Cherie Priest's Blog: It's awards season, so here comes the shameless self-promotion, page 14

I have returned from Michigan, and all is well! That's the short summing up of events, anyway - as you would not BELIEVE how much stuff piles up when you're out of the office for four days ... even when two of those days are a weekend and one is a holiday. I don't even, man. (But I apologize if the following comes off as rambling, unfocused, and rushed.)

The convention itself was a blast - as always - and I'm very grateful that I was able to attend. I get to see some of my favorite folks on earth at this event, no exaggeration and no lie. Many thanks to everyone who (a). made it possible, (b). made it awesome, and (c). the massive Venn diagram overlap between points (a) and (b).

I know, I know, that's not much of a recap. But I don't like doing recaps. I always forget someone or something and feel dumb about it as soon as I hit "post." If you'd like a better idea about the mayhem and my cohorts, feel free to scroll down my twitter feed and enjoy the Dearborn adventures.

Besides the fact that I'm crap at recaps, this one is particularly short because I have been SUPER productive since my return. I didn't have a choice; I owed a massive (hopefully pretty-much-the-last) round of edits on that YA project by close-of-business today, and it took me all morning/half the afternoon so far. Then it was a matter of fielding and sorting a whole bunch of back-and-forth with my agent re: some projects in the works, some questions about rights and so forth, [::redacted potential awesomeness::], and [::yet more redacted potential awesomeness, sorry::]. I'm also in the midst of making arrangements to visit a local school later this month so I can natter at some creative writing students; plus I had to finish unpacking and doing laundry, AND I needed to respond to several folks WRT convention appearances/project participation/etc. etc. etc.

You know, forcing that inbox back down to zero.

When I was "done" (as if one is ever "done" with such Sisyphean shenanigans) I sat down with my accordion folder of receipts, all the tax documents that have arrived so far, a year's worth of utility (and other) bills, and a calculator - and got everything sorted for the nice CPA later next month (probably).

I might've opted to put that off for another week or two, since I'm still waiting on tax docs to land - but I am already accruing new receipts that need to be filed, and I need someplace to put them other than "floating loosely around my desk, where I'm likely to accidentally toss them." Therefore, that handy-dandy folder needed to get cleared out for 2015's influx of Stuff I Need To Keep Track Of For Uncle Sam.

So anyway, those particular ducks are all in a row.

In other news - since last I blogged, I wrapped up that draft of The Family Plot and sent it off to my marvelous editor at Tor; I wrapped up that sample content and/or expanded synopsis for the Cassadaga project - now rebranded Brimstone - and sent it off to my agent, who has since passed it along to my wonderful editor at Roc; and I have personally held in my hot little hands a brand spanking new copy of Jacaranda.

SPEAKING OF.

The real-life-hold-it-in-your-hands book won't be available until the end of the month (as I understand it), but you can get the eBook RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT ... for the low, low price of $4.99! Like so:

Get Jacaranda for your Kindle

Grab Jacranda for your Nook

Pick up Jacaranda for your Kobo

Of course, you can easily preorder the real deal through the usual locations, including its listing at the Subterranean Press website - where you can ALSO read a spoooooky little sample: Click right here to preorder and/or get a little taste.

Please allow me to remind you - Jacaranda is absolutely the last foray I plan to take in the Clockwork Century universe. It takes place about 20 years after Fiddlehead, this is true ... but you'll find out what happened to some of your favorite characters, and get one hella-creepy haunted hotel story, to boot.

Don't forget, Publishers Weekly, Locus, Tor.com, and Romantic Times all had very, very kind things to say about it . I mean, if you're sitting on the fence or anything.

Right. So.

That's all the news I'm able to share right this moment, though I do hope to be able to report some kickass information sometime in the immediate future. I don't mean to be a tease, but I'm very excited - however, I have to wait for official approval, and that's just life. At least when you're in publishing.

As for me, I now need to go finish up the laundry and see about packing up some stuff to send to my sister (long story), then I'll probably clean my room (because I am a grown-up) and maybe have a drink before catching up on some of the TV I missed while I was out partying with the ConFusion folks.

