Friday, May 07, 2004
So, I ask you, what does it say about Western culture that a moronic yellow poriferan working in the service industry has become one of our most beloved icons?
Last night, we watched a month's worth of The Sopranos in four hours. As soon as we're through Season Four, Spooky and I are curtailing our television binges, at least until Season Two of Six Feet Under is released on DVD. We have costumes to work on. Though, I have noticed that watching television (or movies) for hours at a time leaves me disoriented and foggy exactly the same way that reading for hours at a time does. I think it's an inevitable by-product of the prolonged suspension of disbelief and immersion in fictional worlds. Good television is no more likely to make you stupid than good prose fiction, though it's certainly a hell of a lot more difficult to come by.
Of course, the other "bad habit" that's been eating up spare time is LiveJournal. I must have spent two hours yesterday reading freinds' ljs and frelling around with the settings for my greygirlbeast account. I like the new look, though.
Something cool: "Waycross" has been selected for The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #15. I just got the news this morning. It's a nice little bit of encouragement as I ready myself to begin the next Dancy Flammarion story, "Alabaster." The latter, like "Waycross," will be illustrated by Ted Naifeh, by the way. I'll keep you posted on when Subterranean Press will begin taking preorders. I suspect this is one you'll want to reserve, as "Waycross" sold out prior to publication.
Yesterday, we read the prologue and first chapter of Murder of Angels; today, we do Chapter Two. I'm annoyed at the huge number of errors involving commas still present in the galleys. The copyeditor should have caught these. But I think I like this novel more with each reading, as I gain more emotional distance from the chore of writing it.
Also, it's official, I'll be a guest at Bride of Spookycon in San Francisco this Halloween. On the one hand, I hate doing cons on Halloween (which is why I haven't been to a World Fantasy Convention since 1996), but on the other hand, it means we'll be in San Francisco for Halloween, and it'll give me a chance to see people I haven't seen in ages.
It just so happens, Chapter Two of Murder of Angels is set in San Francisco...
12:11 PM