Sandra is Back, Now I Can Be Properly Busy
Sandra is home, safe and sound. We all missed her, and we all grew in her absence.
One thing that did not grow in her absence: the buffer.
Also, I didn't blog anything, and I now owe you folks four movie reviews, which I'm sure I'll get around to *cough cough* any day now. Short versions: Paranorman was cute-scary, Dredd was better the second time (and I mean that in two ways), Looper was powerful and disturbing, and there's something else in there I know I saw but I've forgotten.
I finished a 12,500 word manuscript (that's a "novelette," if you must know) for a horror anthology called Space Eldritch. My tale, "Flight of the Runewright," features rune-powered interstellar travel, and a protagonist who is booking passage under a stolen identity. I'll give you all the details once the book is ready for purchase. Be warned, however: this story does not have the voice you are accustomed to reading from me. It isn't comedy. It's horror. Sure, there's some funny in it, but the story is a very dark one.
Anyway, that's been sent off so I need to focus on what's in front of me: building the buffer, creating the 2013 calendar (going with marker-art this year), and writing about 30,000 words for a super-secret project (whose voice and tone will be more along the lines of what you're used to getting from me -- upbeat adventure with laughs, tears, and stand-up-and-cheers.) The deadlines are all close, the pressure is oppressive, and I don't think I'd have it any other way.
My Sandra is back, and she's GOT my back, so pressure like this is no problem.