With any luck, I'll be back here tomorrow with a new project and word metrics to show for it (I still have another partial and/or synopsis to pull together within the next month), but I will not yet make any promises. I'm trying to flesh this next one out before I get it underway, but I hate doing outlines/synopsis/proposals/and the like. This time, I'm going to do it anyway - and I'm going to do it right. And do it first. For a change.

And in closing: Kittygram.

See subject line, because that's the long and short of what's up over here. Tomorrow morning (before dawn, ugh) I'll be heading out for ConFusion 2015 - so you may expect radio silence over here until next week. Mind you, there will likely be a healthy dose of digital noise over at my Twitter page , considering this is the kind of event where I know a bunch of people and we're basically absolute dorks who take a crap-ton of pictures. Just sayin'.

At any rate, here's the public stuff* where you can expect to find me, at this fine event:

Friday, 9:00 p.m. "Mary Sue and the Fake Geek Girl" - Southfield Room - Mari Brighe, Delilah S. Dawson, Aset, Cherie Priest. Let's talk about our favorite female characters and female fans (and maybe a word or two about why fandom keeps trying to pretend they're not as awesome as we all know they are).

Saturday, 11:00 a.m. "Authors Who Game" - Erie Room - Leah Bobet, Cindy Spencer Pape, Cherie Priest, Rowena Cherry, Jay S. Ridler. Authors talk about their favorite games, of any type.

Saturday, 3:00 p.m. - Autograph Session - Huron—Ontario—Erie Room - Yours truly et. al.

Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - "Sources of Modern Folk Tales" - Dearborn Room - Cherie Priest, Diana Rowland, Steve Buchheit, Justin Howe, Tom Doyle. What makes a folktale in our modern world? What sources influence the creation of today's folklore, e.g. urban legend, propaganda, celebrity worship, true crime, disaster drama etc? Does modern folk culture differ from the historical in content, scope or morality?

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. - "Tough Love for New Writers" - Michigan/Big Top Room - Mary Robinette Kowal, Lara Zielin, Cherie Priest, Wesley Chu, Brigid Collins, Douglas Hulick. Seriously, you're not going to get famous or make any money. Learn how!

Sunday, 2:00 p.m. - "Rustbelt Dystopias" - Southfield Room - Michael J. DeLuca, Christine Purcell, M.H. Mead, Cherie Priest. Michael J. DeLuca, Christine Purcell, M.H. Mead, Cherie Priest. Dystopian novels seem to like our beloved rustbelt cities as settings. Perhaps it's easier to imagine a future dystopia in Detroit than it is in San Diego, sure. The fall of the rustbelt industries may also be useful as a warning... this, too, could happen to you...

Or that's the plan, anyway. I'll also be bopping in and out of a Reddit AMA, the details of which I'll post over on Twitter as the time arrives. So...there you have it! If you're in the Detroit area and planning to swing by, then by all means stop in and say "hello!"


* There are some unofficial things on deck, too - but I'm not at liberty, etc. etc. etc. The list you see here represents the times/places I'll be publicly accessible for the weekend, that's the takeaway here.

Here's recent progress on my subtropical (art)deco mystery about a friendly medium in a historic spiritualist community teaming up with a WWI shell-shocked haberdasher who's receiving love notes from hell ... as inspired by a real place and a real set of bizarre (otherworldly?) incidents:
Project: Cassadaga [working title]
Deadline: February 1, 2015
New words written: 589 (oof)
Present total word count: 13,491



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Actually finished the "starter content" for this one; it wrapped up a little early, but will probably plump up in the revisions I do tomorrow and the next day. I realize it's a low net word count - and in my defense, the initial figure was closer to 2000 words ... but I ended up removing a bunch of stuff and repairing broken scenes, etc. etc. etc. Oh well.

Addendum: I've spent most of my working time the last few days on The Family Plot revisions. That's the rest of my excuse for why that count is so low, and likewise why blogging (and even Tweeting) has been kept to a minimum.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Neighborhood jaunts with dog; housework; lots of laundry; lots of emails; lots of work on The Family Plot; went to Walgreens; went to grocery store; spent WAY too long at an old friend's birthday party but had a wonderful time and there are NO REGRETS; had a couple of important/helpful phone calls...and yes, I know. It's been a few days since I posted.

