Like the tissues surrounding my wastebasket (for I can never quite toss them in), today’s post is going to be a bit random. An amalgamation of allergies and the flu has hit my sinuses with aplomb. Ergo, drugs. No, the good kind. Sinus drugs. My head may feel clearer but the words aren’t necessarily conjoining in their proper order (or definition) by any stretch of the imagination. Not to mention — I’ve had very little caffeine the past few days and this has put me into withdrawal mode as well.

All whining aside, the reason why I’m telling you this is because the sniffles have caused me to forget about the thirty-day mark of not being on Facebook, Twitter or IM. Which, you know, is funny because it was on my mind but I’d almost forgotten about it.

I’m writing a focused article about my experience for another website, so you’ll be able to read a more coherent angle on that there. At the moment, it reads like “And then this happened… AND THEN…” so I’m going to wait until my head clears before I revise. Probably laugh my arse off in the process. Eesh. The short of it is, the responses from other authors have been far more interesting than what I’ve been going through on my own. The reactions squarely fall into two camps.

Here’s a couple of cool things that happened last week:

• New Story Accepted! – Not sure if you remember when I talked about a story I submitted called “Tailfeather.” Set in a dystopian future based on our own reality, this story is about a woman who went through months of surgeries to become a bird. More to come on that.
• It’s Time for Estrogen Time – My best friend moved to Atlanta a month or two ago and I’ve been dying for some sushi therapy ever since. Well, it seems I’ve reached a new nirvana — once again I return to making jewelry. I’ve been meeting a ton of people and have been working on a few designs.
• Figured out a Better Revision Technique – Taking a page from some of the different software designs that are out there like Liquid StoryBinder and StoryBook, I started summarizing scenes during the revision process in a different color. I’m hoping to apply this technique again in the near future to a longer work, but so far so good.
• I did not write a fan letter to Jeff VanderMeer – I’m currently reading The Third Bear, published by Tachyon Publications. The difference between the stories is pretty profound because the voices are all different. To read a talented author write multiple genres (or various shades thereof) in the same collection is extraordinarily humbling. Why is not writing a fan letter a good thing? Apparently, you’ve never read my fan letters…
• Got a Wicked Omi Idea – To help get me in an alchemist’s mindset, I’m creating a grimoire. For the cover, I picked up an Omi. Check out some finished versions. Because one of the surfaces is flat, I can attach it to the front of the book and I already have an idea of what I want to do. Better yet — picked it up during Free Comic Book Day! Whoo-Hoo!

Well, that’s about all I have for today. I’m still writing so I hope you’re still reading! 🙂