Day in the Life of an Idiot

Okay, I should be working on revisions, but Mason is home from school (some scheduled deal -- I swear kids spend every other Friday home.) We went to the library this morning. I should learn never to go to the library with a list of books I want to find. My library never has them. I have to order them or put myself on a waiting list. I did pick up Scott Westerfeld's SO YESTERDAY, though what I really wanted was the first of his UGLIES/PRETTIES series. While I was searching him in the database, I discovered Westerfeld wrote EVOLUTION'S DARLING, a book (and short story) that I found strange yet compelling. So when they had SO YESTERDAY on the shelf and it didn't seem to be the third or thirteenth book in a series, I picked it up. The nice thing about the library is that if it's not my taste, I can just drop it off. No questions asked.

I finished Willis' INSIDE JOB last night after Wyrdsmiths. That book was pretty awesome. I hesitate to recommend it because it might be hard to find, as Subterranean Press is somewhat smallish. Anyway, I ripped through it, though, like I noted yesterday, it's a small book, maybe even just a novellette.

A friend recommended VELLUM: THE BOOK OF ALL HOURS by Hal Duncan, which I tried to find at the library to no avail. It was supposed to be on the shelf, but it wasn't! When I took Mason to HalfPrice Books, there it was, tauting me. So I bought it. (I hope it doesn't suck! I can't return it!)

Also, since all of the kids are reading it, I tried to check out BONESHAKER by Cherie Priest but my library had ordered it but not put it in the system officially yet. No one has dropped one used yet, no surprise, though, since it's so new.

If you can't tell, all I want to do on a snowy day like today is curl up with one of these books and read. I don't want to work on my revisions, especially since I have to sit at the "big" computer to write (as opposed to my paperweight of a laptop.) After this Backyardigans is over, I'm going to coax Mason out into the cold. We need to check and see if a local computer shop has a replacement cord. It would be nice to be able to use my laptop sooner rather than later. Obviously the big computer works fine (since I'm using it to write to you), but it's not as comfy as laying on the couch or in the bed and I've gotten awfully spoiled by the convenience of that.

Also, I have to say my instinct was right. There's been a thread about advances on a list of professional SF/F writers that I belong to that I have quite purposefully avoided. Knowing what other people get paid for their writing is potentially crazy-making. The thread came up at Wyrdsmiths and I actually got interested enough to check it out this morning. Mistake. Now I feel even LESS like doing my revisions. Although if I don't do them, I don't get paid at all....

Though I don't really have that much to do. Some of it is very simple. But, like I've been saying, I've been paying more attention to the book because it *is* the last of the Garnet books and I don't want it to be a disappointment to readers.

I need to get it off my plate, though, because the next big thing I need to do is come up with some proposals for more adult books by Tate. My editor is willing to consider more contemporary urban fantasy. I'd like to be able to give my agent a range of ideas, maybe a half dozen. Shawn and I came up with some ideas, but I need to flesh them out into proposals so I have something to offer.

Plus all my web pages are woefully out-dated.

Stuff to do!