Other Writing Stuff Other: The Family Plot revisions stand at - Page 202/316. Progress, but there will be even more tonight. There HAS to be. I need to kill this off and send it onward, so I can clean up the Cassadaga sample content and pass THAT along, too. And yes, I very much want to do this before I bop out on Thursday morning bright and early, but we shall see. I might have over-extended myself, but I'll come close to making it - you'll see.

Other: Had a most excellent phone call with a fabulous gent in the salvage industry, after I was (a). tipsy enough to email his shop, and (b). he was kind enough to respond like I was a civilized adult, and not some batty little dork drinking rum and watching DIY reruns in her pajamas while surfing the 'net on her phone. I am so grateful for his time! Even though I now have to do some extra rewrites to the first chapter of The Family Plot. Totally worth it. I have vowed to make note of his assistance in the acknowledgments, and kick him a copy of the book when it finally lands.

Four-Footed Other: Cat progress has plateaued, but not in the worst way possible. Lately, she's only yowled for rescue ONE time a night - at which point, we bring her to bed and shut her inside the room with us. She's figured out that yowling means sock-ball-chucked-in-her-direction, which does no harm to anything but her pride...so now if she thinks I'm even reaching for the sock balls, she shuts up. It ain't perfect, but it's a marked improvement.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 8299

Kittygram.

Good news, everyone! No - actual good news! Much to my joy and astonishment, Maplecroft is a 2014 Philip K. Dick Award Nominee! My huge, huge thanks to the nice folks at NorWesCon, who administer this award each year. It's a hell of a list and I'm absolutely thrilled to be part of it!

[:: confetti gun ::] [:: tee shirt cannon ::] [:: paddlewheel of high fives ::]

* * *

With that said, it's Awards Season here in genre-land, and I've been encouraged to pimp like a pimping machine ... but ... my published output was small this year. Ergo, my only two things that you could nominate for anything, if you are so inclined, make for a very short list:1. Maplecroft (a horror/historic fantasy novel)
2. "Heavy Metal" (a horror/modern fantasy story in the Rogues anthology)
And that's it.

Now 2015? That's a different story. If production course holds true, I'll have four books out in 2015: Jacaranda (this month!), I Am Princess X (YA coming in June), Chapelwood (loose follow-up to Maplecroft this fall), and The Family Plot (TBD).

But for 2014, I'm short on things to recommend.

* * *

Skip this next bit if you take issue with shameless self-promotion because it's my job, and here I go:
FIRST UP - courtesy of the outstanding Ay-Leen the Peacemaker at Tor.com ... A Priest, a Nun and a Texas Ranger Walk into a Haunted Hotel: Cherie Priest’s Jacaranda . You know this one comes out like, next week, right? NEXT WEEK, PEOPLE.

To address the question people are asking the most about this one, yes - barring unforeseen and positively dynastic fat sacks of cash, this will be the final installment in the Clockwork Century. As the Tor.com review above mentions, it's only a bit tied in to the main arc of the series, but you'll get some closure on a character or two, and hey ... this is the end. Think of it as an epilogue to Fiddlehead, of sorts - or if you'd rather, a book-end to Clementine.

Fave quote from the review: "Unsettling and creepy, Jacaranda, Cherie Priest’s latest novella in the Clockwork Century series, is a classic take upon a horror staple. This work is an outlier in her established universe of alt-hist steampunk zombie Civil War adventures, but fulfills its promise as a quick, chilling read."

You can pick it up here at Subterranean Press , and all the usual outlets, too. But I do recommend a preorder while the preordering is still good. It's a limited printing, and I don't honestly expect it to last very long.



NEXT UP. The obligatory Maplecroft roundup because like I said ... Awards Season:
Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2014 roundup at i09.com - And Maplecroft makes the list! "This is a page-turning thriller that will delight true-crime fans as well as lovers of weird fiction — and it will leave you craving more."

Badass Book Reviews best of 2014 - Maplecroft makes this cut, too! " This is a love song to Lovecraft and a very fine example of effective horror writing. Priest doesn’t tell; she shows and the reader feels the phantom fingers of fear running down their spine. All in all, Maplecroft was a delightfully creepy horror read and we highly recommend it to those looking for a little shiver of fear at night."

