Until Midnight (& Sometimes Later)

I am pleased and proud to announce Galactic Creatures, a new science fiction anthology to be published by Sparkito Press, featuring a gorgeous cover by Pyracantha.

Cover of Galactic Creatures~art by Pyracantha

There will be a book launch event at Balticon, Memorial Day weekend, on Sunday the 27th from 7pm to 9pm, in the Garden Room, along with several other Dark Quest titles. Many of the contributors will be present, as will the cover artist and the collection editor (me).

Here is the table of contents. Start anticipating how much you’ll enjoy reading these terrific stories!

Dragon Child	by Leona Wisoker
Lawn Care	by C.J. Henderson
Slow and Steady	by John L. French
The Dragon Ships of Tycho	by Alex Shvartsman
The Scrapper and the Saint Bernard	by Scott W. Baker
The Geas Ingenerate	by Don Sakers
The Sky Above the Sky	by Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano
Heart of a Lion	by James Daniel Ross
Kudzu: A Prologue	by Bernie Mojzes
Broken in the Place of Dragons	by Rosemary Edghill
Crossing Roads	by Patrick Thomas

Approximately three weeks ago, during the extremely exotic task of chasing down a cat out from under a table, I stood up [quickly] before I was completely out from under said table. The result: I have a broken wing. Or, to be more precise, a fractured left scapula.

The orthopedist says it should heal relatively quickly. Which is good, because the scapula can’t be splinted or put into a cast. I can use a sling when my arm/shoulder feels really tired and/or sore. I’m restricted to lifting no more than five pounds with my left hand. And the pain clinic has upped my pain meds for the duration.

Once the fracture has resolved, there may or may not be a course of physical therapy to complete the healing process.

Right now, everything is difficult, from hanging up clothes to driving. And, of course, I was contractually obligated to judge cat shows the last two weekends. One of them I had a trainee who handled [did all the heavy lifting] for me–thanks Lorraine!! The other one I just had to tough it out. Surprisingly, no one seemed to notice I was judging with only one hand . . . .

The next few weeks all I have is a few writing events. We’ll see how they go.

There is a very nice review of In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk over at SF Reader.

They take the time to say something nice about each and every story, and they really “got” what we were trying to do with the anthology.

I’ve been working under deadline to finish up a project (which has now gone to press), so I have a lot of news to share. Watch the skies!

A while ago we picked up a gorgeous oak coffeetable (and two matching end tables) at a yard sale–they had sharp corners and the house had a new baby. The table features a stained glass inset, but it was a bit . . . mundane. Our friend Marci, however, is an artist in stained glass. Mike picked up the table this weekend as part of a complex two-way cat exchange.

Behold the result.

If you’ve been following my guitar saga, I did end up ordering my dream guitar to replace my deceased [and ancient] folk guitar–an Ovation Celebrity CC059 acoustic-electric. It arrived Wednesday, spent a day getting checked out by Chuck (CKuz Guitars, my excellent local expert), and is an almost constant distraction from the work I should be doing.

Fortunately, I’ve been getting a lot of work done lately (probably because I have an extraordinary number of deadlines to hit), and I’ve been compensating with breaks to play the Ovation and to read S.C.P.D.: The Case of the Claw by Keith R.A. DeCandido, which is really distracting.

The most amazing thing about the guitar is the built-in tuner–I bought my last guitar in the ’80s. I still remember how cool it was to shift from a pitch pipe to an electronic tuner (and yes, I can tune without an electronic aid!).

Today I tried out the Ovation plugged for the first time, just to see what it sounded like. Very different from my Gibson–a much cleaner sound. I really like it, although non-amped is just fine for the most part.

My finger dexterity is slowly coming back (bar chords very slowly), but I’m getting there. I had played someone’s Ovation back in High School? College? and loved the round back, and the experience stuck with me. The super-shallow body of this model is a really good fit for me, and is really comfortable to play. Not sure it’s the right guitar for everyone–but I’m super happy with my choice. Why did I stop playing again?