Friday, January 2, 2009

My Holiday Season

So, the holidays are over, the tree is down, the lights are put away and the eldest goes back to school on Monday. How did my holiday go, do you ask?

Well, it started out somewhat poorly. I got a rejection letter for Save A Horse, my submission for the Cowboy Up And Ride anthology at Samhain. And while there's always going to be that little pinch of disappointment when I receive one I've gotten enough of them to know that sometimes the story just doesn't work for the editor. Not every story does. (The authors chosen were Lorelei James, Moira Keith and Nicole Stancil. Congratulations, ladies! I'm looking forward to reading your books, and I doubt I'm the only one!)

Now I have to decide what to do with Save A Horse: rework it into something longer and submit elsewhere (it's a novella set in the Gray Court's world) or make it a free read. Ponderings for another time, though, since I'm supposed to be working on Bunny right now.

The good news? The rest of the holiday was pretty good, actually. The Night of the Seven Fish had some substitutions (a lovely tilapia in lemon sauce, for instance), jewelry from the hubby and a Wii for the kids from Granddad that all of us have played. Santa brought the kids Rock Band and the family is trying to convince me to sing since I come the closest to being able to carry a tune. I convinced them to buy a second guitar so I could play bass.

As for the vacation I took? I still managed to do some work. Edits came in on Very Much Alive, so I got those done, and I snuck in some work on Bunny while Dusty was sleeping. New Year's Eve saw Dusty and I ringing in the new year kicking bad guy butt in City of Heroes while the ball dropped (and I'm starting to get whispers of a superhero story, gah!), with the Mummer's Parade on New Year's Day. (And being a South Philly girl I so have to make someone a Mummer in a story.)

And in case those of you outside the Philadelphia area are wondering what a Mummer's Parade is, here's the third place winner in the String Band section of the parade, the South Philadelphia String Band (trust me, it's worth watching):



And Fralinger, the winner of the 2009 String Band section:



These guys are anything from policemen to construction workes to lawyers to senators. Not one is a professional performer, and any money made goes right back into the "club" for next year's performance. They march from 2 Street to City Hall and the judges, giving performances along the way.

And this is my favorite part: The Fancy Brigade. I couldn't find a video of this year's winners, but I found last year:



Congrats to all the Mummers!

P.S.: Mr. Murray, our thoughts are with you.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the congrats and link! And now as I scope out your site... I am discovering some titles to add to my TBR pile!

Sorry the Holidays started off on a bad note, but glad to see they picked up for you at the end. Look forward to visiting you here often!

Favorite Quotes

"I had the right to remain silent, but I didn't have the ability." Ron White

"So let me get this straight. You want me to kill the little guys, kill the big guys, crowd control those I can't, buff the team, debuff the boss, keep myself alive, AND keep you alive, all while waving a stick and dressed in a towel?" - Anonymous Role Playing Gamer

"I think that statue over there is a statement on modern life. The statement is, "Well, shit." - Varric, Dragon Age II

"Why is it all claws and guns? Can't we piss off a fuzzy planet? Still dangerous, but hey. Bunnies." - Joker, Mass Effect

"Last night, I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and thought to myself, "Where the heck is the ceiling?" - Dilbert


"Aim at the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you'll hit the bull's-eye of success." - Annie Oakley

"It is only when you fall that you learn whether you can fly." - Flemeth, aka The Witch of the Wilds, Dragon Age 2

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.'” - George Carlin

"I hear there's a wild bridge tournament down the street. And you know Bridge. It's a lot like sex. If you don't have a great partner, you'd better have a good hand." Barry Weiss, Storage Wars

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe." - Marcus Cole, Babylon 5, "A Late Delivery From Avalon"

"I aim to misbehave." - Capt. Malcolm Reynolds

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - Albert Einstein

“If you think you can or think you cannot, you are correct.” - Henry Ford
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