This post's purpose is to collect my common tags in one place, so readers (and I!) can easily access entries on several subjects.

The fever broke last night. I feel much improved. Finished packing this morning.

Now to get myself to Philcon.

Still sick. Coughing makes it hard to sleep. Tired. Skipped gym. Worried all muscles will fall off.

Worried will not be better for this weekend. Luckily, first panel is not until Friday night.

For a Philcon panel I'm moderating this weekend on fantasy from non-European sources, does anyone have suggestions? I already made notes on questions to bring up and made my own list, mostly of young adult fantasy (Goto, Okorafor, Pon, Farmer, Wein), but your collective brain is better, and some of you might have read more brand new books than I have. I do plan to bring up colonialism, institutional racism, and "what this book needs is a honky." I intend to focus mostly on books, but of the panelists, one is a source for anime/manga and another for gaming.

I particularly want fantasy by non-white authors, but suggestions of non-Euro fantasy by white authors will also be useful. I've looked at various compiled lists, but don't mind links to those, either, just in case I missed them.

Books you didn't think did a good job will be valuable for the panel as well.

Thanks!!!

I might have a cold. At least, post-nasal drip, little coughs, slightly sore throat, overall feeling of wanting to sleep.

On the bright side, I went to the gym anyway this morning and did cardio and a very little weight with five-pound barbells. And last night I finished notes for the six panels I'm moderating this weekend.

But I have choir tonight. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'm only a little sick.

Fri 7:00 PM in Plaza I
FANTASY BASED ON NON-EUROPEAN SOURCES
Victoria Janssen (mod), Stephanie Burke, James L. Cambias, Christine Norris, Tom Doyle

You don't have to go "all medieval on me" to write fantasy. What are the best examples of fantasy not based on European backgrounds to date?


Fri 8:00 PM in Plaza VII
THE BOOKS WE COME BACK TO
Victoria Janssen (mod), Michael J. Walsh, KT Pinto, Caroline Cox, Lawrence Kramer

There are some books we read over and over again. What qualities do these books have that make them worth visiting again?


Fri 11:59 PM in Plaza IV
EYE OF ARGON READING
Oz Fontecchio (mod), Keith R.A. DeCandido, Lawrence M. Schoen, Phil Kahn, Hildy Silverman, Victoria Janssen

Reputedly, the worst story in the genre's history. Just try and read it without laughing.


Sat 11:00 AM in Plaza II
BROAD UNIVERSE RAPID FIRE READING
Christine Norris (mod), Catherine Asaro, Dina Leacock, E. F. Watkins, Gail Z. Martin, Victoria Janssen

All the Broad Universe authors in attendance give a short reading, creating a kind of “snack sampler” for the audience.


Sat 12:00 PM in Executive Suite 623
VICTORIA JANSSEN READING


Sat 2:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two
ARE WE HEADED FOR THE POST-LITERATE WORLD?
Bud Sparhawk (mod), Catherine Asaro, Victoria Janssen, Rebecca Maines, Tom Purdom]

How has easy access to technology changed the way that we read, write and think? How is this reflected in the more recent novels of the field?


Sat 4:00 PM in Plaza II
MAKING IT WITH VAMPIRES, SHAPESHIFTERS AND OTHER CREATURES
Victoria Janssen (mod), Desirina Boskovich, L.A. Banks, Genevieve Iseult Eldredge, Nina Ely, Stephanie Burke

What is the psychological appeal?


Sat 8:00 PM in Plaza I
INSERT TAB B INTO SLOT A
Victoria Janssen (mod), Lawrence M. Schoen, Michael Swanwick, Stephanie Burke, Lee Gilliland

The treatment of sex in Science Fiction.


Sun 1:00 PM in Grand Ballroom A
WHERE WILL THE ROMANCE/SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY CONNECTION GO?
Victoria Janssen (mod), Catherine Asaro, Robert Jeschonek, L.A. Banks, Oz Drummond

Is the crossover between Science Fiction/Fantasy and the Romance genre cresting or still on the rise? Where is it going? Is it affecting the whole field?

