Happy Birthday to the fabulous

lamardeuse

– she of the Canadian pimping and beautiful photography.

Hope your day is fantastic, chica!

::chickwriter crawls back to bed with no voice, cough, chest cold and bonus fever::

My lovely, lovely iMac (still a hot babe at < 2 years old) has been having Issues over the past couple of days.

Monday a.m. while I was trying to open a photo in iPhoto, the screen went black – the computer was still on, but no display.

I had to run to work, so I shut it down manually. When I got home last night and rebooted, everything seemed fine.

Tonight, when I got home, the computer wasn’t asleep: very abnormal. Things seemed sluggish and none of the backup routines were running. I tried all sorts of things to make her better, but eventually resigned myself to the fact that I might have to (and am now) wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Leopard.

Very very odd. Couldn’t find a lot of info on the support site/blogs. Possibly issues with the video card? Who knows. I’m rebuilding and only going to reinstall the minimums to see how she runs over the next few days.

If things don’t get better, perhaps I need to replace her. Which will truly suck because I just shelled out for Mab (the new name for Morgause) the MacBook Air – which I love dearly but was never meant to be a desktop replacement.

Damn.

Unhappy about all of this because last night I decided to register for World Fantasy 2008 in Calgary and figure out a way to afford to go this year. After all, the them is Mystery in Fantasy and Horror: exactly what I write.

Sigh.

On top of which, my possessed work laptop, the Lenovo from HELL can *not* be replaced under warranty as Lenovo will ONLY replace the whole machine within 17 days of purchase. DUDES. It’s just at 1 year old and I have spent the greater part of that year fighting the damned machine.

Damn. Sigh. Sigh Again.

::crosses fingers that things will work out::

It’s a DAMNED good thing that I have everything backed up.

So, book 3 (as yet untitled) is still in the thinky planning stages. Part of it is that I’m waiting for final editorial on Blood Bargain, which may or may not affect things in Book 3. Ah, the woes of an author. ::g::

I’ve updated my book page to include the cover and ISBN for In the Hunt: Unauthorized Essays on Supernatural, one of the fabulous SmartPop series by Benbella books. My essay, Another Roadside Attraction, The Role of the Trickster in Supernatural will be published in the book (due out March 2009).

I’m very excited about this, as those of you that know me, know how much I enjoy fannish meta. To be able to do this for Benbella was a dream of mine, ever since I read Seven Seasons of Buffy, several years ago. Now, it’s coming true!

One update to my schedule: I am *not* going to be at Creatures ‘n’ Crooks on August 23. Seems I’ve overbooked myself and had to bow out. I will, however, definitely be at Bouchercon.

I’m hoping to figure out a way to make it to Calgary for World Fantasy this year. I enjoyed myself so much last year, I want to attend. However, 2 trips to Western Canada in as many months might just not work out. Keep your fingers crossed.

(xposted from website)

Just finished Vampire Academy by blue_succubus (Richelle Mead) and am looking forward to the next in the series.

Been on a Harry Potter kick, so last night finished re-reading Chamber of Secrets and am starting Prisoner of Azkaban.

Went to see The Dark Knight on Friday with JM from work, her hubby and some of their pals. Truly a brilliant, relentless, immersive movie experience. As said by many before, Heath Ledger’s Joker is a tour-de-force, a brilliant, twisted psychopath.

Since I’ve been on a bit of a vampire kick, too, I’ve started to re-watch Angel: the Series. Just finished reading Five Seasons of Angel (one of the SmartPop Series from Benbella books) and enjoyed it immensely.

On the screen right now: Spike prancing about in “In the Dark” (AtS 1×03) at the end of the episode, strutting like he’s going to rise above all the disappointments, then realizing he’s well and truly screwed as the ceiling gives way.

As always, my favorite bit from this episode is at the beginning. Spike watching Angel from the roof of a nearby building as Angel saves the girl:

SPIKE: (imitating Rachel) How can I thank you, you mysterious, black-clad hunk of a night thing? (imitating Angel) No need, little lady, your tears of gratitude are enough for me. You see, I was once a badass vampire, but love and a pesky curse defanged me. Now I’m just a big, fluffy puppy with bad teeth.

