Monday, February 23, 2009

Monday Bunday: Making Messes


















See what I get up to while you're at the office?

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Saturday Check-In

Happy Saturday! I've been pretty busy lately with work and spring gardening. The house and yard get so much shade that I'm having to experiment by planting in a variety of spots, waiting to see what will work and what won't.

In writing news, I got my first chapter posted this weekend. It can be accessed via the banner on the Maelstrom website or via this link, which will take you to the pdf. The chapter includes my latest artwork, which will also be used on the cover of the chapbook I'm working on as a freebie to advertise the book, once it's available.

As to the book, I'm on my third round of edits, doing pencil markups in a paper copy. Cleanups have been minor so far, which I'm happy about, and Dan has twice absconded with the book to read it himself. This is significant, since although he is supportive of my writing, he's never actually read my stuff before now.

I ran seventeen miles this morning and did all my scheduled workouts for the past week. I'm happy about this, since I had been getting lazy about my weekday workouts. The warmer weather we had last week helped, and although we got a cool front today, I hope my winter slump is over.

Finally, our bunny friend Fiona is sick this week. Last I heard, she was showing signs of improvement, but rabbits are such fragile creatures that prayers, good wishes, or whatever you've got to offer are still needed. So if you haven't done so already, go wish Fiona well.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Monday Bunday: Another Monday?

















What do you mean the weekend's over?

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Contest Winner: Date with an Incubus

Just letting you know that Thomma's "Date with an Incubus" story is posted. Check it out if you've got time: Thomma's Date with Bo

Saturday, February 14, 2009

From Cadbury: Somebunny Loves You!














This afternoon, I found this new toy in my room.














And this basket of treats.















First, I checked out the toy.














It was fun to chew on and made lots of noise!














Then I dove into my treat basket. Yum!














Happy Valentine's Day, friends, and remember that somebunny loves you, even if it's just me!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Australia Wildfires: Donate!

I've been keeping up with information about the brush fires in Australia. For animal-lovers who would like to help, here are a couple of links:

Wildlife Victoria: Their page for international donations has options for donating in Australian dollars (you do the conversion) or your home currency (your credit card company does the math). At the current exchange rate, $100 USD equals about $152 or $153 AUD.

RSPCA Victoria: Their donation page is a bit less clear. They simply show a $ sign, which I assume is AUD, and the credit card company would do the currency conversion. Contact information is available on the website if you want to be sure.

And if you want to help the humans, the Australian Red Cross is seeking donations.

If you have it to give, be generous!

Monday, February 09, 2009

Monday Bunday: Where in the World...















"I've been told the world is a very big place."
















"Doesn't look so big to me!"

Saturday, February 07, 2009

Contest: We Have a Winner!

Although I would've liked to have had a few more participants, I was pretty happy with the number of entries we got for the Win a Date with Bo contest. I'll be using some of what I learned next month when we start our Bunny Benefit!

And now, here we have the ballots:















And the impartial selection committee.

"I'm supposed to do what?"















"Okay, I think I get it now."














And our lucky (?) winner is...Thomma! Good luck to you Thomma, and thanks to all who participated. If any of the participants would like to write a story anyway, I'm always open for guest bloggers to share their experiences with the members of Maelstrom!

Saturday Check-In

Things have been pretty much the same here lately. I've been writing a lot of short fiction for the Maelstrom site, which takes up most of my writing time, leaving little time for blogging. Sorry about that.

I went for a run along the Brays Bayou trails this morning, and it went okay in spite of the lingering effects of some breathing trouble I had yesterday due to the high tree pollen count. It wasn't one of my better runs, but I enjoyed the route, and after how I felt yesterday, I was glad to be running at all.

A lot of people were out this morning, especially cyclists. We're having spring-like weather and everyone seems eager to enjoy it. The bayou was full of birds, gardens are full of new green leaves, and I saw my first butterfly of the season. Right now the squirrels and birds are having a go of it outside the window of my study. I have no idea what they're fighting about, but it sounds important!

I'm doing a second round of edits on the Maelstrom novel and I've designed a first-chapter chapbook that I'm going to get some pricing on. Ideally I'd like to be able to give it away for free as a promo item. In the meantime, my plan to make the first chapter available on the web is going forward and I'm looking at February 23 as the date for that. I'll have my new artwork by then, and by going with a later date than I originally planned, I won't be competing with the winner of my Win a Date with Bo Contest.

In critter news, Cadbury has made no recent escape attempts or steeplechase leaps over the barricade and Pixel is enjoying the warmer days by finding sunny spots in the window once again. It's so interesting to watch the way animals make small changes in their habits. It doesn't look like they change much, but they do! I wonder if they think the same thing about us?

Monday, February 02, 2009

Monday Bunday: Ain't Goin' Nowhere















Move so you can sweep? I think not!