All Packed!

The hard part wasn't fitting my clothes into my bags, but more finding room for all the little power cords, and books, and shoes, and boots, and bags of Cheerios (What? I'm on a DIET, folks!), and assorted presents I'm bringing for people over in Europe.

On the plus side, it'll be way easier to bring everything home in two weeks. I'll ship all my work stuff (books and papers and all) from Frankfurt back to the office, give away the presents, and leave whatever books I read for fun wherever I finish them. Not to mention eating the Cheerios (and, um, some peanut butter. Reduced Fat! See above!). See? Easy!

Except for all the souvenirs I bring home, of course...

Once again, Popwatch is absolutely right.

This is a killer (heh) video.

Via Popwatch.

It totally counts

As blogging if I quote someone else, right? Via Matt, who used to be Blatantly Obvious, and now just sits at home and writes novels, a link to a speech Clive Barker gave on "genre" at FantasyCon 2006, which was mentioned at last night's Neil Gaiman/John Hodgman nerdfest (I jest, but I'm oh-so-very sad to have missed it). My favorite part:

I think we should cancel the word genre, I think we should throw the word genre out. We are not a genre, which suggests a small or perhaps even somewhat besieged condition -- we are a continent and, actually most of the smaller things which came along afterwards like naturalism, realism, these things are a mere 200 years old, to pick up Ramsey's word, they are striplings. How long has naturalistic fiction been around -- maybe 300 years?

We are in a tradition which began, we may assume, around campfires as stories were told and gods were made and goddesses were worshipped and the fundamentals, the primal concerns of human beings, were laid out. Fuck genre -- this isn't about genre, this is about the fact that we are writing and painting and making in film form expressions of the profoundest issues of the human heart!

Go read the whole thing, and then, if you're looking for more to read, go read John Hodgman's blog. You'll thank me.

As for me, I'm heading out tonight to Astoria to try to sneak up on Costas again, and have dinner (and eyebrow plucking) with Famous Author Friend MJ. Tomorrow I attempt to pack... then unpack when I realize there's NO WAY I will fit everything into my bags, then repack again.

Oh, and watch Ugly Betty. Apparently, it's pretty good.

Saddest sight in the world

(Or at least on my block, today)

Tray after tray of not-so-fresh Krispy Kreme donuts being poured into black trash bags, uneaten. So sad.

Nobody SAY or DO anything!!

But for the moment, my work email inbox is empty. It's a little oasis of calm in a sea of pre-trip madness.

Hope/Optimism

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.
-- Václav Havel (b. 1936)

Words of Wisdom from the Czech president! Via Wish I'd Said That.

A momentary pause

...In the hectic week leading up to Frankfurt, so I'm taking a minute for me. Actually, I'm taking more than that, since I'm leaving work early tonight (for this week, at least. Any other week, it would be "leaving on time") and heading down to the gym for my NIA class. Will hope to go again on Thursday, with the other days in the week before I leave devoted to laundry, me prep, and packing.

This past weekend, as well as being a veritable cornucopia of family, included two shopping trips to various malls in the tristate area, with delightful success. New suit, new sweater, new jeans, new dress, new tank tops, new fishnets, all ready to go to Europe!

And newly svelte ktbuffy, as I'm down another 4 pounds. Lost a total of 29.6 so far, which was nicely remarked upon by the various family members, in their inimitable ways.

Besides all the work yet to do (I fuss, but it's entirely doable), I have to decide what books I want to bring with me. I'm still only halfway through Specials by Scott Westerfeld, since my Labor Day flight, but I don't want to bring that, since I'm trying to keep it to books I can leave lying around wherever I finish them, and don't have to worry about bringing back home again. The list so far, yet to be whittled down:

• Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston
• Bergdorf Blondes by Plum Sykes
• The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice
• Imperium by Robert Harris
• Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Plus my Rough Guide to Prague. Which is way too much! Help!

My favorite new story EVER!!

