7 for 7

11 March 2002

Hey! I did it! Finished "Endgene" yesterday, so seven days, seven stories done. The line-up is: "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Boy (With Aliens)" (a collab with Timprov), "Small Talk," "Drops of Yesterday," "A Nose for Spirits," "Glass Wind," "The Un-Wisher," and "Endgene." Three SF and four fantasy. Six adult and one YA/children's. That's a pretty good balance, I think, and it clears a lot of the short stories out of my head so that I can work with more focus on the Not The Moose Book. At least, that's the plan.

My dad was concerned, last week, that the timing of this binge was going to be poor, in terms of messing up my back before I leave for Minneapolis. But I assured him that I'll see Dr. Bill if it's too stiff. And really, it has been better (in the past than it is now, in case the understated Minnesota-ism was coming out as improvement), but it's also been worse. On the whole I think it's pretty okay. But if it isn't on Wednesday, I know who to call.

See, this is the kind of parental concern that I like best, because I can defuse it. I like it that my family (not just my parents) is involved in a lot of my life. It occasionally bothers me when we have disagreements on how things ought to be done and I can't just provide the answer that will fix my family members' worries or concerns. But I'm generally pretty happy that they get involved in the first place.

I was talking about this with one of my friends a little while ago -- his reaction when his mom liked his place was essentially, "Well, good for her, I guess," whereas mine was, "Oh, that must be a relief for you!" And then we got into one of those discussions that's essentially talking past each other: "But I wouldn't move just because my mom didn't like my apartment." "But you don't want her to worry." "She's in control of that, not me." "But...." Just a different kind of family dynamic, I guess.

It also helps that my parents are not the types to tell me that I "have to" stop writing so much this week or "must" do this or that. They never really were. I joked in high school that the folks had done something horrible to me: they gave me a conscience. But it's my biggest advice to new parents, to do what mine did in that regard. Consideration breeds consideration. Respect breeds respect. And neither of those things means giving in to every whim.

Hmm. Anyway. I started reading Kara Dalkey's Goa: Blood of the Goddess yesterday, and I'm afraid she's going to join Robert Reed on my list of "almost" authors. This book feels like it could be a lot cooler, and I'm halfway through, so it had better start soon if it's going to do so. The convention of starting each chapter with a plant or tree and a discussion of its supposed mythic and medicinal properties seems overdone to me -- not particularly unique nor particularly well-suited to the book. But maybe it's just my prejudice against chapters talking there.

We watched the "Star Wars: Episode II" trailer on Fox last night. Ugh. There are some lines Yoda should never have to say, and "Begun this Cold War has" is one of them. How can it keep getting worse? And yet it does. (I also think the stage at which we're seeing advertising for the advertising is, as Mark ventured last night, a sign of the end of the world.)

Ah well. Yesterday was pretty decent: work, relaxation, good lunch with Jenn. Plans for today include an ice cream date with Mark (mix-ins...yum!), dinner here with Evan (I suppose I'm not allowed to say "yum" to my own cooking...but I bet it'll be good), work on the Not The Moose Book, and revisions on "The Children's Village." And such glamorous tasks as laundry, shoe polishing, and cutting coupons, of course. I also have to call AT&T Broadband, as they sent me another bill for -$25. I don't really want it to show up on our credit report as an unpaid bill, especially after Liz's horror story about the "unpaid bill" on her credit report for $0.00. Anyway. Have a good day. Be productive. Try to enjoy your Monday.

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