...lj mobile hates me! :(

From Warren Ellis:

"

Transition to nowhere.

Hee. Some of the Chinese troops sent to quell the unrest in Xinjiang turns out to be armed with modern compound crossbows (said to be loaded with tranquilizer darts, but who knows), as shown in this AFP picture. It's a bit funny since the crossbow was the iconic weapon of the Chinese culture before it was replaced by modern firearms.

1. I leave today for ALA -- staying with a friend close to the airport over night, and then flying to Chicago first thing in the morning. Okay. You know what I get to see second thing in the morning? My book. Editor MixTape has promised me a finished copy of SHIVER tomorrow. I know it's stupid, because I don't get nervous in front of crowds or while doing outrageous things . . . but I'm nervous about seeing a real SHIVER. Not about it being gorgeous -- I've seen the dust jacket, so I know it will be -- but because of some, amorphous feeling of GAH! AHH! EEEEEE!

etc.

2. YALSA is considering making the Best Books for Young Adult list a popular choice list. Please don't, YALSA!

3. I want this painting.

4. Those few of you who are waiting on contest critiques, I'm going to try to finish them this weekend. Typos may abound. Stay tuned.

5. Current musical obsession for the week: "No One Sleeps When I'm Awake" by the Sounds. Also love, love, love their "Crossing the Rubicon." These babies are keeping me company on my drive to the airport.

Las Vegas signings this Saturday.

JH3. Me. Detective Comics #854. Comic Oasis and Alternate Reality comics.

And just for added emphasis, JH3.

Really, the only thing that could make this better would be if Cully could make it, too. Which he can't. And that makes me sad.

So I will share Cully art with you. Not now, because, y'know, I don't have any with me, but soon. I promise.

It'll be worth it.

Thanks, all who contributed to my Russian-language word search.  I've sent the offending passage to a native speaker, and I'll choose a term shortly.

The annual meeting of the Romance Writers of America will be held in DC next week, and I'll be attending in general, with the following specific "must-show" events:

Wednesday, July 15

2:30 p.m. - Librarian and Bookseller Networking Event (must be registered for the conference and for this specific event)
5:30 p.m. - Readers for Life Autographing Event (OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) - hundreds of authors signing their books.  The autographs are free, the books are donated by publishers, and the profits go to a literacy charity.

Saturday, July 18

9:45 - Legal-Flavored Research for Writers (must be registered for the conference) - a solo presentation by moi:  "A former lawyer turned international law firm library director covers the varieties of legal resources available to authors, how to find and use them, and how to ensure they are trustworthy."

I'd love to see some of you at any or all of these events!  I have Super Special Conference Badge Ribbons that I'll be handing out to all interested parties (tied in to my new As You Wish series, which launches in October), and I'll be handing out kisses (of the chocolate variety), to anyone I spot around the conference, wearing one of my badge ribbons!

Mindy, back to writing a new project...
        

One invention that must be quite common among fantasy worlds is a magical or low-technology substitute for double-edged tape, which would surely come in handy for keeping all those precarious necklines in check. Or did they attach a ring as a surface piercing and put a matching hook on the clothes?

Lookit what she made me: a clockwork phoenix!!!










Better photos will have to wait till we're back from ReaderCon. Leaving shortly!

So much to do, so little will to do it.

Meanwhile, I have a new short-short-story up at Thaumatrope. Funny how I learn about these things from people tweeting me to tell me they've read it.

For a short story, I need a Russian term of endearment.  The term is said by one female character to another female character.  The context is ... complicated - suffice to say that the speaker is being wry and amused and somewhat superior when she says, "I'm here to help you out of this mess, ___"

Would "devochka" be appropriate here?  Or does it have sexual overtones?  (I don't intend for there to be any sexual attraction between the women.)

Thanks, anyone who can help!

Mindy, writing

From the livejournal of a person referenced by a friend of mine:

( Read more )

I've always been interested in what people read in public.  I've long considered taking a survey of DC subway reading habits (most commonly read book - the Bible....)

Over at First Book today, I comment on the reading I observed (and committed) during my hospital visit last month:

http://blog.firstbook.org/2009/07/08/the-to-be-read-shelf-stress-edition/

Stop by and leave a comment for the kind First Book folks!

Mindy

Somehow I failed to notice that the link in my Sunday (or very early Monday) post to the discussion thread on armors with full crotch articulation wasn't working properly. There it is now.

One fairly well-known tourist destination that the archery club folks visited during the tour of Jogja was the Prambanan temple. The last time I visited it was before the 2006 earthquake, and at that time the main complex had been almost entirely restored and thus open to the public. However, the earthquake set back the restoration schedule by years, and even now some of the more seriously-damaged parts of the complex are still off-limits to all but the restoration staff. Naturally, since there are enough people who have posted the normal kind of pretty Prambanan pictures already, I decided to focus my photographs on the restoration work, such as the stone-carving done beneath the shade of a convenient tree:

Okay! Phew -- sorry i'm a few minutes late, guys. I started tallying the entries at 8 and didn't expect it to take so long. I put everyone's entries in a document, numbered for each entry (not each person), and when I had them all totaled up, I used a random number generator to pick the prizes in order.

First, some stats.

You guys linked SHIVER's video 297 times, resulting in 1,307 views of it since June 29th. I also drank 9 liters of sweet tea since June 29th. That stat was not entirely necessary, but was entirely true. Anyway, you guys are awesome and I'm incredibly grateful for your support!

And here, without further ado . . . the winners! Winners, please email me with the address you'd like your goodies sent to.

1. CD of music for LAMENT/ SHIVER: anai415
2. CD of music for LAMENT/ SHIVER: veschwab
3. 15 minute live chat with me: inkbabies
4. Finished copy of SHIVER: Mya at Dissecting Perfection
5. Finished copy of SHIVER: alessandra_lee
6. ARC of SHIVER: lin17
7. ARC of SHIVER: MyNameIsEleni


Congrats, winners, and thank you so much to everyone else for entering and passing the word along!