So my boss threw a really nice cocktail party tonight for one of my coworkers -- much champagne was imbibed, and delicious appetizers prepared and enjoyed. I spent a good part of the evening talking to a work acquaintence whom I'd never really had the chance to sit and chat with before, and MAN! I would love to go back in time and spend more time getting to know him sooner! Although, if I went back TOO far, we wouldn't have Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica to talk about, and THAT would be a crying shame. I'll look forward to catching up with him again in Frankfurt.

Anyway, the best story EVER? So he lives with his boyfriend in the West Village, on a street he says is somewhat notorious as a hangout for hookers. And not just the shiny girls, either. All sorts. So he's leaving his apartment one day, and sees this disheveled, hot-pants wearing tall blonde stumbing down the street in front of him at like 3 in the afternoon. Wow, he thinks. Some trannie hooker is starting work early. get to the corner where he manages to get a better view, and what does he see?

Chloe Sevigny.

AKA Looks Enough Like A Trannie Hooker To Be Easily Mistaken For One In Broad Daylight.

I told him he HAD to notify the Fug Girls. They have an entire CATEGORY for her!

Because sometimes...

You need a reminder.I'm not even a cat person, but that picture melts my cold, dark heart.

They're On To Me!!

So, a couple of weeks ago, the roomie and I, on our first apartment-hunting excursion in the wilds of Astoria (no, not Dark Astoria), meandered into the courtyard of a building on the street we liked, and had an older guy lean out a window above us and ask if he could help us. I went into my whole "We're looking for a 2-bedroom apartment and love this neighborhood, and would love to live here, and do you have anything available?" He peered at the two of us, accompanied by our famous author friend, and replied, "No pets."

No, we assured him. We were petless. "Two people only!" he barked back at us. Of course, we promised. Famous Author Friend was only helping us look.

"I have something. Come inside." We gleefully followed and he showed us (though up a few flights of stairs), what may be the apartment of our dreams. Exactly in our price range, with all the amenities we wanted, it was even being renovated, so as to have a brand spanking new kitchen and bathroom. Did we want it? Oh yes, precious, we did!

But it was our first apartment hunting excursion, and we didn't have cash with us. Besides, it wasn't ready, wasn't going to be ready for a while, and we didn't know how that would work with when we wanted/needed to move. I gave the super (let's call him Costas, shall we?) my business card with my cell phone number on it, took down his number, and even copied down the building owner's phone number from the plaque near the mailboxes on our way out.

Foolishly, I told a few folks we might have found the apartment of our dreams. And then, I tried to follow up. And none of the phone numbers I had worked. Had I written them down wrong? Been deliberately given a bad number? Perish the thought!

I sent Famous Author Friend back to the building (she lived nearby, after all), to check that I'd written things down correctly, or try to get more information. She came back with the super's apartment number, so I dashed off a letter on fancy office letterhead reiterating our interest, offering to fill out paperwork, sacrifice a goat, ANYTHING!

No response. Sigh.

Last weekend, as noted, Keeley and I returned to the hunt, and found a note on the door of the building that our fickle friend Costas was on vacation, leaving the number of an alternate super. The wheels in my mind turned. I took the number down, and called, getting through today.

"Hi, yes, I understand you're filling it for Costas? I was just wondering when he's back from vacation."

Next week, I was told. "And can you just confirm for me his number? I have..." I rattled it off, but the line was silent.

"Who this?"

"Oh, ah, this is ktbuffy (no, not really, I gave him my real name). I spoke to Costas a couple of weeks ago about an apartment, and I just want to check the number."

"If you're not a tenant, I can't help you. You need to talk to Costas."

Yes, I emphasized. I knew that. Which is why I needed the number.

No such luck. Click.

Rats! They're on to me.

Now what? Go to a real estate broker? How plebian!!

Oh yeah, I remember how this goes!

I leave for the Frankfurt Book Fair in just under two weeks, which means, of course, that I'm utterly slammed with work. After yesterday's exciting Galleycat mention, I was pumped to post something that will keep all my readers' attention, and... well, let's just say I didn't quite get to do what I hoped. I didn't even OPEN my blog all day.

