I was reading back through my blog and spotted an old meme I really liked doing, so I thought I'd do it again!
Some of it will be repeats from last time, as they've not really changed, others are all new and shiny!

( Read more... )

The end-of-the-year book sale ends when 2009 does. So there's only a few days left to pick up signed hardcovers of INSIDE STRAIGHT, TUF VOYAGING, and WINDHAVEN at bargain prices.

(See my post of December 8 for details).









Going, going...

... meaningless and full of pain... but sometimes it gives you an unexpected gift.

The Giants game was a disgrace. Bill Sheridan has to go. How he could destroy the Giants defense in a single year, when he had all the players Steve Spagnuolo had and then some, is a mystery for the ages.

And the Jets... well, yeah, I'm glad they got the W, but really... call me old school, but I believe a team should play hard every week, no matter what. What Caldwell did was a disgrace. A nice late Xmas present for Gang Green, sure, but all the other teams contending for the AFC wild card must be steaming, and Peyton and the other Colts first-stringers looked none too happy on the sidelines either. I would not be the least surprised if the Happy Horseshoes make an early exit from the playoffs after this. Disgraceful.

Meanwhile, back in the Meadowlands, I can only hope that the final Jets home game in Giants Stadium has a happier result than the final Giants home game.

Well, I had an awesome Christmas. I didn't get norovirus, WOO, and I got lots of awesome presents, including Girl Genius books and an iPod shuffle from my granddad, though I had to explain to him just what it was and how it worked. I saw Doctor Who - who gave RTD the bad crack? - Sherlock Holmes - AWESOME - and David Tennant on the Catherine Tate show as the Ghost of Christmas Present, which, if you haven't seen it, YOUTUBE IT. I will say no more.

This has been a pretty big year for me, and I always do thoughtful posts this time of year about what's happened, so, to get started, it's another one of those end-of-year meme things.

( Sorry. I'm bored. )

So, what am I doing for the rest of the year? I'm meeting up with some friends tomorrow, I'm doing some Greek revision, I'm going to visit Alistair in Stroud on Tuesday, then coming back for Frankie's New Year's Party in London, then going out in London with her and Alex, and then coming home for another week or so before going back to Durham to do work before term begins again.

I guess... that's it? Wow, I not only fail at titles today, but also ways to end entries. Erm.

[insert ending here]

There.

Cut in case of spoilers
( Thoughts )

A very happy birthday to: Attis, Dionysus, Jesus, Krishna, Mithras, Sol Invictus and Zoroaster, and a wonderful day to you all!

Here's hoping all my friends and readers have a merry Christmas.

And you other people too.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas tomorrow! Of course, if you don't celebrate it, just have a great Friday!

Granted, for mine to be an improvement on last year, I just have to NOT develop norovirus between now and tomorrow... fingers crossed!

Train services are all messed up here in the South East. Loads of Eurostar passengers got stranded all over London and Kent when the trains all broke down, and a bunch of people got rescued by a steam train, and when I tried to go into Canterbury today, I was told I'd have to go via RAMSGATE, which is ages away. So, screw that, I stayed in Faversham instead.

Of course, there is nothing to do in Faversham, except give blood, which I did.

Blaaahhh I'm bored. My sister gets home at some point over the next two days, and my friends will be free for meet-ups and hanging out between Christmas and the New Year, but till then, I'm on my own. It'd be sensible to do work, but... well, when have I ever been sensible about work?

Blah.

Passengers were rescued by a steam locomotive after modern rail services were brought to a halt by the snowy conditions in south-east England.

Trains between Ashford and Dover were suspended on Monday when cold weather disabled the electric rail. Some commuters at London Victoria faced lengthy delays until Tornado - Britain's first mainline steam engine in 50 years - offered them a lift. They were taken home "in style", said the Darlington-built engine's owners. Train services in Kent were hit hard by the freezing conditions at the start of the week. The weather-related disruption included three days of cancellations for Eurostar services through the Channel Tunnel.

Tornado, a £3m Peppercorn class A1 Pacific, was in the South East for one day, offering "Christmas meal" trips from London to Dover. Its "Cathedrals Express" service, the last mainline journey in its first year of operations, was about to depart when staff heard about the stranded passengers. About 100 people were offered free seats, according to Mark Allatt, chairman of The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust - the charity which built Tornado.


'All credit'

He said: "It was a nice way to finish for Christmas, though I think some of the rescued passengers didn't realise they'd even been travelling on a steam train until they got off."

