed. (Got most of them!)

Power came on about 2am, but the internet did not. Indeed, the internet was out all day Friday, not returning till Saturday morning–around 30 hours total, I think.

It’s amazing how much we rely on the internet. Just sayin’.

Anyway! It’s all fixed now, thank goodness. And we had a little tree-decorating-gathering last night, with desserts. Here’s the table, not even fully laden (later came the pies, and those punchbowls got filled, one with eggnog and the other with spiced cider).

What party is complete without a gumdrop tree?

We laid out all the ornaments and let folks have at it. I think it looks gorgeous, if rather more restrained than we’ve done in previous years.

Then today, I managed to find time to read through my Per Aspera queries and sample pages. Found some marvelous things in that pile! I’ve requested some full manuscripts, which I am excited to read. (To continue reading, that is…you know it’s good when you get to the end of the 10-page sample and think, NOOOOO, where’s the rest of it, I want it NOW!!!)

But wait! There’s more! Tomorrow we dash up to Seattle for my reading at the University Book Store, 7:00 pm. Be there! See me struggle to pronounce “chirurgeon”! Fun for the whole family!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Thing the first: Our Lady of the Islands is featured on John Scalzi’s The Big Idea today! Some very nice comments there, too.

Thing the second: My first reading from Our Lady is TONIGHT, at Powell’s bookstore in Beaverton, 7:00 p.m. I hope you can come see me!

Unless, of course…the weather. We’ve been watching reports of deluge in California (below us) and Washington (above us), while having rather ordinary rain here. But this afternoon, that’s all supposed to change. So they say.

At the moment, it looks like this here:

We’ll see what the future holds! I hope I’m not just reading to Mark. He’s already heard it several times…

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Our Lady of the Islands is officially out today!

You can buy it in a variety of your favorite formats, and you should even be able to find it in bookstores. If they don’t have it, ask them to order it!

The best present you can give an author is to buy her books.

It’s a busy week for me–tomorrow I’m answering questions and chatting at Bitten By Books–click the link to RSVP now.

Thursday, I’m reading at Powell’s in Beaverton, at 7:00 p.m.

Monday, I’ll be up in Seattle, reading at the University Book Store, also at 7:00.

And for you Californians–don’t despair! In mid-January, I’ll be coming down to do a few readings, in Ukiah, Mendocino, and San Francisco (at Borderlands). I’ll post details of those readings soon.

Book Day! Book Day!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

We were actually in California a little longer than I let on, but I couldn’t be public about it, because it was for a Secret Surprise.

My dad turns 70 later in December, but he’s going to be in Hawaii (lucky dog) and we won’t. But his work planned a surprise birthday party for him a week after Thanksgiving, and invited us.

It would have been just silly to drive down, drive up, and drive down again, especially since we were planning to spend a few days at Mark’s mom’s anyway. So we decided to just stay.

We saw Dad at Thanksgiving, then gave him a hug and told him to have a great time in Hawaii and we’ll see him in January when we come down for my mini-book-tour. Then we basically snuck around California, seeing family and friends (though not nearly as many as we’d wanted to, alas). (But we will be back in January!)

Both my parents turn 70 this month, in fact. So we were able to take Mom & Stepdad out for Mom’s birthday. No surprise on this one, but we were cagey about keeping ourselves out of the photo, on the off chance Dad checked Facebook.

We were very briefly in the Bay Area, where I noticed there have been some changes to a bridge since I moved away.

Old Bridge.


New Bridge.

And speaking of bridges, the Golden Gate made this cool mini-tower effect in the fog.

The day of the surprise party finally arrived! And it came off beautifully. Dad had NO IDEA. The surprise on his face was priceless. I didn’t get a photo because I was busy blowing a noise-maker, along with everyone else.

But there was a cool cake:

Yes, Giants Fandom is a thing in my family.

Then Friday, we drove home all day, and have been basically playing catch-up since then. There is SO MUCH to do! I got a pile of freelance work while we were gone. And I have a book coming out on Tuesday! I’m excited and nervous! More exclamation points!!

Oh and my uncle and his girlfriend were extras in a TV movie. Here’s the backs of their heads:


Now your day is complete.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

You’re welcome.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

I was a little under the weather yesterday. Probably too much holiday cheer. Feeling much better today!

Which is good, because my husband is making his famous homemade ravioli, which I’ve heard about for years but have never experienced. We’re here at his mom’s house, an appropriate place for an old family recipe. The process has taken two days.

We’re going to have it for dinner in a few minutes! I cannot TELL you how good it smells in here.

The sauce took longer than anything. Maybe, if we don’t scarf it all down before I think of it, I’ll manage to get a photo of the finished product. Maybe.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

I’m going to be an aunt! Our family is growing!! We had all given up hope! (well, almost.)

Thanksgivings are auspicious around my family these days. Last year, Mark proposed. This year, the news that Brother and his Amazing Girlfriend are having a little boy next May.

Eeeeee!!!

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.

Well, my to-do list is looking a lot better, though “write long blog post about the last year” is still un-checked-off.

Tomorrow we leave for California, family, Thanksgiving, you know. So today we are getting ready, including doing some gardening, of the tidying-up-for-winter variety. I got stabbed by a huge rose thorn so hard I’ve got an actual bruise. Silly roses. They don’t know when you’re trying to help them.

Oh and I have some publishing news! “Rolling Steel,” a story Jay and I wrote together and published in Clarkesworld a few years back, has been picked up to be reprinted in The Mammoth Book of Dieselpunk, edited by Sean Wallace. I’ll give you a link when I have one. Reprint, yay! (Or is it still called a reprint when it was an online magazine to begin with? Hmm.)

In other news, instead of rewriting Queen & Tower, I think I’m going to really, truly, thoroughly, entirely, um, reWRITE it. As in, all these words here in this big pile of manuscript? I’m going to put them away and write other, new, different words. Trying to revise this book is just…not working.

This will let me make some…interesting…changes to the story and characters, too, I think. It’ll still be the same fundamental story I’ve been trying to tell lo these many years I’ve been working on it, the same main characters, the same situations, the same (or even better thought through) solutions to those situations. But it’ll be fresher, I hope. The tone should be more in keeping with the way I actually envision the story. I won’t be trying to work around old stuff that doesn’t fit any more. (This book started off a LOT lighter than it is now–in fact, its beginning was a lot lighter than its ending. So it was never clear whether it was supposed to be a silly, Bewitched-style “witchlit” urban fantasy or a dark tale of betrayal and heartbreak. Because it was kinda both, but neither very well. Which made it hard to take seriously either way.)

I’m working on a new outline now; Mark and I have already had several deep conversations about it. I hope to dive into the rewrite as soon as we’re back from the holiday. So that maybe next year, you’ll FINALLY get to read this book…

I’m excited about this, actually. Yes, it’s daunting to think of starting from page 1 and writing all new words. But I also miss fresh writing–it’s been quite a while since I’ve been able to do that. I’m hoping, thinking maybe, I’m a better writer now…I hope that the revision process for Our Lady, and the editing and critiquing and slush reading I’ve been doing, has helped hone my skill set. I hope–no, I BELIEVE, I do–that my voice is getting stronger, more assured. (yes, I noticed how wishy-washy that statement of strength and confidence is…heh. Welcome to writer-brain.)

Well, I will let you know how it goes. For now, back to laundry, packing, etc.

Originally published at Shannon Page. You can comment here or there.