I didn't write this week but I crossed off a number of things from my to-do list, so I guess I'm doing okay. Also, The Moonlight Mistress is going to be an audiobook, out in December. And I got an invite to a "hot romance" anthology with pretty open guidelines, which is why I am all excited about writing something different from anything I've been working on.

I'm liking our cool, rainy weather, especially today when I have the necessary extra layer. Yesterday the wind was a little too chilly when I went out at lunch (though it was fine when I walked home, or I had adjusted).

I watched the end of season one of Leverage last night while I packed up bookmooch books. Since I can't seem to keep up with current tv, I probably won't see season two until it's out in DVD. Something to look forward to!

Went to gym this morning, haircut appointment this afternoon. Have to call new trainer; was too busy with other nitpicky things this week to deal with scheduling a new appointment.

Also this week, I bought some reference books. Because, like, I don't have any. *blush*

Poll #1484453 Hot Romance!!!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 45

Oracne needs to write a "hot romance" story. Which of these settings appeals?

This is my first choice of sub-genre.

You should do another poll for characters!

My random comment is

I'm feeling very autumn today. I'm not sure what that means, exactly, except I want to listen to a bunch of poignant songs and wander the city while the rain gathers on my trench coat and leaves swirl in the wind.

Watched two episodes of Leverage last night while I put away laundry and packed up a box of books. I have one disc left of the first season. Will probably move on to either the tv adaptations of Nero Wolfe or Sarah Jane Adventures next. My Thanksgiving trip to New York City usually results in watching more television than I watch the whole rest of the year. It's fun, but I'm always a little goggle-eyed afterwards.

Still haven't written this week. I don't feel ready to move on with the next section yet. If nothing shakes loose by Saturday, I will write anyway, of course.

To Any Dead Officer

Well, how are things in Heaven? I wish you'd say,
Because I'd like to know that you're all right.
Tell me, have you found everlasting day,
Or been sucked in by everlasting night?
For when I shut my eyes your face shows plain;
I hear you make some cheery old remark--
I can rebuild you in my brain,
Though you've gone out patrolling in the dark.

You hated tours of trenches; you were proud
Of nothing more than having good years to spend;
Longed to get home and join the careless crowd
Of chaps who work in peace with Time for friend.
That's all washed out now. You're beyond the wire:
No earthly chance can send you crawling back;
You've finished with machine-gun fire--
Knocked over in a hopeless dud-attack.

Somehow I always thought you'd get done in,
Because you were so desperate keen to live:
You were all out to try and save your skin,
Well knowing how much the world had got to give.
You joked at shells and talked the usual 'shop,'
Stuck to your dirty job and did it fine:
With 'Jesus Christ! when will it stop?
Three years ... It's hell unless we break their line.'

So when they told me you'd been left for dead
I wouldn't believe them, feeling it must be true.
Next week the bloody Roll of Honour said
'Wounded and missing'--(That's the thing to do
When lads are left in shell-holes dying slow,
With nothing but blank sky and wounds that ache,
Moaning for water till they know
It's night, and then it's not worth while to wake!)

. . . .

Good-bye, old lad! Remember me to God,
And tell Him that our Politicians swear
They won't give in till Prussian Rule's been trod
Under the Heel of England ... Are you there?...
Yes ... and the War won't end for at least two years;
But we've got stacks of men ... I'm blind with tears,
Staring into the dark. Cheero!
I wish they'd killed you in a decent show.

--Siegfried Sassoon, Counter-Attack and Other Poems, 1918

I'm not supposed to have insomnia this week. What's up with that?

Yesterday, I mailed review copies. I did laundry. I made a to-do list. I had an email discussion with my editor about cover ideas for The Duke and the Pirate Queen. No, I don't actually have any decision-making power, but they asked me about something and I gave my opinion. I also ordered a copy of my French translation, to see if it would arrive before my official copies. The official copies come from Somewhere in France. I don't have a contact there, so the time of their arrival is very mysterious, much like the origins of the translation itself. I asked about my copy of my audiobook for The Duchess etc.. I'm not sure I can make myself listen to it, but I do want my copy for the sake of completeness.

Georgette Heyer Starter Kit at the pro blog. For which I have many of you to thank, back in the day - a bunch of you recced me your favorites, many of which are now my favorites.

