Kitti announced a last-minute impromptu skate nite last night, and since I desperately needed another activity that wasn't running I jumped all over it. It seems horrid to say, but Michael Jackson's death improved the quality of the music at the rink. I knew maybe 30% of the songs this time, instead of the usual 10%. Shame, though, that they wimped out and cut off "Smooth Criminal" right after the "bloodstains on the carpet" line. Idjits. But Kitti and I still had fun, so I'm not complaining. But the day they actually PLAY a Green Day song I will have a flippin' party.

And despite being wary about how I'd feel, my knees held up quite well. I concentrated on my form (not doing anything fancy) and I skated admirably for over an hour.

I did not, however, skate THIS admirably:

The Kitten Shower was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who gave me great ideas!  We had tea & homemade scones and lots of kitty luv. Tracy snapped a few pics. Including this one! Soak it up now, because you won't see many photos like this...


Princess Lee, Cisco, and proud Mama Kathy


Cisco on the prowl

Get Your Cyborg Name

(courtesy of nayad )

There's a new Apex Magazine out, featuring a new Beauty & Dynamite essay ("Here Lies an Era"), and me reading my flash fiction horror short "Foiled." (run time: 3:08)

It's my first time, but I hope to do a lot more readings in the future. Let me know what you think!

I barely slept the night before my first 5K...you know how it is. I was up at 3am and 4am, worried that I'd sleep through my 5am alarm -- especially since I was in the middle of a writing retreat at Sherrilyn Kenyon's cabin (which was closer to the race than my house). For all that I had prepared I had forgotten both the shirt I had planned to wear and my hair sticks (notice I have one hair stick and one Papermate pen) and the chain for wearing my car key around my neck (thank heavens for sports bars), but I remembered my shoes and my iPod, and that was the important part.

I was crazy early and got a good parking spot, found the bathroom, checked out the YMCA, and walked in circles around the parking lot to warm up while I waited for everybody to show. All the Ingram folks were to meet at the big sign at 6:30 (the race started at 7:00). Kevin found me first, so we hung out at the sign and chatted as Sam and Alison, Robin & Amy and their husbands, and Ben trickled in.

I kept doing stupid stretches to a.) look like a big shot and b.) keep myself from fidgeting and c.) because I probably needed it. So I'm folded in half touching my toes by the sign, and I notice that there's quite a bit of clover interspersed with the grass. Back In The Vermont Days, I used to spend hours in the field across the street from our house searching for four-leaf clovers. "Wouldn't it be funny," I thought, "if I found a four-leaf clover right now?" And then I did. Within like 30 seconds. I'm not kidding. It's pinned to the top left corner of my number in that picture. I pressed it when I got back to the cabin. Are your surprised? Me neither.

I took a friend's advice and started the race way in the back, so I wouldn't be run over by the Serious Athletes. (Instead I got run over by ladies with baby carriages.) So I didn't cross the START line the minute the gun went off, but I had a nifty chip on my shoe that would mark my time from the point that I did, which was cool.

My only goal was 45:00. I figured it would be a miracle if I finished that fast. For the last half of the race I think I joggled my iPod between the Beach Boys' "Surfin' USA" and "Let's Start a Riot" by 3 Doors Down. The former was my running song; the latter was my walking song. I just kept at it, back and forth. I skipped the water when it was offered (it was really a beautiful day and not nearly as hot as it should have been), and it was nice to be cheered on by perfect strangers. Kevin was waiting for me at the FINISH line with a bottle of water and a smile. The time on the big clock said 46:09. I figured I was maybe a minute back at the START line...I could maybe pull off beating 45 minutes. So when the times were posted and it said 43:53 by my name, I had to read it three times before it sunk in. WOOHOO!!!

I was the slowest person on my team and at the bottom of the list in my age group, but I totally don't care. I did something I never thought I'd do, and I had a great time. Even better -- I'm totally looking forward to the Christie Cookie 5K in September. I can't wait to kick my own butt.

But I do own a big, bright orange tape measure.

For those of you keeping up with my new running hobby (heck, *I* can barely keep up with my new running hobby), my essay "From Pages to Pavement" is now live over at Fantasy Magazine. Trace the insanity of how an author's mind goes from "I can finish a novel!" to "I can run a 5K!" Leave me some encouragement in the comments there...I can use all I can get.