And that's not entirely bad. Yes, I still have a ton of Frankfurt preparations to make, books and galleys and manuscripts to send to editors in New York and around the world, but I was also able to enjoy (and I do mean enjoy) a great lunch Monday with an author and a couple of colleagues, and another fab one today with one of my authors and her editor, as well as finishing reading a submission that I really like, and though it still needs some work, is something entirely promising and ripe for an offer of representation. I love that part of my job.

And -- to be honest -- I like the rush of pre-Frankfurt a little, too. When I get things done, of course. There's something concrete that I'm working on, working for, something that needs doing by a specific time, and I like making sure that happens.

Which isn't to say it wouldn't be a hell of a lot easier with an assistant. Oh please, PTB? Pretty please? I'll be your best friend!!

I made Galleycat!

Woot!

Weekend Stuff

Had a bookish great time yesterday at the Brooklyn Book Festival, afterwards hanging out with a few such luminous authors as Scott Westerfeld, Justine Larbalestier, Holly Black, and Maureen Johnson, trying to keep the huge big fan side of my personality from popping out and overwhelming my cool agenty persona. I hope I managed it. Despite the disappointment of forgetting my stolen Pigeon (as in, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" and "The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog") drawing in a restaurant in the wilds of Brooklyn, it was a great day spent talking about books, writing, and all the other little things that make me very very happy about publishing. Even if I did forget my business cards. Whoops!

Today, Keeley and I meandered on back out to Astoria to look for apartments, and found another great building where we would love to live. I collected a few more phone numbers, and will be making some more calls on Monday. When I got back to the apartment, I succumbed to a lovely mid-afternoon nap with thoughts of paint colors, blue masking tape and rolling casters running through my head. I really can't wait to redecorate. Although, I will admit that thinking so much about a new apartment may be what's contributing to my malaise about this one. Then too, why do I always have to be the one who says, "Hey guys, the place is a mess, why don't we clean it?" And does anyone else ever realize that the garbage can underneath the sink in the bathroom doesn't empty itself?

Sorry, don't mean to rant. The long and short of it is I know if I want something done, I should just do it myself. Chances are, the roomies will help.

I gotta say though (and this may seem like a conversational leap, but in my head it's not), I am looking forward to my trip with Doyce to Prague. We've been joking that it will be like traveling with ourselves, in that we're both very much the plan things kind of people. Been looking at a few guidebooks and articles, and though I'm sure we could just spend five days wandering around the city and consider it time well spent, I am looking forward to some more specific sightseeing -- with photos to follow!

Which reminds me -- I must check that laptops are once again allowed as carry-on baggage on international flights. Does anyone know?

Real fast...

I'm on my way out to celebrate the Monkey Queen's birthday, but if you're in the New York neighborhood and looking for something to do tomorrow, may I suggest The Brooklyn Book Festival? Don't miss the 2pm discussion in the Youth Pavillion, "The World Beyond: Award Winning Sci-Fi and Fantasy for Teens."

More later!

Semi out of contact

Gearing up for a very busy time at work, which cuts down on the amount of time I have to blog and catch up on other people's blogs during the day, and Time Warner Cable seems to be having a problem with supplying information to computer modems in the exact two block radius of our apartment, so there's no internet at home. Joy. On the plus side, did manage to get not one, but TWO cable guys up to the apartment last night in an attempt to fix the thing -- and they were the ones who were finally able to confirm that the announced service interruption on the machine when I called in the night before last did, in fact, apply to my problem. Could someone have told me that before the roomies and I tried to rearrange our schedules to be home for a service call? Nah.

Oh. But the cable guy was highly unamused by the wires outside our window, and the splitter dangling in mid air. He's making them send a guy to do a complete reline of our apartment. Just in time, too, for us to move out.

Man, I can not find a new apartment soon enough!

Be in a Book!

Via Neil Gaiman, you can bid to be in a book! Some of the authors are being cooler than others, promising phone calls and conversations, and characters to be killed or made love to, and others are like "Yeah, sure, I'll... uh... put your last name, in some form, in a book. When I write it. Which I may not do." But still! Good cause!

