you only have to look behind you
Yesterday was consumed by the busyness of writing, and I had to admit that it had been fairly wonderful, having spent five consecutive days consumed with the act of writing. I signed the signature sheets for The Merewife. I plowed through a bunch of e-mail. Ted Naifeh and I talked about doing an Alabaster panel at Dragon*Con 2006. I lamented not being in a position, financially, to go to the World Fantasy Convention in Madison this year. Truthfully, I don't know how so many writers can afford to do three or four or five cons a year. I do not know the secret. Anyway, what I didn't do was spend the day lying on a blanket in the park, half asleep, recovering from the end of Chapter Nine of Daughter of Hounds and preparing for the start of Chapter Ten, which was all I'd wanted to do. Nonetheless, I will do my best to begin Chapter Ten today. The beginning of the end. The beginning of THE END. I was telling Spooky last night that this ms. feels like a great unedited film, like I'm almost done with primary shooting and now I have months of post-production work ahead of me, and I've never had a novel ms. feel that way before. It's not a good feeling.
I've come to expect almost anything from my dreams, but I really don't expect them to be fun. Yet, last night, it would seem that I had a fun dream. I can't recall striking my head against any hard surfaces yesterday. Anyway, I was at a pirate party. That is, it was a party, and almost everyone there was a pirate of one sort of another, except for the mermaids and a bunch of Japanese girls dressed as cyborgs. And I was Nar'eth, and I was playing a game that was almost chess, but a little like shooting craps, with Mary Read and Anne Bonny. We were smoking opium from long-stemmed pipes carved from the teeth of sperm whales. Somewhere in the noisy, smoky room, there were crossdressing Thai boy whores, and a woman having sex with a very large horse. And nothing in particular happened. It went on that way for quite some time. We played several games of the chess/craps game, drank rum from hollowed-out pineapples (I don't like rum, but Nar'eth probably would), and regaled each other with tales of sea monsters and buried treasure. If I could dream like this every night, I'd never want to be awake.
Here in the "real" world, last night Spooky and I were determined to find just the right films for Halloween Kindernacht, films that, even if they weren't good, would at least be enjoyable. We started out with Roger Corman's Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), which is sort of like The Creature from the Black Lagoon, only with hayseeds instead of marine biologists and geologists. Spooky observed that the monsters looked like Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants, only with tentacles, and I was hard pressed to disagree. We followed this with a film neither of us had seen - Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973; also known as Lady Dracula, Lemora, the Lady Dracula, and The Legendary Curse of Lemora, directed and written by Richard Blackburn, the guy who went on to write Eaiting Raoul). It more than made up for all the rubber-suited foolishness of the mutant leeches. Truly, this is a brilliantly weird film. I know now that Dame Darcy is capable of time travel, because she is clearly the true inspiration for the film, along with The Shadow Over Innsmouth and In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers. If you have not seen this bizarre wonder (and I think most people haven't), track it down at once. If the Coen Bros. could be persuaded to remake this film, it would be the draddest thing imaginable. Afterwards, Spooky fell asleep, and I watched Rope (1948) on TCM.
More of the new Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology yesterday - "The nature of Mauisaurus hassti Hector, 1874 (Reptilia; Plesiosauria)." Oh, and on a somewhat related note, word of a new CBS poll reminding us that, though they are entirely reliant upon science for their way of life, most Americans are still living in the frelling Middle Ages when it comes to actually understanding the most fundamental scientific principles: "Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved." This isn't exactly news, but it's still damned depressing, and it makes me wonder how many of the poll's participants would also give a thumbs-up to the Easter Bunny, a flat earth, gay Republicans, and El Chupacabra.
And speaking of polls, the poll to guage interest in me doing a $10/per month weird erotic vignette by subscription service is still being watched. As of right now, 80 people have asked to be included. Spooky and I have begun laying out exactly how the service will be operated, and I'll post the details as they're worked out. I'm very excited about the project and hope more people will decide to participate. Remember, if you can't vote in the poll but want to be included, drop me an e-mail (at lowredmail@mac.com) or chime in on the "Vignette Subscription" thread on the phorum. Thanks. Now, Chapter Ten ahoy!
I've come to expect almost anything from my dreams, but I really don't expect them to be fun. Yet, last night, it would seem that I had a fun dream. I can't recall striking my head against any hard surfaces yesterday. Anyway, I was at a pirate party. That is, it was a party, and almost everyone there was a pirate of one sort of another, except for the mermaids and a bunch of Japanese girls dressed as cyborgs. And I was Nar'eth, and I was playing a game that was almost chess, but a little like shooting craps, with Mary Read and Anne Bonny. We were smoking opium from long-stemmed pipes carved from the teeth of sperm whales. Somewhere in the noisy, smoky room, there were crossdressing Thai boy whores, and a woman having sex with a very large horse. And nothing in particular happened. It went on that way for quite some time. We played several games of the chess/craps game, drank rum from hollowed-out pineapples (I don't like rum, but Nar'eth probably would), and regaled each other with tales of sea monsters and buried treasure. If I could dream like this every night, I'd never want to be awake.
Here in the "real" world, last night Spooky and I were determined to find just the right films for Halloween Kindernacht, films that, even if they weren't good, would at least be enjoyable. We started out with Roger Corman's Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959), which is sort of like The Creature from the Black Lagoon, only with hayseeds instead of marine biologists and geologists. Spooky observed that the monsters looked like Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants, only with tentacles, and I was hard pressed to disagree. We followed this with a film neither of us had seen - Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973; also known as Lady Dracula, Lemora, the Lady Dracula, and The Legendary Curse of Lemora, directed and written by Richard Blackburn, the guy who went on to write Eaiting Raoul). It more than made up for all the rubber-suited foolishness of the mutant leeches. Truly, this is a brilliantly weird film. I know now that Dame Darcy is capable of time travel, because she is clearly the true inspiration for the film, along with The Shadow Over Innsmouth and In the Garden of Poisonous Flowers. If you have not seen this bizarre wonder (and I think most people haven't), track it down at once. If the Coen Bros. could be persuaded to remake this film, it would be the draddest thing imaginable. Afterwards, Spooky fell asleep, and I watched Rope (1948) on TCM.
More of the new Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology yesterday - "The nature of Mauisaurus hassti Hector, 1874 (Reptilia; Plesiosauria)." Oh, and on a somewhat related note, word of a new CBS poll reminding us that, though they are entirely reliant upon science for their way of life, most Americans are still living in the frelling Middle Ages when it comes to actually understanding the most fundamental scientific principles: "Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that God was not involved." This isn't exactly news, but it's still damned depressing, and it makes me wonder how many of the poll's participants would also give a thumbs-up to the Easter Bunny, a flat earth, gay Republicans, and El Chupacabra.
And speaking of polls, the poll to guage interest in me doing a $10/per month weird erotic vignette by subscription service is still being watched. As of right now, 80 people have asked to be included. Spooky and I have begun laying out exactly how the service will be operated, and I'll post the details as they're worked out. I'm very excited about the project and hope more people will decide to participate. Remember, if you can't vote in the poll but want to be included, drop me an e-mail (at lowredmail@mac.com) or chime in on the "Vignette Subscription" thread on the phorum. Thanks. Now, Chapter Ten ahoy!