Mr Allatt, who was on the service at the time, said he only saw a handful of other trains between London and Dover throughout Monday. He added: "If any of the train operators want to modernise their services by using steam trains, I would be happy to give them a quote."

A spokesman for Southeastern Trains congratulated Mr Allatt on his "moment of glory". He said: "I'm sure those passengers were saved from a lengthy wait, all credit to him."

SUICIDE KINGS is out in hardcover (see below) and BUSTED FLUSH has been released in mass market. Meanwhile, I've delivered the additional content -- three new stories -- for the first volume of this storied series, WILD CARDS itself, which Tor will be reissuing later in the year. Since the first volume was historical in nature, telling the story of the wild card from 1946 to 1985, adding some original material to cover some of the "lost years" seemed like a natural.

The three new tales:
-- "Captain Cathode and the Secret Ace," by Michael Cassutt,
-- "Powers," by David D. Levine,
-- "Ghost Girl Takes Manhattan," by Carrie Vaughn.

No publication date yet. You'll know when I do.

As for FORT FREAK, the twenty-first volume in the series that WILD CARDS began, first drafts are all in, I've given the usual editorial note, and the writers are all off revising. This one looks to be a lot of fun. The Class of 2009 is doing some great work, and the old-timers ain't half bad either.

On other fronts, Gardner Dozois and I are very close to delivering our original cross-genre anthology STAR-CROSSED LOVERS, to Pocket Books. We're waiting for some minor revisions from one writer. Once those are in hand, the book will be delivered. Only it's not STAR-CROSSED LOVERS any longer. Pocket's sales force did not like that title, so the anthology has now been rechristened SONGS OF LOVE AND DEATH. Got a great line up of writers for that one, including Diana Gabaldon, Jim Butcher, M.L.N. Hanover, Peter S. Beagle, Marjorie Liu, Jacqueline Carey, Carrie Vaughn, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, and many more.

Everybody's talking about AVATAR, which I haven't seen yet... but I have been going to movies. While the crowds queue up for Cameron, I've been catching up on some of the other films now in release. I enjoyed THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, and liked INVICTUS as well, but the one that really impressed me was ME AND ORSON WELLES. The guy who plays Welles should get an Oscar nomination for that performance.

As usual, I am way behind on my Xmas shopping.

Where does the time go?

Today was the official publication day for the latest Wild Cards book, SUICIDE KINGS.

Run, don't walk, to your favorite bookstore and getcha copy now. And hell, while you're there, get copies for all your friends as well. All you Xmas shopping in one swell foop.

Well, that was fun. If only every game was like this...

(Maybe it is, if you're a Colts fan).

These were the Giants I remember. The swarming aggressive D, the sacks, the knockdowns, the hurries, the interceptions, runners tackled at the line of scrimmage. And on offense, long time-consuming drives ending in touchdowns. Eli looked terrific, spreading the ball around. Nicks, Smith, Manningham, and Boss all had big catches, and even Derek Hagan scored a touchdown. The running game was back, especially when Ahmad Bradshaw had the ball. The O line opened gaping holes, and the D line was so relentless that our wafer-thin secondary was never threatened.

Yeah, these were the real G-Men.

I have no idea who those clowns in the Redskins uniforms were.

That fake field goal the Skins tried at the end of the first half had to be one of the most bizarre plays I've ever seen. Watching Steve Young talk about it in the postgame was hilarious.

I do feel sorry for Jim Zorn, whose postgame press conference was... well, obviously, no one ever taught the guy Coachspeak. Poor guy is not long for D.C.

But it was a great win.

Now we need two more like it, coupled with a Cowboys loss.

(Or a Packers loss, maybe... but while I know the G-Men have the tiebreaker over Dallas, no one has ever mentioned who wins a tie between New York and Green Bay).

Next week, the Panthers. Who beat the Vikings yesterday. Let's hope the real G-Men show up.

Life is meaningless and full of pain.

I saw this one coming. Three missed field goals will always come back and bite you in the ass.

Great D, but Mark still has a lot of maturing to do.

With the Colts and the Bengals yet to come, I think we can kiss the playoffs goodbye.

And I'm not feeling good about the Giants game tomorrow either.

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist is doing one of their famous contests, for two Advanced Reading Copies of SUICIDE KINGS signed by all of the contributors.

For details as to how to enter, go to

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2009/12/win-autographed-advance-reading-copy-of.html

Good luck to all.