Philadelphia's transit strike is over, so later this week I plan to be back to early-morning gym sessions. I didn't go first thing this morning; I'm actually a little stiff from Saturday, still, and am not sure if it's better to go work that out or give it a little more time.

I also plan to get back to writing this week. Last week I deliberately took off from the novel, letting it stew around in my backbrain, and instead wrote some upcoming guest blogs and emails about review copies and the like. Yesterday, I brought my notebook to Tuscany (a coffee shop, not the place in Italy, alas!) and focused on what needs to happen in the last 20-25K of my first draft. I probably haven't thought of everything - I never do - but it's enough for going on with. I don't want to waste too much time meandering around figuring things out, now I'm so close to the end. I have quite enough plot items going on already!

I am boring, boring, boring. After three straight days of insomnia, last night I went to bed really early. I still woke up in the wee hours, but it wasn't quite as awful because I was farther into my sleep cycle. I feel somewhat better today than yesterday. That is, less whiny and pathetic on the inside.

Tonight I might even do laundry or something.

Oh, yeah, and I also have to finish a novel.

Third straight night with insomnia.

This can stop, like, Real Soon Now.

Blogged about some worldwide werewolf legends. All hail posts written ahead of time.

I continue to read bits of The Moonlight Mistress. I think I'm checking to see if all the words are there, or something. There are parts I didn't revise a great deal, and I keep searching those out; those are almost like reading something new. I found a small continuity error I made, that most readers probably won't catch. It doesn't make any difference to the plot.

I, who dislike reading on screen, have bought four m/m romance e-books, three of them by people I know and one that's set in World War One, so of course I had to have it. I'll probably post about them after I've read them all. Luckily, I could download all of them in PDF format, so I can print them on scrap paper and read them that way. Yeah, yeah, I'm a Luddite.

I upped my weights yesterday, to the degree that for some I had to really struggle, but today I'm not nearly as stiff as I worried I would be. Though I am not dancing like a butterfly, either.

Today's pro blog post is Oral Tradition, Epithets, and J.D. Robb.

Insomnia followed by a transit strike, which meant I didn't have the comfortable length of time to get to the gym and work out before the day job began. Will have to work out either at lunch or this evening.

I walked to work, of course, and fairly quickly, which is exercise. But it's not enough. In a mood like I'm in today, I need weights!

(I can provide smelling salts if you're in shock that I want to exercise....)

It was chilly and thus hard to get out of bed this morning. I was glad I went to the gym yesterday morning instead (I skipped Saturday--too stiff and tired from Friday night's dress rehearsal). I do have to get up and go tomorrow, though.

Saturday night's concert audience was fairly small, probably a result of 1) rain; 2) Halloween; and 3) people staying home to watch the Phillies in the World Series. On the drive back with a friend, the roads were scarily deserted, and the restaurant where we stopped to eat was practically empty (and had the game playing on the bar tv).

Am still very excited about my author copies.

I blogged about why NaNoWriMo is a good idea even though I'm not doing it.

And evil, evil Amazon is having a huge sale on sf/f tv DVDs. Most notably on the two Stargate series.

I have author copies of The Moonlight Mistress!!!

*is happy*

Women's Studies Reading Challenge for next year, at A Striped Armchair.

I couldn't think of a Halloween costume. Well, I thought of several, but lacked energy to actually put them together, and those that didn't need much putting together, I lacked the energy to wear.

I did paint my nails sparkly dark purple while I was waiting for my clothes to come out of the dryer.

But once again, there are many things happening this weekend, and I'm not doing any of them because I have concerts on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, and a dress rehearsal tonight. I could maybe have juggled around and done at least one party, but then I wouldn't have had any weekend. Sometimes I crave free time alone more than anything else. Will try and do some social stuff next week.

Spooky Book Recommendations. I'm not a big fan of horror. What's scary to me is more along the lines of The Handmaid's Tale (which I did not include).

And an interesting gym fact - I think I have handedness when doing some exercises. Which makes perfect sense, but I hadn't thought of it that way before. I can fairly easily do things with one leg that, with the other, feel impossibly awkward even while I'm doing them. Not sure if it looks differently from the outside. My balance is also better when on one side than on the other. I'm right-handed, and my left leg is more graceful than my right.