stillsostrange

I forgot this metric in my last post, but it can fill a post all its own.

Things what don't have names yet:

The hijra temple
The wing in the palace where the king's close advisors live
The street where the Iskari embassy is
The name of the embassy (e.g. the Something House or the Something Serai)
The street where Varis lives
Selafaïn method of execution
A butler
The Iskari royal palace

Anyone want to name a street or a butler?

Through the good offices of Katie Cowden, I once again have new photos. Some of them shall become author photos. Does anyone have opinions on which one I should send to the nice people at HPLFF?

I'm working on Prayers To Broken Stone, and coming to the conclusion that it's no longer the right title. This isn't surprising, considering I've completely changed the main characters, if not the last incarnation of the plot. This is the book also known as La Ghoul Nikita (Or: A Travelogue With Ghouls), and has gone from being slow and elegiac to a lot more thrillerish. A title that reflects that might not hurt, and might get me through the current revision burn I'm suffering on the first three chapters.

[Poll #1858116]

I named a character once in The Bone Palace, an offhand reference that didn't warrant an entry in the dramatis personae but is still in print. Now I find myself needing to write more about that character and a) not liking his name much anymore, and b) finding it a bit too similar to someone else who shows up quite often. How many of you would be wildly irritated if I changed someone's name between books? (I doubt most people even remember that he was ever mentioned, but somewhere out there is the reader who will.)

Q was lost to the quirks of LJ. R was all me, though. Any suggestions for an R, or shall I skip to S?

I think you guys took care of J for me. I was tempted by "juvenilia," but I've talked about that so much before. Although, I did find my very terrible junior high Lost Boys homage recently. It remains amazingly awful, and not full of strip-mineable ideas like Falling Towers was. Maybe if I ever suffer a head injury* that leaves me wanting to write vampire YA, I'll revisit it.

As far as K goes, I'll turn this into an opportunity to ask the internet for advice. I agreed to dress up for Free Comic Book Day at work, and now I have two weeks to come up with a costume. Thoughts?

Morrison-era Jean Grey is easy and practical, if not much of a challenge. Silk Spectre I would be fun, but I don't know how I'd manage the hair. Typhoid Mary might also be fun, if makeup heavy. Someone on Facebook suggested Barbara Gordon, but neither spandex nor wheelchairs will be readily available. Skirts, fishnets, and even high heels and corsetry I can manage; spandex or tight leather pants are right out. Also out is anything expensive, or too difficult to maneuver through a bookstore.

Delirium would also be easy, but I'm reluctant.

* Where by "head injury" I mean "an idea."

Today I went to Houston to the Museum of Fine Arts to see the Tutankhamun exhibit. It was not the most in-depth of exhibits, but full of lovely things none the less. Afterward we went to Fadi's, and now I am full of lovely Mediterranean food.

D is also for Dreams of Shreds & Tatters, and its potential not-a-sequel A Dirge In Yellow. But there's a book in between them, and I don't have a title for it. I'm enamored of the Ds, though, and would like to keep the alliteration. Right now I'm leaning toward Devils of something. But Devils of what? (The devils can have a different preposition if they want.)

Anyone have any brilliant, vaguely Lovecraftian suggestions? I would especially love something along the Wraeththu model.

ETA: Steven just suggest Debts of Something, which I also like. This is why I keep him around. So debts or devils are my top two places to start.

I have author's copies, which means it's time to give a few copies away. But how? Help me think of a contest, LJ!

2011 wasn't my best year for writing or publication, but it wasn't the worst either. I finished Kingdoms of Dust, and made it more than half way through the latest revision of Dreams. I also finished and sold "Red" and "Bone Garden."

My goals for 2012 are a) to finish this draft of Dreams by Jan 19th, b) sell more books (any books will do), and c) to finish a few of the short stories that have been collecting dust for too long. I would also eventually like to put out a collection of my short stories, but I care less about when that happens.

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21. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler

Beautifully written and plotted, and rightly a classic. On the other hand, the constant low thrum of sexism made me kind of tired, and it had the same bonus homophobia that made me sad in The Maltese Falcon. Sigh.

22. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (This must be a reread, but I can't remember when I first read it.)

This is really a sweet little book, but wow it makes me roll my eyes a lot. Could be greatly improved by monsters.

My other goal is to read more books in 2012. Perhaps as many as 40. 52 still seems a bit of a stretch.

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And now, the contest! necromancerchronicles.com is up now (though there's no new content yet), but it needs a tagline. As in "The Necromancer Chronicles: Sexy tagline goes here." I turn to you, beloved LJers, to come up with something brilliant.

1. God's War - Kameron Hurley
2. The Sea Thy Mistress - Elizabeth Bear
3. Servant of the Underworld - Aliette de Bodard
4. Devil in the Dust - Chaz Brenchley
5. Tower of the King's Daughter - Chaz Brenchley
6. The Messenger - Daniel Silva
7. The Mermaids Singing - Val McDermid
8. The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
9. Demon Bound - Caitlin Kittredge
10. Deathless - Catherynne Valente
11. No Hero - Jonathon Wood
12. Mekhet: Shadows in the Dark - Russel Bailey
13. The Drowning Girl - Caitlin R. Kiernan
14. Desdaemona - Ben Macallen
15. Ghosts & Echoes - Lyn Benedict
16. The Girl of Fire and Thorns - Rae Carson
17. Choke Hold - Christa Faust
18. Among Thieves - Douglas Hulick
19. Cabal - Clive Barker (reread)
20. The Magicians - Lev Grossman

(Plus at least three crit novels.)

Not a good year for finishing books. I resolve to read more than twenty next year. Now it's time to try to squeeze one more in before the end of the month: any suggestions? Books conveniently nearby include The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland..., Endurance, The Night Circus, The Tempering of Men, and Harbinger of the Storm.