(Rachel steps closer to Angel, and Angel steps back, warding her off with his hands)

SPIKE: No, not the hair! Never the hair! (high voice) But there must be someway I can show my appreciation. (low voice) No, helping those in need’s my job, and working up a load of sexual tension, and prancing away like a magnificent poof is truly thanks enough! (high voice) I understand. I have a nephew who is gay, so… (low voice) Say no more. Evil’s still afoot! And I’m almost out of that Nancy-boy hair gel I like so much. Quickly, to the Angel-mobile, away!

SPIKE: Go on with you. Play the big, strapping hero while you can. You have a few surprises coming your way. The ring of Amara, a visit from your old pal Spike, and, oh yeah, your gruesome, horrible death. **

Hope everyone’s had a great weekend!

* Xander to Giles, Miss Calendar; BtVS 1×08, I, Robot

** The Buffy Dialogue Database

Where I’m not:

(1) Comic-Con…but my teaser sampler books are thanks to allaboutm_e, who graciously asked for 50 of the samplers to give away at the supernatural themed panel.

(2) Conestoga…but my teaser sampler books are thanks to fangs_fur_fey (Particularly Jeaniene Frost and Rachel Vincent for volunteering to lug the loot) and the Con-within-a-Con. 10 samplers sent for stuffing bags/giveaways.

(3) Turkey/Greek Islands…where one of my clients will be starting Monday.

(4) Ireland…where my staffer Liz will be starting Monday.

(5) Vancouver…where I’ll be starting August 30.

Which leaves me with: Home for now, on my way in to work in a few and then tonight: Dark Knight with JM, her hubby and roomy Tony, whose birthday it is.

Then WEEKEND!

Also fun: Namechecked on the company blog!

Thanks so much to theamusedone who did a great job of pimping it!

For those of you *not* watching The Middleman, go, now! On ABC Family (yeah, believe it or not) or iTunes.

It’s not totally because of money (well, yes, in a sense, because I do have to pay rent, bills, etc.) but, why I choose to work at the Matrix Group is because well, check out this post from my boss on our official blog site and then this Washington Post article.

We don’t always get to help out in this fashion, but it’s so great when we do.

What I did this weekend and the first part of the week:

– attended a Sisters in Crime lunch on the subject of vampires
– updated my Web site
– Added an RSS feed to my Web site
– watched Harry Potter movies on DVD
– bid on several items in the livelongnmarry charity auction
– won several items in said auction, including: a hand knitted scarf in Slytherin colors, a tourist package from Jasper Nat’l Park in Canada, a set of Aussie goodies, and a customized set of Moleskine notebooks (go, me!)
– raised $120 for Marriage Equality in my own auction (THANKS!)
– slept…a lot (that would be Mon/Tues, when my body decided to play games)
– went to work (Weds)

ETA: Oh, hell, but wait, there’s more:
– upgraded my IPhone 1st gen to 2.0 (so far, so cool); did NOT stand in any lines
– bought Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog on iTunes and watched the first ep -Hee!!
– Discovered The Middleman (yes, yes, I know – you all keep TALKING about it!); it’s a total hoot. I bought all the eps available on iTunes and gorged all day Sunday.

Still behind on LJ, but hopefully will get caught up.

Just a quick reminder that there are still 2 sets of autographed books available in my auction at livelongnmarry.

joannindiw won the first at the Buy It Now price.

ellen_fremedon is bidding on set #2

No bids yet on set #3

The items: 2 of the books in my series (your choice) autographed by moi and mailed to you. I will ship internationally.

Matters of the Blood is in print and will be reissued as a mass market paperback in September 2008.

Blood Bargain, book 2, will be out in November 2008.

Book 3 is in progress.

Hope everyone is staying cool!

Note to self: Don’t make fun of the fact that your parents found the remnants of a bird post-demolishing by cat…or else you might find a squashed, very flat mouse corpse under your own recliner. In your 10th floor apartment. Without requisite cat to bring dead prey presents.

ETA: In another state…halfway across the country from said parents and said cat.

ICK.