Kevin Hearne's best reads of 2014 - Guess what! Maplecroft! "I genuinely believe this is a fucking work of genius." [:: hugs Kevin so tight he turns pink ::]

James A. Moore's noteworthy reads of 2014 - Bam! "MAPLECROFT was my Halloween read this year. For me, a horror geek, that's nearly a sacred thing. It lived up to the potential. Lizzie Borden and monsters from beyond the edge of space in a tale that is nothing at all like what I expected and twice as much fun to boot."

Taichung Bookworm does a killer review of Maplecroft - Largely non-spoilery, and very kind. "If you’re already a fan of unnameable horrors then you can’t go wrong with this book. It’s Lovecraft for a new generation, written with an obvious love for the source material and doesn’t sully the name in the slightest. Cthulhu would be proud."

Harry J. Connolly is likewise awesome - gives Maplecroft 4 out of 5 stars - "I haven’t read all of Priest’s work, but this is my favorite so far. It’s tangible, has great characters, and is genuinely spooky. Recommended."

Like I said, it's my job.

* * *


Here's today's progress on my subtropical (art)deco mystery about a friendly medium in a historic spiritualist community teaming up with a WWI shell-shocked haberdasher who's receiving love notes from hell ... as inspired by a real place and a real set of bizarre (otherworldly?) incidents:
Project: Cassadaga [working title]
Deadline: February 1, 2015
New words written: 1789
Present total word count: 12,902



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Got checked into a hotel, got some intel on what's going on in town, got picked up by the mayor to go take a vague set of "tests" down at town hall.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Neighborhood jaunt with dog; some housework; some running around and squealing; some (ultimately failed) efforts at travel arranging; a couple of phone calls.

Other: See above, man.

Four-Footed Other: Last night was the cat's best so far with the new strategy in place. Basically, what we're doing is this: The last person to bed closes here in the bedroom with us and tucks her in via KittySquish. When she inevitably wiggles free and goes from door to door yowling, I chuck rolled up sock balls in her general direction. I never actually hit her with the socks - they just distract her, and almost always surprise her into silence. For awhile. Last night, she only got me out of bed once, and I only had to throw two sock balls. Beats the hell out of 6-8 incidents of kitty-rescuing a night. Let's hope the trend holds.

Bonus! Four-Footed Other: It was 11 degrees this morning when Greyson decided it was time for his morning walk. Little bastard. It's a good thing he's so cute.

Writing Stuff Other: The Family Plot revisions stand at - Page 99/312. Progress, but there will be even more tonight.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 7710

* * *

Who needs a walk? Do YOU need a walk?!
(Turn up the volume and you'll hear him whining in the first couple of seconds.)

[NOTE: This was actually yesterday's post. I have no idea why LJ opted not to post it; it was saved in drafts, but never actually went live. So. Whatever. Here you go.]


Here's today's progress on my subtropical (art)deco mystery about a friendly medium in a historic spiritualist community teaming up with a WWI shell-shocked haberdasher who's receiving love notes from hell ... as inspired by a real place and a real set of bizarre (otherworldly?) incidents:
Project: Cassadaga [working title]
Deadline: February 1, 2015
New words written: 1961 (better)
Present total word count: 9493



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Arrived at our destination only to get booted from the car and ditched in the road, along with all our stuff; met the mayor, who isn't quite what we expected; got served a light supper.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Neighborhood jaunt with dog, who ran into every damn dog he knows so it took awhile; finished residual tidying-up from having not done a big Friday clean + having a Bonus! dog on-site for the weekend; sent some emails; sorted out some business.

Other: The Cooj went home last night, having had a most excellent visit at Chez Cherie's Doggie Day Spa. He's an easy guest, and he and Greyson are such a hoot together - it's like having your own personal dog entourage anytime you go from room to room...unless they're lounging around the yard, "guarding" the place (by which I mean "napping")...

