It’s a dog’s year and hopefully, this will mean that 2006 will be grand for me, as I was born in the year of the Dog.

Of Mondays and many things:
* I found out that my publisher is having money issues again. This time more serious. Recent e-mails are going without response, not only mine but several others. I have no idea where this is leading, but my gut feeling: he’s going under, despite what he and his wife think. I still haven’t heard about my royalty check from 3rd quarter (due in December), nor has he answered questions about tax forms. Advice to me from several friends: get a lawyer.
(this post is f’locked, b/c I’m not sure if my publisher reads this journal)

* Work was insanely busy as has been the case for several months. I have a giganto project in full gear, due to the client on 2/10. It’s going to be tight. Looks like February will be another month of long work days.

* Ann_Tara reported that NBC is streaming The Book of Daniel episodes. Too bad they’re not acknowledging those of us who (a) don’t use Internet Explorer and (b) don’t use PCs at home. Sigh. Maybe the eps will be released to DVD.

* I’ll be heading to San Diego in early March to ConDor, appearing as a guest author. Looking forward to this, my first SF/F con as a published author. Will be rooming with allaboutm_e and untamed_sylph, which should be a blast.

* I updated my Web site with this year’s events.

Tuesday thoughts
* It’s raining.
* It’s dreary.
* It’s way the hell too warm for January 31.

I woke up bizarrely early, with random thoughts floating through my brain, including the following snippet. Don’t know where I’m going to use it yet, whether a Blood Lines book (yes, that’s my new series name…depending on the whole publisher issue), or whether I’ll use it for a short story that’s banging around in my brain. I like the imagery though.

[start snippet]
Small towns are like glaciers. Moving slowly in their majestic beauty, ideas, mores, thoughts frozen in the ice—pretty to look at. Occasionally, you see things happen, slight changes, tiny cracks in the ice, drips melting away piecemeal as Johnny Rodriguez takes a job in Austin and moves himself, his wife, the kids, mom and Aunt Betty out of the homestead. SueEllen Parker leaves her husband of fifteen years to live in quietly proud defiance with her best friend Mary Rose. But overall, life continues as it was, these small ripples hardly changing the face of the ice. Until suddenly, one day, that which you thought was immutable, fixed in stone, carved into eternal ice sheers away, large chunks tearing away with a shriek, crashing and splintering into a million knife edged shards.

If you’re lucky, you’re watching this from a safe distance, through binoculars of emotional dampeners. If you’re not, you could be closer than you think, the looking glass of your life falsely making items closer than they appear, allowing one or more of those jagged shards to pierce your complacency.

Whether or not that’s a good thing remains to be seen.

[end snippet]

Tomorrow, I go with beledibabe to see Jennifer Crusie at the Smithsonian – in the same building that our panel was in last May. I have permission from my buddy Eileen Dreyer to name drop. (Eileen and JC are friends and are writing a book together). I’m going to give JC a copy of Matters, because she’s a Buffy lover and ever since my sister gave me the first JC Harlequin, I’ve been in love with her sense of humor. I also have a copy of Bet Me to get autographed.

With that, I’m off to work…without much of a hi-ho, but we’ll see what the day brings.