RIP Dan O'Bannon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5Og_YsaXt4&feature=related

He'll be best remembered for ALIEN, but DARK STAR has a fond place in my heart as well. I hope somewhere he's surfing down like a meteor as "Benson, Arizona" plays on the cosmic soundtrack.

Finally finished watching the ITV adaptation of 'The Jewel in the Crown' (and the rest of the Raj Quartet), and again I am absolutely stunned by the quality of the writing and performances, appaled that it is not more well-known and dismayed that there isn't a fandom to go with it.
If you haven't seen it, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
If you have seen it, post here so I do not feel so alone in my adoration!
If you know of a fan community, or even some fic, I will love you forever.

- Durham cathedral at night, when lit with pale blue lights and covered in a light sprinkling of snow is a truely magnificent sight.

- Playing a concert in a church in Durham does occasionally lead to looking up and seeing a blue banner with a certain gold and red cross on hanging from the wall :)

- I decided to chip in and get a copy of RATM as, lets face it, it's not a band single. Then I heard Simon Cowel say it was a personal attack on him, so I got another copy as I hadn't thought of that angle.

- ( LT Fic Bandwagoning )

Everyone knows this one - basically, you put the first couple of sentences or so from each month and talk about what happened. And for me, this year has been a busy one.

January

I had a great new year's party, dressed as Holly from Crime Traveller (digging my sixth form suit out of my wardrobe - and looking far better in it than I did back then - and taping a stopwatch to my wrist) and eating my weight in those tiny little sausage rolls. I swear they put crack in them or something.

Year began with the traditional New Years party hosted by one of my friends from home - we had a pact that we'd always have a party together at New Years, which it looks like we'll be keeping this year, despite one of my friends having broken it last year to go on holiday with her boyfriend. OH WELL. January was the month of being busy with essays (seriously, practically every entry is about them or TV shows), meeting up with ibroketuesday in London for ADVENTURES, and successfully asking a guy out for lunch without freaking out overly much, even if nothing came of it. Woop woop!

February

The universe seems to be struggling to decide whether it's going to be nice or a bitch to me today. It has left me really quite disoriented and confused.

Ah, the beginning of February. A time of more essays, delays, the 48-hour film competition, and my entire iTunes library disappearing briefly. It also snowed, and I got sick. Fun times. In fact, that statement sums up my entire February pretty well: there was the awesome of being in Wyrd Sisters, being elected President of TT, seeing Dylan Moran live and, most importantly, BANQUET, counterbalanced with the steady suck of illness and essay stress.

March

So... my first ever improv show! I was pretty nervous all day.

Thus began my Week of Epic Busy-ness - Improv shows and Wyrd Sisters rehearsals or performances EVERY. DAY. This also happened to be the month my dissertation was due. OOPS. Oh well, I managed to finish it, and even got a 2.1, so, WOO. I also went down to see family for my mum's birthday and mothers day in London and went on a walk along a Mystery Hazard Path.

April

I'm off to a Classics conference in Glasgow this weekend... kinda nervous. I don't think my notebook is srs bzns is enough. It's pink, for one thing. With sparkles. Oh dear.

OK, I'll admit it, that's not the first line. First was a meme, then a Supernatural reaction post. This is the first one actually relating to real life. But yes, I went to the Glasgow Conference, and ended up accidentally networking with the author of The Roman Mysteries. Essay and exam stress started to kick in, I went home for Easter and attended a triple-21st birthday party, went on an adventure around London with Beccy, and then I came back to Durham for another healthy helping of stress. Ack.

May

Yes, I'm staying up all night before the May Day celebrations again. At least this year I'm not on a crazy high after an overdose of chinese food and ridiculous Bollywood movies, leaving me in a state desirous of manic dancing and singing 'This Is Why I'm Hot'...

Which did indeed make it a marked improvement on the year before. No, this year I stayed up writing instead, and it was awesome. This was the month of EXAMS OMG STRESS, with occasional awesome things like the Unexpected!Social day, the Timewarp party in Runcorn, Improv shows to raise money for Edinburgh, and, oh yes, MY BIRTHDAY WOOOO. Also, there was some genuinely gorgeous weather. Despite exams, this was a good month.

June

Ahh, the magical time after exams where I have next to nothing to blog about. I mean, I've been doing stuff - Improv rehearsals are starting to become Edinburgh-oriented, I went to see Star Trek again with Beccy, and, to my horror, I've been watching Gossip Girl and getting strangely addicted - but nothing that really struck me as LJ-worthy.

