In A Purple Sky: now appearing at the Xeroversary

A super-bomb of flash fic went off at John Xero's place, and unlike San Diego, Xero kept the fireworks bursting in the sky in a timely, rockin' manner all this past week. I'm thrilled to be part of the finale -- the last fic up: In a Purple Sky. Twelve-year-old Jake waits for the bus each morning, counting the days until school is out...Until, in an abandoned field, a myth steps out from the shadows and changes his life forever.

(need an intro the Xeroversary? I've got a little one here)

And I made this for my story. It's what I imagine Jake sees when he looks across the street:

 Why won't this rotate correctly? Grr. Sorry for your neck twistiness.

This was my first diorama. (right now, I here all three of you reading this saying, "No shit.")

It was loads of fun, and forced me to slow done and think about things in a different way. I also made lots of mistakes, so in the future -- because, oh yes, there will be more dioramas! -- there will be improvements. For instance, apparently, scales matters. Who knew. And also, diorama glue is serious business. There is no wiggling things around. You glue something, stick it on something, and BAM! It's on there. No matter if you want it to be there or not. The good news is that the gryphon isn't glued down, so I get to take him out and play with him whenever I want.

Admit it. You are so jealous right now. Wait until I get a hydra for my next one! It will be myth war in here, bitches!

Thank you so much for reading my story and not saying what an absolute dork I am for building a really awful diorama for it.

xx

RS

PS I just found out that Chris Allinotte made something way better for one of his stories: a frickin' video! With an adorable zombified mummy guy with pins sticking out all over, reading it. So if you like thrillers read by voodoo mummy dolls, check it out.

Santa Gryff; Disney RSB--pic heavy post!

Santa Gryff would like to remind everyone that there are 47 days until Christmas.

He says if you want to stuff his stocking, he likes Pounce, and not those other cat treats. Specifically, not kitty Greenies and none of those icky Taste Temptations. Also, he says that if any ladies out there would like Santa Gryff to sit on their lap, he is very warm and very purr-y. Yes, he's got claws and he uses them, but love hurts.

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Pics from my trip (and wow are they totally random):

Best shot I could get of Billy Ocean performing at the open theatre in Epcot's World Showcase, where they present different perfomers every few nights for Eat To The Beat during the Food and Wine Festival. Okay, I could've got up closer, but I was all a-giggle and a-wiggle. First off, Billy Ocean is an amazing performer, and he sounds exactly like he did in the 80s. Unbelievable. He was dressed impeccably, and he's got great white dreads. He really put on a great show, sang all his hits, and he would lean down to take roses from the ladies in the front. He would even go down the steps from time to time and sing to a lucky lady and kiss her on the cheek! I thoroughly enjoyed this show. Wanna feel old? Yesterday, while listening to America's Top 40 Countdown from 1984 (via Sirius channel 8), "Suddenly" was the #3 hit.

NINETEEN-EIGHTY-FOUR. I am so old.

Upcoming, they had Boyz II Men. Yes, I am sad I missed them. "And we've come! To the end of the road... though I can't let go..." *sigh*

Cucumber margarita had at the Tequila Cave in Mexico's pavilion. I highly recommend this place and this margarita, and I overheard quite a few people saying that this is the best bar in Disney. Totally. Only tequila (over 300) and margaritas, but seriously, do you need more than that? Next time, I'm having the passion flower.

Hollywood Tower of Terror. My favorite ride. Remember not to do your seat belt tight -- keep it loose, so when you drop, you'll lift off the seat a couple of inches. *grin*

Me and Arnold. Planet Hollywood shop. They had a gremlin and various movie props, but I loves me some Terminator.

Every day, Jiuliana who cleaned our room made us new towel animals. Not actually sure what the two little ones are here, but the middle is probably a basket of flowers. With eyes.

Me and B on the boat over to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Artist's Point. Beautiful evening, great ride, the Lodge is stunning, and dinner was OMG so expensive and... maybe not worth it. B disagrees entirely. I just think that it was far, far over-priced for what you got. A menu with emphasis on fresh game and fresh, seasonal ingredients is wonderful, but the creativity was seriously lacking and I was not in any way wow'd by my choices. They were competent and delicious, but did not reach the next level, if you know what I mean. Still, it's the highest rated (per reviews) of any signature dining restaurant at Disney, and the service was fabulous. Could've been slightly warmer, and the atmosphere could've been a bit... more. It was sort of blah. Meh. Everyone's a critic, right? If you're interested, we shared smoky portobello soup and then I had cedar planked salmon with white truffle chips, and B had a buffalo steak cooked r/mr. We shared a berry cobbler for dessert.

