Oh, don’t expect anything profound here. It’s just that I’ve been working 10+ hours a day on deadlined material, and haven’t squeezed out the time to do proper blog entries for various news items. But Stuff has been turned in, so I finally have a chance to breathe!

So:

The woman on the cover of Mark of the Demon is not me. (Many people have asked.) I have no idea who the woman is. The artist who created that wonderful and awesome cover is Juliana Kolesova, so I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that it is either some acquaintance of hers or a model that she hired.

I’ve been asked to be a guest lecturer/instructor at the Writers Retreat Workshop next summer. I’m really stoked about this (and not just because it’s actually a paying gig!) It’s not a genre-only workshop, so I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for me to meet new people and get some insight into how authors outside of SF/F view the craft and the industry. And, I have to give mad props to my agent for dropping my name to the directors. Thanks, Matt! (He’s taught at the workshop in past years and recommended it highly.)

I’ll be in Calgary, AB (yeah, that would be in Canada) for World Fantasy Con at the end of the month. I’ll be arriving on Wednesday, Oct 29 and staying at the Hyatt, so if you want to say Hi, look for me in the usual places. (IOW, the bar.) I had put my name in the hat to be on programming, but since it’s two weeks out and I’ve heard nothing, I’m beginning to think that there will be no programming for me this time. Ah well. Worse things have happened.

I’m really tired of this persistent low-grade headache that’s been hanging on for several weeks now. Yeah, I’ve been to the doctor and have had the x-rays and the MRI. There are no pesky brain tumors or lurking aneurysms, however I do seem to have arthritic spurs in my neck. Arthritis. WTF is up with that? I’m in my early forties fer cryin’ out loud. OTOH, it gives me a good excuse to get frequent massages.

I turn 42 in less than a week. Y’know, I kinda like being in my forties. I finally feel like I know what the heck I’m doing.

If you emailed me and I never responded, please don’t think I just blew you off. I have a HORRIBLE habit of not responding to email immediately, which means that it then falls off my radar. If you sent me something to read or critique and I never responded, PLEASE give me a nudge. It doesn’t even have to be an excessively polite nudge (though I would prefer if you didn’t castigate me too terribly viciously.)

And finally: Congrats to Lindsay for finishing her extremely awesome YA urban fantasy! I’ve read it and it really rocks and I can’t wait for it to sell. She’s a terrific writer with a fantastic voice, so I don’t think it will take long!