The Girdle of Melian

ook what I got the other day: That's the first time I've gotten such a notification; happy that it was for Talli ! Last week Google featured a cute Doodle for Edward Gorey's birthday: I've noted three Doodles in the past, the ones for Agatha Christie , the Royal Wedding , and Mark Twain . Which ones have you enjoyed? So, ROW80 . Druid's Moon is, how shall I put this... getting there. I feel like I'm pulling a sled. Every time I turn around, I find it's tipped over on its side again. I have to right it, and resume dragging it along behind me. On the one hand, I've finished the on-screen edits! Only a couple weekends behind schedule. On the other hand, I still have edits on paper for the first few chapters to enter, plus a few more dialects to check/fix (I've got at least one character with a Cornish accent), and some spells and curses to write! I also need to find an example of an archaeological discovery involving Merlin, from

ore mini reviews! A Calendar of Tales by Neil Gaiman - this is the collection of short stories he wrote following the Twitter question fest, and now there's a call out for art inspired by the stories - submit your photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, what have you. I might try to take a couple of photographs, since I can't seem to find any already taken that are good enough. Not even of ducks ! Oh yes the review - I love these short stories. Not only are they compact and full of wonder (thus giving me a serious case of insecure writer), they also spark ideas. I probably won't enter the art contest in the end, but I do hope to try writing my own stories - either based on the prompts Neil chose, or on different ones entirely (there are hundreds to choose from!). Jenny sent me a copy of Teresa Reasor 's Highland Moonlight , and Timeless the other day - so much fun to receive an unexpected Highland romance! Thanks to Teresa for these fun reads. Speaki

ere I thought I was going overboard, because I make To Do lists all the time, and have an Excel sheet for agents, and save all my emails and so on. Well, look at this: Joe Hill keeps more lists than I do! I don't watch enough movies to make that worth documenting, and I hardly exercise (I just walk a lot and try to take the stairs). Also, I like things tidy, and the more I use a notebook, the messier it's likely to get. Once I've completed half the tasks on a To Do list, I love trashing it and starting over with a fresh clean list - even if I copy over half the same items. One of the random items on my list is a time capsule letter I have to write. By hand. My nephew just celebrated his first birthday, and my sister is asking family and friends to write him a letter. She's going to save them all for when he's older, maybe graduating from high school or turning 21. I'm supposed to be a writer, no? I have no idea what to put in the letter! Does any

ow80 is going well! I'm still editing Druid's Moon on screen, and also managed to read another research book this week, all about Celtic myths (the fact that it was fun reading made it easier, of course). Recently inspired by fellow writers on the Forum , since we're all at relatively the same stage with our novels, and each pushing to finish within the next couple of months! Meanwhile, I'm posting on Saturday instead of Sunday this week because I've got a treat for you: It's the Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels Blog Tour ! " Just Your Average Teenage Mer-Girl The only thing that terrifies Jade more than the ocean is dancing at the Fall Formal. Because Jade has two left feet—er, flippers. Who knew being a high school freshman is even more awkward than being a plus-size aqua-phobic mer-girl? At least her only drama is of the human variety... Or not. The Mermish Council has just declared that all land-dwelling mers but return t

p until yesterday I was still feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the projects I've committed to - not necessarily because there are so many, but because I never feel as though I'm editing quickly enough. Also despite the fact that I somehow took the entire weekend off (if I can spare time for that, why can't I catch up with other things?); besides family events, all I did all weekend was read - no, devour - Stephen King's 11/22/63 . A wonderful, absorbing book. King, as always, is a master of characterisation. Of course one of my first thoughts once I'd finished reading, after my tears had abated, was 'why do I bother???' But that, of course, is not how I should be feeling. I knew that right away, so I tried to focus on what I can do, to make sure my stories evoke similar reactions in my eventual readers. One of the first things I thought of is that I really love my characters, so I've got to make sure the writing shines enough that readers will

h hello. I had a deadline today, didn't I? Promised to have all the on-screen edits of Druid's Moon completed. (Also blog comments and advance A-Z posts to catch up on, plus a couple of writing projects...) So what have I been doing? Not sure... I have been editing, just not devoting as much time to it as I should. Yes, despite the schedule. I'm thinking that something has to go... I enjoy Twitter quite a lot, and have gotten used to not checking every minute of it now that I'm following so many more people than when I started. I thought about blogging only once a week, but I like blogging! And I love interacting with all of you. It's nice to have a forum for longer, more elaborate discussions and thoughts. Speaking of forums, I'm still active in the Compuserve Books and Writers Community. We've been having some great monthly writing exercises lately. All in all, I'm thinking it's got to be Facebook that I drop... I've already falle