Also, a small sign that I may be playing too much Prince of Persia: I looked at a truck blocking an intersection while I was out at lunch, and thought, "I could just roll under it -- hit W and space."

At least I didn't actually do it, right?

Oh! And, to file under "Today I joined a cult" -- today I'm down 26.2 pounds!

Reading weekend

I brought home a stack of paper literally about 6 inches high, and have so far manged to get through most of it. Three full manuscripts and two partials done already, with two more fulls to read in the next week or so. Yesterday was a bit of a bear (no offense, Doyce!), in that I was hoping to play a little Prince of Persia: Warrior Within to relax between manuscripts, but I got stuck on a boss, and after feeling like I wanted to throw my computer through the nearby conveniently open window, I decided that wasn't going to be the way I relaxed.

So I started watching some TLC -- Trading Spaces and Flip This House -- which started making me anxious about finding a new apartment and moving.

Plus I'd slept late, and hadn't made it to the gym in the morning, as well as already deciding on Friday that I wasn't going to do a 35 mile bike ride today, so I ended up feeling like a big ole lump of useless.

Luckily, today was better. Still slept in, but decided not to worry about it. If I slept til noon, I must need the sleep. I made Keeley fight the boss, and was able to move ahead with the game. I got through another manuscript, managed to watch TLC without breaking down in tears, and even got out and enjoyed a little bit of a street fair.

So... that was my weekend.

Oh. And for the record? I will not be commenting on any anniversaries tomorrow. Though there's one today I'm pretty happy about.

From the set of L&O

As I type, people are yelling "Background!" and "Action!" and "Cut!" on the street outside my apartment. This is, literally, the view from the chair as I'm sitting and typing this.


Here, you can see the stand-ins very busy standing around as the crew sets up the shot currently being filmed.


And here, as soon as I get the little movie I shot uploaded to iFilm, you'll actually see something happen!


On the whole, I much prefer Hollywood-staged destruction to the real stuff. it's even kinda pretty.

Yesterday / Today / Tomorrow

Yesterday...There was a vacant lot across the street from my apartment building, where a brownstone had been recently torn down.

Today...There is a faux pile of rubble, including scorched couch, door frames, and artfully arranged bricks.

Tomorrow...Ka-ching! They are filming Law & Order. And I bet I can guess which "ripped from the headlines" plot they're working with! Since I have to be at work, I have offered my fire escape/balcony to the biggest L&O fan I know, so she can tell me all about it. Details soon! (If she takes me up on my generous offer, and doesn't decline for work-y reasons. As if!)

A question for the fashionable ladies out there...

So, as promised, I bought myself a little pair of black peep toe pumps this past weekend. I love them lots, and yet I wonder... is it ever cool to wear them with stockings? What about those wacky hose with the toes cut out? Anyone ever try those? Should I swear to only wear them in warmer climes and under pants, or is there hope for them with fall dresses and skirts, without freezing off my bum? Your opinions are appreciated!

On Dorks and Dorkiness

OK, I will admit that I referenced the recent Time Out NY cover article on "New Dork City" to the editor reading my HtDaS proposal, although I did not read the piece itself. I did, however, read this, which is the kind of smart rebuttal I wish I'd written. I so need to get her to write a blurb for HtDaS when it comes out! (When it gets sold... when it gets written...)

Because, for me, it comes down to the fact that dorkiness, or nerdiness, or whatever term you want to use, isn't a trend. Calling it a state of mind instead seems rather overly grand, but I think it's possible to dork out about anything -- even if it's something "cool" like Italian film or Kate Spade [or shoes! - ktbuffy]-- because it's that idea of looking to that thing, that signifier, to let you belong because that thing belongs to you, horses, baseball, Broadway, Harry Potter, Risk, loving it as though it will love you back, without apologizing for it or winking at anyone who might be watching you. This is what makes Max Fischer a great character -- that the movie he's in is like, "Look what you can accomplish if you don't care who knows how much it means to you."

