I just wanted to take a picture of my new, autographed paperback copy of Evensong for you guys, because I was SUPER excited when it came in the mail this morning. Harriet said, “Nope. PHOTO ME AND LOVE ME AND PET ME.”

And then she purred, and I can’t argue with that. So here you go. Book and cat. Add a cup of tea and you’ve got a perfect afternoon.

I apologize for the hugeness of the image. Apparently WordPress is no longer letting us edit photos down by percentage. Huh.

Note to self.

Aaaaaaanyway…

Let’s get this final ROW80 Update out of the way first, because I’m ending this round on a bit of a cliffhanger.

My editor started working on my book this morning. I have no idea what’s going to happen with that. Could be a wonderful experience, or it could leave me deciding that my leisure hours would be better spent playing Minecraft because writing is just wasting my time and my money. I’m expecting something in the middle, with lots of work to be done at the end but me still feeling like this is a thing I can do.

We’ll see. Right now I feel like I can handle pretty much anything.

In other news, I read Rayne Hall’s Writing Fight Scenes this week, and it was quite informative. I picked it up because I knew mine were lacking something, and I discovered lots of ways to punch things up. Lots of tips, lots of links to videos* demonstrating fighting styles and weapons, and it’s a quick read at a good price. Recommended.

Also still reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I’m FINALLY at the actual story, and am finally enjoying it. I have no problem with the author’s writing style– it’s gorgeous, and I think he’ll be one of few Fantasy authors who won’t make me want to throw the book across the room because I want to skip all of the descriptions (see: A Song of Ice and Fire and ALL THE FOODS). I mean, there are tons of descriptions, but at least they’re interesting. It just took forever to get past the framing. I know, I’m a terrible reader. Maybe “get to the action” has just been drilled into my head so often as a writer that I’m no longer willing to slog through chapters of Not Much Happening to get to the good stuff.

I hate feeling like I don’t have time to just enjoy a long, drawn-out story anymore, but that’s kind of where I am. My attention span is HEY LOOK, A MARMOSET.** That, and my TBR list is so huge that I find myself putting books down and moving on to something else if I’m not hooked right away.

New resolution to work on next round: try to get over that. Slow down, smell the marmosets roses, try to give books a chance.

WIPpet Wednesday

26 (short) sentences from Resurrection for the 26th. We’re heading for the climax here (and the reason I needed that book on fight scenes). Shivva (the vampire) is on the run, trying to solve a mystery of sorts, and trying not to hurt any innocent humans while she does so.

A bell tinkles as I enter the restaurant, a greasy little diner with plastic menus and  probably a filthy kitchen. The decor hasn’t been updated since the sixties. That, or it’s a convincing retro set-up. I don’t even care.

“Bad night to be out walking,” says the short guy leaning against the counter. He doesn’t seem to care that his boots are leaving a puddle on the chipped linoleum.

“Yeah.” I count out my buck seventy-five and accept the white paper cup of steaming heaven.  The coffee’s shit, of course, but it’s hot, and it helps.

“I’ve got an umbrella in my car, if you want it,” the guy says.

I shoot him an irritated glance. “No, thanks. I’m fine.”

“Not made of sugar, are you?”

“Excuse me?”

He shrugs. “You… you’re not worried about melting in the rain. So you must not be made of sugar.” I roll my eyes, and I feel him watching me as I turn to leave. “You sure look sweet, though.”

I flip him the bird without looking back.

Three blocks later, I’m in an industrial area, enjoying the quiet. A long, high-pitched whistle sounds behind me. I don’t stop, and I don’t turn back, even at the sound of several sets of footsteps splashing over the asphalt. Humans. Bring it on.

Oy. I’ve heard worse pick-up lines, but not by much.

So there you go. Thank you to everyone who volunteered to beta read and/or rip my work to shreds. I’ll try to have that out next week.

For more WIPpet Wednesday fun, swing by our host KL Schwengel’s blog to say hi, click on the link, and be transported to a world of… um… well, I don’t know. I have to go check that out myself.

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*Useless on my PaperWhite, but good to have available for another time.

**That’s… actually kind of weird.