Writing Stuff Other: That's all the writing I plan to do tonight, but I do need to sit down and start cleaning through The Family Plot - as mentioned with my last post. The draft is pretty solid (IMO) but it still needs a hardy read-through and tweaking before I impose it upon my editor.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 4301

And here's one last shot of the boys - lounging in the foyer just before Cooj's people came to pick him up.

Here's today's progress on my subtropical (art)deco mystery about a friendly medium in a historic spiritualist community teaming up with a WWI shell-shocked haberdasher who's receiving love notes from hell ... as inspired by a real place and a real set of bizarre (otherworldly?) incidents:
Project: Cassadaga [working title]
Deadline: February 1, 2015
New words written: 1196 (meh again)
Present total word count: 7532



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Did a little restructuring, some rewriting, and only a little new writing. This one's a big shift in tone from the last thing I worked on, and I'm trying hard to get it off on the right feet.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Neighborhood jaunt with dog(s); went to lunch; did several loads of laundry; tidied the house a bit, since I didn't do the usual Friday Cleaning yesterday.

Other: Karl's funeral was kind of hilarious. If you missed it yesterday, I wrote about it over here .

Four-Footed Other: We have a guest-dog again this weekend - the wildly misnamed "Cujo" from a few months ago. He's the three-legged gent with a heart condition and a really big smile. Such an easygoing, cheerful fellow - and always an excellent guest.

Other Project Other: Come Monday, I'll begin cleaning up The Family Plot for submission as a proper Draft One before the 15th. Which is to say, I need to send it off (a). in time to make the deadline, and probably (b). before I head off to ConFusion . This will surely mean continued slow-going on the Cassadaga project, but that's life. [:: shrug ::]

Number of fiction words so far this year: 2340 (ugh)


And here's Greyson and Cujo, semi-patiently waiting for me to LET THEM GO OUTSIDE, PLEASE. They are the funniest of dog-bros :)

Karl attended his memorial in a crematorium-provided box, swathed in green velvet that didn't really suit him. He sat up front at the Renaissance Presbyterian church, while friends and loved ones paraded by and said nice things about him for a couple of hours, but most of the good stories got left out, because hey. We were in a church.

It was weird, but funny. Not weird-but-funny like the vague recognition of seeing folks you've not spoken to in ten years, and whose names you couldn't remember if someone held an ice pick to your eyeball...I mean weird-but-funny like a lesser-known episode of Welcome to Night Vale.

Up front, the reverend walked us through the motions of memorial, while from some nebulous ovehread distance an 80s-style midi player chimed out "Amazing Grace" at the appropriate time or maybe, if Hezekiah fell asleep and hit the wrong button, we'd all be regaled with a children's rendition of "Jesus Loves Me" during the prayer call-and-response.

Upon these occasions, the reverend would lift up his eyes to heaven and sigh like he could smack a bitch if said bitch were within smacking range.

Reverend: Hezekiah?
PA system: "...this I know, 'cause the Bible tells me so..."
Reverend: Hezekiah?
PA system: "...little ones to him belong..."
Reverend: Hezekiah!
PA system: ...boop boop be doop [click] ...
Hezekiah: ...sorry...

Hezekiah worked his magic (I shit thee not, his name was Hezekiah) from the balcony above and behind us. We never actually set eyes on him. He could've been a cross-eyed Christmas elf for all we knew - but he had a real knack for poking buttons at odd moments, and then failing to poke them when the moment had passed but there are only so many verses in "Let Us Break Bread Together (On Our Knees)" and the next song in the queue sounds suspiciously like an 8-bit video game version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

Reverend: HEZEKIAH.
Hezekiah: ...sorry...
Some lady somewhere behind us with a hell of a stage whisper: Goddammit, Hezekiah.

After awhile, every time Hezekiah managed to hit his marks the reverend would mutter, "Thank you, Hezekiah," which has already worked its way into the friends-group lexicon as the verbal equivalent of a sarcastic slow-clap. My keyboard lacks the necessary letters to convey the squeaky, snorty, laughy sounds coming from the audience with every intervention of the chagrined and invisible button-pusher.

Between us, we decided that Hezekiah is the Presbyterian equivalent of a Night Vale intern. Quoth my husband:

We are sad to report the death of intern Hezekiah, who fused with the PA system in an asynchronous plane. His last words: a quiet "sorry".

