But, but, I *need* my vacation!

Winter Storm Warning in effect from Friday evening into Sunday evening...we are still on track for a major winter storm.
If the metro area sees a foot of snow (still very possible, we are predicting 10-12") it will be the first foot of snow ever reported at MSP in February (records go back to 1891).
Heaviest snow comes Friday night and again Saturday night....a few isolated locations could wind up with over 15" by Monday morning.

Normally this would be very good news, I'd be tremendously excited. But not when I'm supposed to be flying. I hate flying. (Actually, I should amend that; I hate being a passenger. I've taken aviation classes before, and the hour I spent in the pilot's seat of a Cessna was a lot of fun and not at all scary. Plus, I'm not much good in the passenger seat of cars either; just ask my husband). I was hoping for a smooth trip this time; last time the pilot had "one of those lights" light up and had to slam on the brakes halfway down the runway, then we started hydroplaning and fishtailing. Then we had to get back in line to do it all over again.
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You know what would be worse than taking off in an ice storm? Waiting around in the airport with two kids for hours before taking off in an ice storm.
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Mostly I'm grumpy because both of the boys have had the stomach flu this week. Of course this always hits in the dead of night, and not the same night either. Aidan is a big enough kid now to get himself to the bathroom in time, but Oliver has this thing where he has to hide the fact that he's sick for as long as he can, so he pukes in the space between his bed and the wall. This morning has been all about scraping half-digested kidney bean husks off the walls and floor. Thank god the Lego totes around his bed all have covers now. The last time he did this, he puked into open totes.
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I really need this vacation. I don't like to talk about my day job, but let's just say the last week has been one of those where anyone would want to get very far away from one's coworkers for a spell. Plus my brain is just fried. Yesterday I got another rejection for a short story, so as usual I reprinted the story right away with a cover letter, stuck it in an envelope with an SASE, and took it to the post office. Then I got home and I can't find that rejection letter anywhere. I'm afraid I know where it went to. *sigh*.

OK, it's official

I've signed the contract and everything. My short story "Of Tapestries and Daemons" will be published in the Fantastical Visions V anthology. This isn't even a magazine, it's an actual trade paperback (link for the curious). I have volumes II and III; I'm pretty geeked I'm going to be in V. Yay me!

Pretty much sums it up for me

I'm not sure if this link will work, some blogs on Myspace are only viewable if the person has already friended you (take that, English language!). At any rate, I found this quite in line with my own thinking, except that it's all poetic and I'm not. I would add only my pity for the baby girl who now has no mother and too many men looking to be her father. Poor girl. I hope she beats the odds and finds a happy ending.

I do believe I'm about to be published again...

...and it's the story I've had out there the longest (I wrote it over two years ago). It's a weird thing, a fantasy story where the magic is based on some things I've read in Brian Greene's books about string theory. Of couse since it's not a modern-setting fantasy, the characters have no idea that what they're doing is based on string theory. I was beginning to think the thing was unpublishable (and had in fact taken it off my board of submissions in my office). But it was a WOTF quarter-finalist, and was the source of the coolest rejection note I've gotten yet, so it must be weird in a good way.

I'm still awaiting the final word, but when I know, you'll know.

Another meme

Here's a meme I took from Andrew Wheeler's blog (which I highly recommend if you're looking for some recommendations on spec-fic books; the guy reads a ton; of course he ought to, working for the Science Fiction Book Club and all).

Here we go:

Science fiction, fantasy, or horror?
Fantasy.

Hardback, trade paperback, or mass market paperback? I only have a few things which I buy in hardcover, things I want to read right away and can't wait for the TPB, things with long waiting lists at the library. Basically Rowling, Snicket, and Martin. Most things I read in hardcover from the library then buy the TPB to keep when it comes out a year later. I only get mass market if that's all there is.

Heinlein or Asimov? Heinlein by a nose.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar? Amazon. Yes, I'm evil. Actually, if I ever wrote down my daily schedule for your perusal you would a) think I'm insane and b) understand why I don't have the time to hit brick-and-mortar stores.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? Whichever I happen to find myself in is fine by me (although I will quickly complain about how nothing I want is currently in stock, which never happens when I shop at Amazon.com. Apparently everything I read is just too obscure or something).