Waiting to go into the Toy Story ride/competition. Much like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, you sit two to a car and shoot at things. But we both preferred the Space Ranger Spin over this one. Personal preference, I guess, but I didn't like to have to keep pulling the string to fire. I'm a button masher. Either way, B racked up the points, and I sucked. :)

Vampire bat in its enclosure in Animal Kingdom's walk-through "forest" in the Asian section. My favorite part of AK is all the animal stuff: the safari, the two walk-throughs, and Rafiki's Conservation Station. I could really just do those things all day, over and over. I wish they had more benches, as I just love to sit and watch the animals. Favorite: gorilla. Second fave: tiger/vampire bats. Couldn't decide.

Expedition Everest, roller coaster in AK and my favorite ride in that park, and my second favorite overall. Goes backwards, and the theming is just fun. Also, they have a single rider line and I will totally use that over and over, riding Everest four or five times in a row before I get tired, while people are still waiting for their first ride. The only benefit of having a partner who doesn't ride the coasters.

Some decorations inside Magic Kingdom. Very nice overall, but they do so much more for Christmas.

Pool at our hotel. They had a waterslide. We loved it. Also loved the nachos and the pool bar. We made nachos and frozen rum runners our afternoon treat.

That's it! We've been to Disney a few times before, so we didn't take a ton of pics this time. Highlights of the trip, for me: Billy Ocean, the Thunderbirds doing a fly-over at Magic Kingdom to salute our troops, finding a new little part of Disney that we hadn't seen before, dinner at the Irish pub in Downtown Disney called Raglan Road, and indulging in things I normally don't, such as having nachos four times in a week, a rum runner every day, and hot fudge sundae in a waffle bowl several times. Also, they upgraded us from a regular room to a suite -- for free! -- and that turned out to be wonderful. Two full bathrooms, now that is a luxury. :)

Back to writing for me, and to my normal job. Happy Monday, everyone!

You say it's hot in here?

Early this summer, Michael Solender lamented the great heat and humidity in his home state. The only possible way to get through it was, of course, to have a flash fic contest.

The NOT's Dog Days of Summer contest was simple: 101 words exactly, include "heat" and "summer."

I celebrated by writing dark fic. My piece, "Bottle Rocket," is a Special Jury Award Winner. Yep. You can call me Miss FancyPants now. Or, you could just find me at the totally free, totally downloadable PDF chapbook with 80 others, including Grand Prize Winner, Sam Adamson.

The NOT's Dog Days of Summer contest PDF chapbook.

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Later this week: I'm up at Cast Macabre. I'm so freakin' excited about this, I can't stand it.

Neither can  Gryff, apparently. He had to hide in the water bottle thingy just to contain himself.

It's Zombie Sunday! Get yer undead, right here!

Whoa. Killer nuns. And the rest of Drew Falchetta's work is equally fan-fucking-tastic. I've seen a lot of artists paying homage to his work, and it's easy to see why. This guy brings it.

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We took Gryff to the vet yesterday for a check-up. Good news: he's in perfect health. Bad news: when the vet walked into the room, he exclaimed, "Wow! Annette told me he had a huge head!"

GiantHead!Cat was not amused. He head-butted the vet when the guy got in for a closer look at his eyes.

Also, his tail appears to be the result of a birth defect, and not an old war injury. The numerous scars on his face and ears, however, say that he was a bit of a brute on the streets. B now hums the "Rocky" theme whenever Gryff goes strutting by.

Gryff lays down the law

You no can haz remote. I tell what program we watch. No more So You Think You Can Dance. Bah.

I said no! No remote for you! We watch Wipeout. I laugh.

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I have no idea why the voice I do for Gryff is a bizarre LOL/Russian accent mash-up, but there you have it.

Don't tell me you don't do voices for your pets too. Because I know you do.

There is no real post today. Just this. I've been really exhausted lately, and hoping that, since things in all areas are quieting down a bit, that I'll be back to normal soon. I'm only writing about 200 words a day, and even I can't say that's "real" writing. It normally takes me about 600 to get into the groove.

Three Word Wednesday (see my previous post) had some stellar offerings this week. There doesn't seem to be a common theme, which I enjoy when bloghopping. Recommended reading.

Six Sentences, Blurbs and Gryff

At the Last Minute: my Six Sentences. Thanks so much to editor Robert McEvily for featuring my work and for his kind words.

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Newpages posts an excerpt of Laura Miller's article, Beware of Blurbs, from Salon.com, thus confirming what I always believed. I don't read blurbs to decide if a book is worth my money and time. Actually, I rarely even read reviews. It's a bit of a crapshoot, to be honest. The best one can do, I think, is to find a like-minded friend and talk books.

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I'm really exhausted. So much going on around here at the moment, it's nearly non-stop. Writing is suffering, though I hope things get back to normal this weekend.

One of the changes around here is that we've adopted a cat from our local shelter. B wanted a female torti kitten. He picked out a 3 yr old brown tabby male. I have not said a word about this. Right now, I am the supportive and loving wife. (that could change at any minute)

He was called Roscoe, but now he's Gryff, short for Gryffindor.

What a handsome fella, right? Now to convince Callie, the resident Princess Kitty, that he's just the guy for her to snuggle with.