— Death in Act Three (@deathinactthree) January 2, 2015

Karl would've been fucking delighted. We were all glad for the Karl-appropriate levity, and for the old friends, and the kind words. It was a lovely thing, this memorial - one Karl himself had been quietly planning over the last year. It was a sweet celebration, while Karl's electric wheelchair looked on, stuffed with yellow roses - and wearing his trademark floppy hat, with the veteran bars and American flag pin.

It became bittersweet as hell when his service dog, Rocky, came out with his hospice nurse. Rocky sniffed, and sniffed, and sniffed at that chair. Then he pulled away and hid behind it. Jesus, you guys. My heart.

Rocky knows what happened. He was there when Karl passed, and he's been adopted by that nurse - who's known the sheltie for years. She's practically lived with him and Karl for months, so really, this is the best possible outcome for the little fellow. He'll be living in the same building, with an old friend who understands him. I pulled the nurse aside afterward, and told her that if anything ever happened - and she couldn't keep him, or she needed anything for him, to let us know. He's always got a place with us. (But Jesus, you guys. Ow.)

So all was said and done, and the church closed up, and some of the old crew adjourned to a bar downtown - next to the coffeehouse where most of us first met Karl, years ago. We toasted, we told tales, and we caught up.

We told the good stories - the ones about Karl and his old trucking days, with the CB handle "Asleep at the Wheel." We joked about the shirtless competitions on Market Street, and the time he traded a friend his tee shirt so the friend could make the dress code at a fancy new club - then he wore that dude's black fishnet body-hugger for the rest of the night, playing chess and sipping coffee. We talked about that time he ran for mayor, or the time he spent 50 bucks running for city council for shits and giggles.

We also talked a lot about Karl's ghost. He loved this city - and you never know, he might stick around.

So if you're driving around downtown and you pass Greyfriar's Coffee and Tea, keep your eyes open. If you see this guy, this thin dude with chin-length salt-and-pepper hair, and a bristly mustache...he'll be wearing a floppy hat and probably walking with a cane. Not because he needs it, not anymore. But those of us who were around twenty years ago, that's how we first knew him - before the chair. He'll carry the cane for show, if you see him now. He'll use it to gesture hello, and give you a wink, and if you look twice he'll be gone.

Anyway, that was Karl.
He always liked it when I wrote about him.

The husband and I called it a day around four o'clock. Last we saw, someone was busy stuffing Karl's ashes into a Crown Royal bag. I hope he fit. He'd wear it much better than the dull green velvet.

Let the word metrics reboot, and recommence! I mean, they might as well, right? So here's today's progress on my subtropical (art)deco mystery about a friendly medium in a historic spiritualist community teaming up with a WWI shell-shocked haberdasher who's receiving love notes from hell ... as inspired by a real place and a real set of bizarre (otherworldly?) incidents:
Project: Cassadaga [working title]
Deadline: February 1, 2015
New words written: 1144 (meh)
Present total word count: 6336



Things Accomplished in Fiction: Got reacquainted with the story so far - jumped into a new POV, so the going was a little slow while I got the new voice sorted out. I think I've got a handle on it now.

Things Accomplished in Real Life: Last night - had a few friends over to watch the ball drop; today - neighborhood jaunt with dog, tweaks to the website, some housework, tying up last year's loose ends.

Other: I changed the target word count to 15k, as I think that's probably all I'll need for now - but we'll see what the agent/editor say. It's up for negotiation.

Other Other: Karl's funeral is tomorrow. I'll try to get some word metrics in, but no promises.

Somewhat Further Musings Upon Other: I have (in theory) four books coming out this year, so I needed to pull the Maplecroft-themed site for 2015. This new layout of mine is clean and open, which is nice - but I'll grant you, it's not very dark and spooky. In my defense, my vision is pretty poor; sometimes I find darker sites a little difficult to peruse, so...yeah. I wish I could customize it a tad further, but it's a free template and I don't have the money to pay anyone to drum me up something more Official Looking. So you get what my limited skills can provide. And that's all.