Hitchhiker or Discworld? Hitchhiker, but only because I haven't read Discworld yet (it's on that list, you know).

Bookmark or dogear? Bookmark. Not that I'm opposed to defacing a book. I underline, highlight, write in the margins, but I never dogear.

Magazine: Asimov's Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction? Depends on the month, actually. As far as spec fic mags go, I much prefer Farthing, although for straight-up sword and sorcery, nothing beats Black Gate.

Alphabetize by author, by title, or random? There is a system, and it is grouped by author (and chronologically within author), but alphabetical? No way. I couldn't explain the system, but there is one, I promise.

Keep, throw away, or sell? Throw away? Throw away?

Mostly keep. Occasionally donate to worthy causes. I haven't tried to sell anything since the one time I brought six grocery bags' worth of books to a used book store and got $5 for the lot. Scarcely worth the effort.

Year's Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Year's Best SF Series (edited by David G. Hartwell)? Dozois, but I've never actually read the Hartwell, so...

Keep dustjacket or toss it? Keep it.

Read with dustjacket or remove it? Remove it.

Short story or novel? Novel.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I couldn't possibly pick here. It's like asking what I Iike better, lemon poppyseed muffins or Killian's Irish Red? Well, I don't want beer for breakfast, but muffins don't really go with basketball.

In a pinch, I'd say Potter.

Stop reading when tired or chapter breaks? I've been reading in five-minute chunks of stolen moments throughout the day for so long, I'm not even sure how I would answer this question! Probably tired.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? Once upon a time.

Buy or borrow? Buy (well, the library is technically borrowing. I haven't borrowed a book from a friend in years.)

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation, or browse? Mostly I buy writers I already like. I also subscribe to Locus and like to read the descriptions under Books Received and if I like the sound of a novel, I jot down the title. Of course that's now a list of 30+ books...

Lewis or Tolkien? Tolkien, no contest.

Hard SF or space opera? Space opera.

Collection (single author) or anthology (multiple authors)? I don't know; I kind of like both. Collection, by a hair.

Hugo or Nebula? Er, no opinion?

Golden Age SF or New Wave SF? Ahem, I'm still learning what these labels mean.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? It depends, standalone or series? A cliffhanger on a standalone - that's just mean.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading? See above about the stolen moments thing. I read whenever I possibly can.

Standalone or series? Series, all the way.

Urban fantasy or high fantasy? High fantasy.

New or used? New. I only buy used if I can't find new anywhere. Writers don't see a dime from used book sales, so that's a gesture of writer solidarity.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I don't think I've read a book of which nobody else has heard.

Top 5 favorite genre books read last year? (in no order) Like I remember what I read last year. OK, here's a guess

Fragile Things - Neil Gaiman
Mirror Dance - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde
Lud-in-the-Most - Hope Mirrlees
Doppleganger - Marie Brennan

Top 5 favorite genre books of all time? (in no order)
The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Earthsea Trilogy - Ursula K. LeGuin (I have an omnibus; I'm counting it as 1 book)
The Long, Dark Teatime of the Soul - Douglas Adams
The Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
American Gods - Neil Gaiman

5 favorite genre series? (in no order)
Song of Ice and Fire - George RR Martin
Harry Potter - JK Rowling
Sandman -Neil Gaiman (do graphic novels count, you ask? Why yes, they do).
Dragonlance - Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman
The Miles Vorkosigan books - Lois McMaster Bujold

Top 5 favorite genre short stories? (in no order)
The End of the World as We Know It - Dale Bailey
A Study in Emerald - Neil Gaiman
Your Faces, O My Sisters! Your Faces Filled of Light - James Tiptree, Jr.
The Little Goddess - Ian McDonald
"All You Zombies-" Robert Heinlein

Those last few were tough. If I took more time, I fear I'd be changing my answers from now until judgement day. And I think I've procrastinated enough for one day.