I swear, I'm really working

But I'm taking a short break to watch this: the first of ten original webisodes to bridge the gap between the end of the last season of Battlestar and the start of the new one. Enjoy!

Catching up, and moving on

This? This is what I did this past weekend. Briefly: furniture assembly, computer game playing, dinner and a movie (but in the reverse), another movie, car go ex-plodey!, VIP Coors tour, and fresh beer right off the filteration process, pizza dinner, car shopping, car buying, NEW CAR!, naptime/Dahaka, fancy mall, pretty new peep toe pumps, pasta and vegetables for dinner, falling asleep during a movie, Taste of Colorado with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, rest of the movie, anime, waffles, saying goodbye, airport, trip home, brouhaha. C'est ca.

As for the moving on part -- over there on the sidebar now you'll find "Noelle's Diary," which is exactly what it sounds like: all Noelle's diary posts from what will soon be the former Alliance forums, as well as other posts that she was involved with. Big pain in the arse moving everything over to blogger, and I don't love the format of the blog, but it'll do for now. And it was fun to go back and reread some stuff. I have one more big thread to copy today, I think: The House of Cards storyline, when Noelle got kidnapped. I'm rather proud of some of that.

But first: actual work to do.

So much to say, so little time

Got those "First Day of School" feelings, for no real apparent reason. I want to catch up on a recap of the rest of the weekend, whcih included the Coors VIP tour, car shopping, and the Taste of Colorado festival, featuring Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Lots of fun (and sunburn!), but I've got a bunch of other stuff to catch up on before I get into all that -- real work, too, not just moving all my forum posts somewhere to save for when the Alliance boards go bye-bye. I just had a thought about that -- my project for the afternoon, probably.

More later!

And while we're talking about publishing...

I wasn't going to comment on the whole This is Chick Lit / This is Not Chick Lit thing, because so many others are doing it to death. But then some anonymous former editor went and wrote that "Chick lit is hurting America." And you know what? It so isn't. Get off your high horse, you elitist snobs. People are reading stories that appeal to them. You want them to stop? Write something else that appeals.

The truth is that chick lit is bad for America because it's bad for ambitious, literary writers, male or female. And that means it's bad for all of us. As America increasingly devalues intellectual rigor, education and compassion, it becomes harder and harder to find a good book. And believe me - the ex-fiction editor - it's not because they're not out there. It's because the market is saturated by bad writers claiming to rep for all women, crowding the bookshelves, making sure their one marginal, vapid story is produced ten million times over, like some pretty pink version of hell.

Taking aside the fact that writer of the article contradicts her own point -- that there is no good chick lit -- by saying that there are good books out there, what's with the needless division? "Literary writers"? Remember when there were just writers? I do. I get 10 or more queries a day from them. And yeah, so some of them are bad. But some of them, some of them are going to be great. And that's what keeps me looking, and keeps me reading. What I like to read is a story that entertains, and so what? If I have to plow through a pile of shite to find a diamond, I still want the diamond, don't I? Hell yeah.

Chick Lit isn't hurting America, people. People telling people not to read, whether it's book banners or pointless critics of taste, are hurting America.

Rant over.

Via Galleycat and Bookslut

I should remember to read this later

Top Ten Blogs about Writing and Publishing. I'm not on it, and trust me, that's A-Ok.

Gridiron Greats

Yes, you never thought it would happen. Ktbuffy using her blog to talk about sports. But not just any sports. Oh, heck no. I'm here to talk about sports MOVIES. I love me some sports movies. All the thrill and excitement of a game, usually set to a musical montage of the best moments, with clear cut good guys to root for, and bad guys to boo. I like to make up my own little double headers. Say, for instance, an opening game of The Replacements followed by the more gritty Any Given Sunday (with Bring It On for a halftime show). Or, tonight's festivities: Invincible followed by Friday Night Lights. There's a bunch more football movies coming out this fall, too. Oh! And let's not forget other great sports movies, like The Cutting Edge, Stick It, The Rookie... The list goes on.

This poll thing seems to be working out pretty well, so tell me: what are YOUR favorite sports movies?