My first 5K is this Saturday. Wish me luck!


Feliz Cuatro de Julio!

I'm not sure WHAT is on sale...but it's only 2 for $4!
Any guesses?

I heart Stephan Pastis.

I'm referring, of course, to Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum and today's Unshelved strip.

Check it out -- I have a link! Preorder your very own copy of Harlan County Horrors RIGHT HERE. The anthology features a bunch of awesome, dark, creepy stories (My "The Witch of Black Mountain" being the best, of course).

Apparently, that link goes straight into my royalties and no one else's MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! <ahem> So please, only use that link. Or I will assault you with some Cheetos.

Because you've done this pose too, and you know it.


Stephanie & Lee -- Ingram's Angels

And this one:


Beau Ordoyne is not your lover.

Indeed.



Saw this on the way to work this morning. I still want to ride in a hot-air balloon someday.

My BFF Casey recently tagged me on a Facebook meme, listing her "15 most influential books." I was intrigued. Bands get asked who their influences are all the time. What about authors? Think for a minute...which books were your most influential books? And I don't just mean ones that you enjoyed, but ones that resonated with you so deeply that you remember them--you still have them on your shelves and can probably quote them--to this day.

My list started with eight and almost immediately expanded to well over fifteen. I'm pretty satisfied at twenty-one, though. Consider yourself tagged -- which are your most influential books, and why?

( MY LJ peeps can find the list behind this cut. )

Happy Release Day  Diana Rowland!

Detective Kara Gillian is both a cop and a conjurer of demons, accidentally conjuring sexy  angelic Rhyzkhal during a routine spell. Now she needs his help to catch a deadly serial killer--The Symbol Man--who's back in Beaulac, Louisiana on a killing spree after a three-year hiatus. There's also that handsome-yet-disapproving FBI agent hanging around, messing with both Kara's heart and her first homicide case.

Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland is a delicious blend of police procedural and urban fantasy. In honor of its release today, be sure to check out my Genre Chick interview with the superstar author herself. We had a lot of fun. (Almost as much fun as John Scalzi had with Diana at last year's WorldCon. ---->)

I also reviewed Mark of the Demon in my most recent column for Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and blew a whole Saturday reading it in one sitting. I miss those days.

If you're like me at all and yearning for a fun, smart urban fantasy that isn't cashing in on the whole vampire wave (I am so tired of vampires...and no, Dark-Hunters don't count) then be sure to pick up Mark of the Demon at your local bookstore today!

On the newest installment of "Tea in Space," the four hot Genre Chicks walk with ghosts through Neil Gaiman's Newbury Award-winning The Graveyard Book.

In honor of the somber tones throughout both the text and Dave McKean's spectral illustrations (and because it's my new favorite tea), we serve up Twining's LADY GREY tea. (I had this tea at BEA the day after the Audiobook awards where I met Neil Gaiman, and congratulated him on winning audiobook of the year!)

Listen to the podcast here.

And check out our pic...which we have dubbed "SOMBER FAIL." Maybe we should have taken the picture before the exceptionally lively discussion. I look like I have just sprinted to the funeral. Also: Janet cracks me up.

 

...without an Awesome Dad.
Happy Father's Day. xox

Today is my little sister's birthday. She's officially thirty-something today. Her name is Soteria. Back then, we called her Sami. Now you're only allowed to call her Sami if you've been grandfathered in. If you're one of those people, consider yourself special. But don't push it. She still prefers Soteria. (So-TEE-ree-uh)

This is exactly what we were like when we were kids:



I was the tomboy. She was the princess. It took me at least 15 years to realize I was a princess too. Soteria's always been ahead of her time.

This is us now:



We haven't changed much.

In honor of Soteria's birthday, I'm encouraging everyone to become a fan of the Dixie Dunbar Studio page on Facebook. Soteria was the lead designer for many years at Dixe Dunbar Studio in Charleston SC -- second only to Dixie herself -- and now she owns the entire kit & caboodle. If you've ever complimented me on my necklaces, that's where I get them.

Even if you don't become a fan, please click on over, check out the beautiful shinies, and wish Soteria a VERY happy birthday.
Thanks, guys.
xox

My Twitter account was just suspended.
I have no idea why.
I sent them an email and now....HEY! Now it's back! Wonder how long this will last? And why it was done in the first place?

Stop messing with me already.
Really.