Myth, the Universe, and Everything

One small piece of advice: after declaring Apollo as a patron, do not then state that you haven't worn sunscreen since July, and therefore have no need of it at the end of August. This is foolish. And also a recipe for sunburn and/or sunstroke. Because the gods are spiteful. That's sort of their thing.

At any rate, it was a fun three-day-weekend of gaming and beaching and aloe, during which some nifty things happened:

1) Amazon and BN.com both have Ransom: The Anthology listed and available for purchase! My comp copy should be in the mail shortly, and I'm so excited to read it. A google search reveals no reviews as yet, but I'll keep looking, as given that it includes stories by eyezofwolf/Dylan Birtolo and Lydia Laurenson, who I know write good stuff, I think there's probably a lot of good things to be said!

2) Amazon and BN.com have both also made available nalini_singh's newest book, Hostage to Pleasure. Happy book birthday! In honor of that publication, Nalini is hosting a contest asking for descriptions of fictional characters you'd like to take hostage or be taken hostage by. Given that I've just been featured in an anthology on ransom... it seemed like a good match!

So, what fictional character would I like to hold hostage? For grins and giggles, I think I'd kidnap Bea from The Dreamer, which should be coming out in print as well as online sometime this month. Why? Honestly, because that would give either heroes Alan or Nathan the mission of rescuing her, and while I hate to be the bad guy, watching another rescue in action by that pair would just be too much fun to pass up!

What fictional character could I imagine holding me hostage (and still having it be fun)? After a brief discussion with my husband about unrepentant rogues in fiction we both read, we came up with Vlad Taltos from skzbrust's series. It could really go either way with him--either something really interesting would happen (as it so often does around him) or the whole thing would go disastrously for me. But there might at least be a trip to Valabar's restaurant, which might even impress a non-foodie like me with its exquisite menu.

If I were going to be held hostage in a fictional setting, I think I'd imagine the fun there being had either by the X-men (because the shenanigans that would ensue would also be fun to watch, and they're the good guys, so it would all get sorted out eventually), or by one of the fairy courts from melissa_writing's Wicked Lovely and accompanying books. Probably the summer court, as that at least involves dancing and fun--the dark court would certainly not be a place I'd like to visit, let alone have to stay for any length of time.

But right now, I should be being held hostage by my own work. I've got several projects up in the air, so you'll be seeing a number of titles circulating through my end tag/signature/footer/thingy over the next while until I actually start finishing some of them.

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I just thought I'd share the remaining to-do list (and hint at the secret project I've been talking about--I should have a contract soon, so I can make it official!):

1) Finish a reference assignment
2) Decide whether I have time to do another super-quick reference assignment, and then either say I can't take it, or get it done.
3) Edit a Living Kalamar module, as soon as I get the final draft.
4) Write a blog entry I promised shanna_s I'd write.
5) Write two press releases for Baeg Tobar/Empty Room Studios.
6) Write five pages (ten entries) of script for a web comic. (Oooh, there are whiskers on this cat I've got in the bag...)

This neglects to mention the reading that I need to do for the trip, but I'm hoping that my research arrives on time! banana_pants was kind enough to order a library book for me from the system he can access and I can't, so hopefully that will help as well. (He went to find it and it wasn't on the shelf. It's a library mystery!)

In other news, I got my copies of Allies and Adversaries today! The artwork, as usual, is superb, and it features the nifty descriptions of the Into the Reach characters that I originally worked up for the White Silver website, as well as nine other characters I wrote up, including Johnny Twostep. He plays a bigger part in Regaining Home, and I've heightened the mysery of his background. But just as Shepherd Book never revealed his past, Johnny's not likely to, either.

Other contributors include Trevis Powell, who wrote the novel No Hero for White Silver; Lydia Laurenson, author of Scroll of the Monk and other White Wolf projects; up and coming game designer Andrew Schneider, who is working on some Empty Room Studios projects; and several of the contributors to the original Chronicles of Ramlar rulebook. From what I've skimmed, the writing is quite good, and the character profiles are fairly extensive. It's a neat little book (and by "little," I mean 226 pages).

If Neil Gaiman asks it, how can I, as a semi-regular blogger who admires the truly regular bloggers who still manage to write published materials, refuse?

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2007/02/and-in-time-it-took-to-say-that-neil.html

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Also, since I roughly announced this in a comment on eyezofwolf's blog, Regaining Home is scheduled for release at GenCon.

Also on the Ramlar front, Allies and Adversaries, to which I contributed, will be released sometime this month. It also features work by Lydia Laurenson, one of the authors of the Scroll of the Monk supplement for White Wolf's Exalted and an old friend of mine.

(Lydia, if you're reading this--I'm going back to Greece and Turkey! I shall think of you in sunny plazas with warmly flowing fountains, as I remember your being fond of one in particular, but don't remember where it was.)

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Pop quiz for the readership (limited though I'm sure it still is): shall I make an effort to post the Greece and Turkey adventures when I'm abroad this May/June? They'll likely have nothing to do with writing (as the study tour for which I'm serving as a TA is a mythology tour rather than a creative writing tour). As I recall, internet cafes were rather scarce, but if people are interested, I'll make the effort.