The Girdle of Melian

don't stay up too late at my sister's bachelorette tonight; manage to clean the entire house tomorrow morning before our guests arrive; find/create/buy some food to keep said guests happy; make it to the Montreal Highland Games on Sunday, despite many errands; catch up on emails and the Characters Houseparty over at the Compuserve Books and Writers Forum ; and write another scene for the new work in progress. 1492! Thanks to Anne and May for the Friday Fill in the Blank!

...is done! For all intents and purposes - Diana's finished writing it, and now it's on to galley proofs, and everything else the publishers do to get it ready for the bookshelves. I drool at the thought of copy editing this book; so many twists and turns to double check, facts to verify, names to spell correctly, languages that are translated... And Diana writes so well that it would be a joy to tidy up the final copy. Copy editing is a very satisfying process; if only it was my full-time job. I'd like to herewith promote myself as copy editor extraordinaire, available for hire! For Diana's Compuserve announcement, go here . Karen's announcement and countdown are here .

Last week, Nathan asked that question , and quite a number of people mentioned The Lord of the Rings , the Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter . Two other authors, Erika and Beth , mentioned Outlander , but they both wanted to steal Jamie from Claire. Those books would be some of my knee jerk reactions, too, as well as the books of Susan Cooper and Madeleine l'Engle, among others. I think the world of Outlander would be much more fun if I was friends with Jamie and Claire both, instead of risking my life trying to separate them. Then I got to thinking. I'm not sure I'd enter any of these books without setting some conditions. Hobbiton would be a grand place to live, and Narnia might be fun, depending on which age you jumped into. But Hogwarts while the Death Eaters are loose? You'd have to know beforehand which time you were going to and whether you'd be a main character... On the other hand, where's the fun without a bit of risk? If it was just to visit, i...

Nathan Bransford posted a new example of what he considers a "stellar" query letter . I'm still trying to put my finger on why I completely disagree with him. There are three strikes against me: I'm not an agent; I may be rejecting it off-hand because the plot bores me to tears; and I'm a bit soured by the Lakers reference (what're you supposed to do if you don't even like basketball much? Find something else to hate with Nathan?). As for a proper critique, I've been staring at the letter for a good few minutes, and still can't put my finger on why it feels wrong. Perhaps it's the idea that a medic would get involved in conspiracies - she's not a cop or an agent, so what's she have to offer? "claiming to be on her side" in what? Perhaps it's because the letter gives a strong sense of the author, but reveals next to nothing about the protagonist. But maybe it's just me. I don't like the kitchiness of this letter , e...

After a marathon 24 hours of editing last week ( not all in one stretch, but close), I can safely and without any reservations, state that my novel is Done! It's Finished! Complete! Over! Ah, there's always a 'but', isn't there? This is without beta reads and without any substantial agent-requested changes, since I'm still agent-hunting. For all intents and purposes, however, it's confetti time! [we pause now to indulge in a moment of skippitty-hoppity] Leaving me free to write and research for the new wip as I see fit. I've got about ten scenes under my belt but no links or overall themes yet. Still in exploration mode on this one, which is set 1450 years ahead of The Face of A Lion. The next one is likely to take place in the 1930s - getting closer to a modern novel with each step...

If you'd like to win a copy of Linda Gerber 's Death by Denim - and if you haven't read it yet, then you ought to want to win! - skip on over to the YAthenaeum site! I've entered this morning, even though I'm actually spending the day getting some serious work done. It's going slowly, but I may, just may, be COMPLETELY finished editing before the week is out. Wow! And rereading hasn't been so difficult either. I'm always wary, as I think "oh no! what if I reread my work and realise I'm a terrible writer?" but this time around, I think I might have something good here. We hope.

A new feature of the online edition of our local paper starts tomorrow... Sorry, got a little distracted by Frodo and Sam, who are frolicking on the bed as only cats can do. Frodo is cleaning Sam's face, holding it between his two front paws... Where was I? Ah yes, among the writers and poets to be featured will be Monique Polak (I missed having her as a teacher in CEGEP by about two years; but was fortunate enough to be taught by Claire Holden Rothman (resisting the urge to call her Ms Rothman; student-y habits die hard)) and Robyn Sarah . Meanwhile, the Compuserve Forum login feature is down, and I haven't been able to reply to any messages. A couple of days ago in response to a question from Diana, Sharon posted : "We tuned in because of a documentary about the Scottish band Runrig who we have listened to for years. If you haven't heard of them, I would definitely recommend them. They sing in gaelic and English and the music is just beautiful." I've be...

Jen's hosting a procrastination contest . Let's face it, I'll enter any contest where the prize is a chance for more books. Even though I, too, have begun purging myself of stuff , in a bid to stem the flow of "pack rat!" epithets. Nathan's hosting a host his blog contest , though I doubt I can come up with a winning post in the next few hours...