Number of fiction words so far this year: 1144 (just pitiful/better than nothing)


Crittergram


Here's Greyson pausing on his morning walk, in order to wish his cat-friend "Watson" a Happy New Year. He's just gentlemanly that way...

So yes, we're back from Christmas at my dad's in Kentucky. As previously noted, it was a total zoo up there - 11 people, 5 dogs, and 2 cats - but everyone got along famously, and Greyson did us dog-proud on more than one occasion.

For example, the trip up there takes about 4 hours - and for the first time, he made it without puking on the way. Granted, he grew ever-more pitiful. But the lack of puking on a drive of that length is encouraging, so we're pleased all the same.





Yes, he has a head like a furry cinder block.

(We weren't quite so lucky on the return trip, but in his defense, we got stuck in traffic so the drive took a good 90 minutes longer than it usually does. If we'd made it back in the ordinary time frame, he would've been fine.)

At any rate, we had a marvelous week in Bluegrass Country, but I have virtually zero pictures of Just People to prove it. Indeed, all my pictures feature the resident (and visiting) dogs and cats...not that this should really surprise you.

In fact, you can see all of those critter pics right here on Twitter - and you might as well go look, because that will be a LOT faster than me posting them individually over here.

Seriously. Click to see all the dogs. All the cats.
BIG dogs. FLUFFY cats.

BUT FIRST. A sample of what to expect.

SHOTS LIKE THIS ONE:



AND ALSO THIS (with BONUS my dad):



PLUS THIS-HERE SHOT (with BONUS my brother):



AND LIKEWISE THE FOLLOWING, WHICH IS MAYBE MY FAVORITE PIC EVER:




(Let the record reflect that my darling Greyson - the little dude on the far left - is a Pyr mix who's pushing 90 pounds. It cracks me up when he's the little dog in a pack, and he doesn't seem to mind it in the slightest. Look at that grin! This is him with Duke and Daisy on the way home from the park.)


WAIT I PROMISED YOU ALSO FLUFFY CATS:




(Behold Mr. Peanut, on the cusp of getting snorgled by Greyson.)


Right. So. Believe it or not, that's merely a sampling. Go check out the rest of the Christmas mayhem over here . And consider this my Christmas recap, because I am still kind of pooped out and trying to catch up on everything I missed while we were gone.

Yes, writer business goes on. It knows no holiday. Today, for example, I finished writing a draft of an expanded proposal for the Cassadaga book I was talking about the other day. Tomorrow, I have to clean up the house (at least a bit) before people come over for an informal New Year's Eve shindig, and then get some work done on the sample content for that same project. Then I have to get back to cleaning up a Draft One of The Family Plot - which is due January 15.

But right now, I believe I'll go make myself a drink.
Jesus, man. What a week.

Our old friend Karl Epperson quietly passed away last night, while my husband and I were on our way back from Kentucky. I didn't get the word until this morning. I guess it was just as well.

I knew Karl for 20 years. Hell, everyone knew him within one or two degrees of separation - and I don't know anyone, anywhere, who ever had a bad thing to say about him. He was a kind, funny, sociable man who loved coffee and animals. He was never mean; he had no tolerance for cruelty of any kind. He was a disabled veteran, and an advocate for disadvantaged people everywhere. (Run a google search for "Karl Epperson Chattanooga" and scan the headlines. You'll see.)

He didn't really have any blood-family, but he was rich in the found-and-accumulated variety of kin.

Every now and again, he ran for public office. It never panned out, but he never really expected it to. All the same, he leaves behind a political legacy in the Westside Community Association and the action it's taken on behalf of poor and working-class families seeking affordable housing.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but he was pretty much the best.



(If you've ever read my early books - the little paranormal mysteries set here, in Chattanooga - then you may remember Karl. He and his service dogs [first Cowboy, then Rocky] have been fixtures downtown for the last 25 years ... particularly around a couple of coffeehouses: Tazza, and then Greyfriar's - after Tazza closed. It would've been silly to tell a story about this city and leave him out of it. With his permission [nay, by his direct and gleeful request] I didn't even change his name.)


So anyway.

Here's to Karl.
He loved to tell me stories. I loved to hear them.