Yeah... that probably sums up my June pretty well. Practises for Edinburgh, watching random films and TV shows. There was also the Grey College Ball - singing on Grey Lawn at 4am, watching the sun rise - Magdalen College Ball - wearing a shawl all night to hide my back, which was COVERED in midge bites from the 3YGB - and basically enjoying time with my friends before we went our separate ways and waiting for exam results (2.1!). There was an awesome day out at the beach and my belated 21st birthday party, and the 3-year anniversary of Sheffield meet-ups. Really, the only bad thing about this month was my plot bunnies deserting me, so I didn't get a story done this summer.

July

I AM ALL GRADUATED. I NOW HAVE 'BA (HONS) DUNELM' AFTER MY NAME.

GRADUATION WOOOOO. Also, Jackie & people came to England and we had wild crazy adventures up and down the country, despite horrific weather. But other than that... this was a quiet month. Mostly spending time at home and letting parents be all proud at me. And resting up in preparation for...

August

So, I had an awesome weekend at the Star Wars party.

Well, not THAT. Not that that Star Wars party wasn't awesome. No, this was the month of EDINBURGH. And one of the single best goddamn months of my life. Performing, meeting new people, seeing lots of shows, and generally have an amazing time, all day, every day. Also, NEIL GAIMAN. Sure, it wasn't perfect - I had my insecure moments, we didn't always do great shows - but it was long enough ago that I can look back at it through a nostalgic haze and remember only the good things. And then, right at the end of the month, I got to go to AMERICALAND!

September

Wow, I do an epic 3-part 12,000 word post about Edinburgh and then disappear. My summer holidays are THAT awesome and erratic.

It really was. Americaland was FANTASTIC. Three weeks with Jackie and Tanja, with the Oregon State Fair and glow-in-the-dark pirate golf, lots of Mario Party and running around Portland in slow-motion singing 'Poker Face'. But all too soon, I had to come home and start preparing for my MA year. This, of course, involved taking on far too much, which I eventually had to quit when it all started piling up. Oh well.

October

So... one of the professors in my department? Has just upped and left. Like, practically no warning, he was all set to teach modules and supervise dissertations this year, but then he just turned around and announced, "I'm leaving!" and DID SO.

I wish I could say THUS BEGAN THE BIGGEST ADVENTURE OF MY LIFE, but unfortunately not. I AM still determined to investigate, though. No, this month was getting down to work and realizing how much I loved my subject. It was also the month of realizing just how busy I was going to be this term, with all my work and social activities, finally culminating in attempting to attend a naked calendar photoshoot and two Halloween parties, ALL ON THE SAME NIGHT. And pulled it off. Hey, if you're going to multitask social activities, do it right.

November

Wow. This is pretty much the first time I've had time to sit down and chill in a WHILE.

Like I said, I was busy. It is no coincidence that this is the same month I tried coffee for the first time. I still kept VERY busy with work adn various improv and TT social activities, I went on an SFX weekend to stay in cottages and dressed as an undead pirate, Alistair got internet stalkers, I apparently got swine flu, and before we could debate who had the worst deal he unexpectedly told me he liked me. And thus began...

December, aka The Month of Holy Crap Drama (Dramamber?)

Life is going pretty great for me right now. I just rocked a presentation in CRMR, Greek was so much fun this morning (George, after learning the etymology of kaleidoscope - pretty vision sight - is determined to invent a kakeidescope, where kids look through and just see HORRIBLE THINGS) and then went and got cupcakes with Beccy.

There was so much freaking drama I DIDN'T EVEN WRITE ABOUT IT. But now? Well, there was Alistair and me getting together, his ex - my friend - hating us forever for it, and just a whole range of break-ups amongst my friends, all of which were unexpected and just led to me going "WTF????" more. I even ended up breaking down crying in Greek from the sheer emotional stress of it all, which was awkward, I can tell you, but my lecturer was awesome and gave me a hug and went round the class, making them all say something to cheer me up.

And now term is over, I have a part in Guards! Guards! next term, it's SNOWING and my boyfriend is currently hiking through it to get me my Christmas present (I tried to persuade him not to, but he insisted) (also, holy crap, I just called him my boyfriend) and I'm going home on Monday to family and festivities and seeing friends I haven't seen in ages.

It has been a hell of a year. But then, I thought it might be when it started. Roll on 2010!