Maurice wrote a lovely post a couple of weeks ago in his Friday Night Date Place series called True Beauty. And there's a great picture in there of us from Once Upon a Time at World Horror Convention.

"Beauty sometimes needs to be drawn out. Better stated, sometimes beauty doesn’t recognize its own preciousness." --M. Broaddus

Yeah, I got a little weepy.

Of course, last week, Maurice topped it with the post where he breaks down and analyzes a love letter sent by his son to a girl in his class.
His son is seven.

The letter reads:
Dear Maurila,
Will you date me? You are very cute. I like how you wear your hair. I love you. Do you like to play with me? Do you love me?

*sigh*
I love him already.
Would that boys five times his age could be so honest and forthright.

It’s that time of year -- we're rapidly approaching JayCon VIII, and Ken Scholes is going to write yet another adventure of Jay Lake!

But first...you have to put your vote in for the story title (and I made the short list! Woohoo!) -- take 30 seconds and place your vote on Jay's LJ: HERE.

Our inaugural "Tea in Space" podcast is now live HERE -- join us for honey vanilla white chai as the Genre Chicks of Ingram discuss Kresley Cole's Dark Needs at Night's Edge. Twelve minutes in the company of four sassy, beautiful and intelligent women...what better way is there to spend your time?

Also...I overdid it last night. Which was stupid, because my Physical Therapist and I had *just* had the discussion about overdoing exercise while on the road to recovery (usually in a misguided effort to make onesself recover faster).

I am not misguided (as I usually am), I was just having a lot of fun with this bright yellow silly putty that he gave me to work out my hand. It's SILLY PUTTY! It's BRIGHT YELLOW! It's about the sweetest thing ever next to blowing bubbles. How could that not make you happy? I'm smiling just thinking about it.

So I sat and watched Alias while I was eating my dinner last night, and then started toying around with the putty, practicing some things he taught me so I could commit them to memory...and suddenly the episode was over, and I pulled my thumb through the putty and thought...ouch...

I passed out at 7:00pm because I was in so much pain, and slept the whole night through.
I'm wearing my wrist brace today.
Silly is right.

This is so painfully true...and scares me a bit. No one's allowed to be "just an author" anymore. And he doesn't even talk about writers groups, or message boards, or conventions...and you know, I don't ever want to have to be a member of Second Life. I'm really okay with the one I've got.

I had a lovely surprise phone call from one of my guardian angels on Sunday, during which I folded laundry and cleaned the bathroom and put away the dishes because I can't let myself live in semi-squallor anymore (and I have PMS). We finally had to say goodbye so that I could get back to my Solaris edit and Bear could get back to his life of crime.

And as I sat down for a long day of computer work, I thought -- you know what? I should light my new homemade "peace & happiness" candle that I bought at the lovely pagan festival on Saturday. That would be nice.

So I unwrapped the little spell, put it in a votive jar, and lit the wick.

About five minutes later the rest of the candle caught and burned like a house on fire. (Thank goodness I had put it in that votive jar, and was sitting right there, or it might have been MY house on fire.) It was mesmerizing and made me laugh hysterically.

Only *I* could explode a friggin' peace & happiness candle.

The irony alone was worth the five bucks.

Did you know it was Children's Book Week?

Learn about history of the week, what you can do to participate, and what Ingram is doing to celebrate the event HERE.
(podcast length -- 3:26)

Or check it out here:
www.bookweekonline.com

Another tidbit from Beauty & Dynamite, Jason Sizemore's afterword "Unwarranted Serendipity" is up at Die Monday. Just in case you were wondering how history began...

(Voting is encouraged!)

Mom just sent me this email -- I have to remember sometimes that the world is way bigger than me.

My first job as the female "Voice of Ingram" was doing the intro for the Barbara Walters interview. Listen to it here:
http://www2.ingramlibrary.com/Sites/Interact/default.aspx
I sound all funky and DJ cool on a professional microphone!

I didn't actually get to *see* Barbara speak, because I was too busy doing a Children's Book Week podcast for the sound check. But I'm not bitter.

Much.

Jason and I have been scheming...no hints just yet, but be sure to look out for the Apex table at Hypericon. Don't worry -- we shouldn't be hard to find. :)

Okaaaaaay. You can have a hint. Consider it a bonus for Free Fiction Friday. Everybody loves Haikus...and flash fiction...

Retribution
Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. The
blood seeps, the wife weeps, and I
Have a plane to catch.

For more free fiction, check out the latest issue of Subterranean Online, with stories by Elizabeth Bear, Mike Resnik, and Ekaterina Sedia!