Caitlin Before Her Birthday

Caitlin's had a good couple of weeks. She's adjusting really well at school. I nearly cried at her field trip to the pumpkin patch when I met all of her new friends from the regular kindergarten class. Cait is actually part of a clique. They adore her. It also really motivates her. Unfortunately, her new best friend is already moving away.

Caitlin is still rocking the reading. We picked up a neat large-print version of Bev Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle. It's nice to have a chapter book for her that works with her vision problems.

Her big happiness of this week was the addition of iGallop to her life. It's a horseback ride simulator that her physical therapist brought over. It's designed for “exercising” adults, but it does a good job of giving her a taste of the hippotherapy experience. It also gives her a good case of giggles.

Except for a night of vomiting this week, she's still pretty healthy. It looks like Caitlin's going to have a great birthday in a few days.

At least Lynne doesn't think I look like Bob Saget....

I haven't blogged much in the last couple of weeks, but that's mostly because life has been relatively calm. rarelylynne is finishing up her Rare Book 2.0 book, I'm chugging on my books, and Caitlin is thriving.

We've been wrapped up in Presidential politics, but I've refrained from blogging about it for various reasons. There's just not much that I can add that the rest of my f-list hasn't covered. I am also an advocate for people with disabilities, which means that I spend a lot of time working with people who have very different political beliefs than my own. Even though they probably don't read this blog, I can't assume anything in the Google age. In order to get good work done, it's probably for the best that I don't unload with a rant every time I feel like it. Luckily, I can still add my two cents to the blogs of others.

Here is the state of my writing:

1- Fluid Links has become a massive project. For those of you who are new around here or forgot, my co-writers and I are creating a critical guidebook to all of the Doctor Who tie-in novels and audio plays (that's over 450 works). My job is "The Lore" sections. Basically, I am telling the story of how each novel was created. To do this, I've read hundreds of interviews with dozens of writers and editors. I've also gone through hundreds of thousands of postings on the Internet made by the authors about their works. It took me the better part of a year to complete this research.

I am now writing up each entry. I'm also tracking down the authors that stayed away from the Internets. This means lots of searching for British authors who wrote a couple of Doctor Who books and then sort of disappeared. So far, my results are mixed.

2- I have three more chapters to revise of Murder Ballads. This is my contemporary, magical post-apocalyptic, coming-of-age fantasy novel. I should have a second draft completed in a few weeks. I have two firm beta readers for it. This is a good thing, since this is my first novel.

3- Speaking of which, I received my packet for the WindyCon Writer's Workshop. I am workshopping the first chapter. It seems like a nice small group with two other aspiring writers and four professionals. The pros are an interesting group: Jody Lynn Nye, Jim Hines, Michael Z. Williamson, and Francisco Ruiz. I should get some fascinating pointers from this process.

The WindyCon Schedule Is Up

WindyCon has posted its schedule. If you are stalking me or rarelylynne, here's what we will be up to:

Saturday, 4 PM
Better Than the Book — Movie adaptations are notorious for being worse than the book, but there are a few that are actually better. Panelists discuss films, other than "Lord of the Rings" or "Harry Potter...." Find some forgotten gems or see which book you don't need to read!
T. Bucknell, D. Goldfelder, J. Liss, M. Thomas, S. Waitsman

Saturday, 5 PM
What Books Should I Have Read This Year? — Panelists fill you in on what you should have been reading this year, in all areas of speculative fiction, not just military SF. They discuss ground-breaking new ideas, well-written older ones and those that are just plain fun.
K. Edwards, R. Horton, J. Robertson, L. Thomas, M. Thomas

Sunday, 10 AM
Archive It! That's an Order — Join librarians and authors as they present an insightful look at writing and preserving works, both final and in process. What do they keep and how do they keep it? How has the digital world changed the work of an archivist?
E. Flint, V. Hoski, E.E. Knight, L. Thomas

Sunday, 11 AM
Virtue and the "Best" Novel of the Year — Panelists review the various "best" novels for the past several years and how the award-winners were chosen. What are the awards saying by making a novel the "best?" Do these ideas reflect fan interests and concerns?
R. Horton, L. Thomas, M. Thomas, J. Robertson, S. Silver

Sunday, 1 PM
My Favorite New Author — Each year a number of new authors are published, but how do you know which ones are worth reading? Our panelists make their pitch for their favorite new author. See if you agree.
K. Edwards, R. Green, R. Horton, S. Silver, L. Thomas, M. Thomas

Tweets for Today

• 08:51 Lynne's making banana pancakes. Yes, we do eat a lot of pancakes each weekend. #
• 08:52 We have old friends coming over tonight. Being social is a good thing. #
• 10:34 Santa Clause is no longer following me on Twitter. I guess he decided what list I belong on. #

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