stillsostrange

(Not actually an exercise post.)

I am not dead, despite my poor showing on LiveJournal. 2013 has been a hell of year so far, emotionally. January (and December before it) were fraught, February and March were delightful--so much so, in fact, that they nearly culminated with my passing out from exhaustion at SXSW, as previously recounted. April decided to live up to Eliot after all, and became an emotional roller coaster that left me in a ditch. Lacking any forgetful snow, I can only hope that summer surprises me.

On the upside, I've spent the past three months seeing more concerts than I had previously imagined possible. My brain may have swollen under the constant application of new music--SXSW, Convergence, Austin Psych Fest, and a host of other shows. Last week was Peter Murphy (doing an all Bauhaus set). Tomorrow is The Joy Formidable and Io Echo. I've danced more than ever, and I already dance more than nearly anyone I know.

On Thursday morning I leave for Portland, and the H.P. Lovecraft Film Fest & CthulhuCon, where I will be reading, participating in a panel, and melting into a gibbering puddle of glee at the director's cut of Nightbreed. If you happen to sit next to me in the theatre, I apologize in advance for deliquescing on your shoes.

When I get back from Portland I'm going to lock myself in alternately my room and my favorite coffee shop and write a damned book.

Yesterday--or 2:00 AM this morning, to be technical--I turned my final revision of Dreams into arcaedia. Now all I'm waiting for are her notes, and any comments from my Vancouver native reader. I don't know what will happen to the book next, but for the first time in eight years it's no longer hanging like an albatross around my neck. This feels very strange.

Now I can go back to working on proposals for further Necromancer Chronicle-related works, and trying to think of a title for Dreams 2: Byakhee Boogaloo Debt and/or Devils of Something.

Today is National Coming Out Day. I'm wearing my Miskatonic U GLBT hoodie to cover all the bases: girls, boys, Yog-Sothoth, etc.

Today I went to another store for inventory. I unlocked a display case to count rare books, and what should be in it waiting for me?

A signed copy of The King in Yellow, that's what.

Maybe my tattoo didn't start to writhe and sear my flesh, and maybe I wasn't struck mad and blind by visions of the King. Maybe. But the book came home with me anyway. I may regret this when I check my bank balance tomorrow, but I don't really care.

At long last, I can share my most recent squee! Ellen Datlow's Lovecraft Unbound anthology is due out in October, and my story "The Tenderness of Jackals" is in it! The ToC also includes matociquala, truepenny, and greygirlbeast! I've wanted to sell a story to Ellen since I was a weee baby squidlet reading SciFiction, so this makes me ridiculously happy.

Now I must make some dinner (that does not contain cheese or meat--I don't think I'll be able to look at a bowl of queso for at least a month), and maybe go back to working on my map for TDC, which is an extra nuisance without Photoshop.

Two things have brought me joy today:

1. Oatmeal! Oh, blessed, blessed oatmeal, sustenance of the gods, and people with unhappy stomachs.

2. The Mysterious Stranger Ai, ai Hastur!