This morning, I awoke to a murder of crows vociferating outside the bedroom window.  When I drew the curtains to see what in tarnation was going on, I saw maybe 20 crows perching on rooftops and trees and power lines, including a large and terrifying hoodie crow.  I'd never seen one in the flesh and feathers before, not close enough to understand ( Read more... )

I've got a complete draft of my circus vampire story.  It's got saggy bits and baggy bits, and I need to sort out the heroine's relationship with her body and her parents, not necessarily in that order.  I'll poke at it again tomorrow, then let it marinate until I can get home, print it out, and subject it to a final polish.

I've also got an actual ( Read more... )

I am holed up (with Holly Black, Cassie Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan, Theo Black, and Josh Lewis) in an expansive (but reasonable) villa in the Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende. It is famous (at least in certain YA writer circles) as the perfect place for a writing retreat. The food is good, the climate is clement, the colors are wonderful, and ( Read more... )

Whipped Chapters 17 and 18 into shape yesterday and sent them off to Ellen, Chapter 18 very late at night. The weather is heavy and my brain feels stuffed with cotton, hay, and rags, but I'm getting there. Ellen, bless her, says I'm doing good work. It would be nice if I felt better doing it, but I'll settle for getting it done.

I'm in Boston for the next few days, working on the last chapters of The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen. I'm staying in a rented room in a sprawling concatination of small apartments, with doors and windows and outside staircases pretty much everywhere. It's right across the street from the Porter Square Exchange, which is about a 2 minute ( Read more... )

Home tomorrow. Don't want to go. There's a Wooden Type Museum to see, and more food in the fridge to cook, and more lovely conversations about writing and books and fandoms I know not of to listen to and participate in.

On the other hand, I've finished the homework I'd set for these four days. I took apart the middle of Magic Mirror, shaking up ( Read more... )