Nattering

We're home, and a catch-up on posting is in the offing in the next day or two. In the meantime, I put up some photos on flickr that Christopher and I took on our last full (and sunniest) day, part of my resolution to take more photos this year. Here are my new cowboy boots, aka my book sale present to myself.

They are divinely comfortable, and were purchased on a fun adventure into the wilds of the market of San Miguel led by adventurer-in-chief Theo. My thanks to Robin Wasserman (whose fabulous The Book of Blood and Shadow is out in April and just got a starred PW review) and Sarah Rees Brennan (who has not one but TWO fabulous new books due out later this year) for helping select just the right pair. Said boots have already proved their magic in a mad dash through the Dallas airport, in which we made the flight but our bag did not.

The rest of the photo set is here.

So we're down in Mexico on a writing vacation (a vacation for writing, not from it). The weather isn't entirely cooperating; it's been warm-ish and cloudy-ish most days. But the company more than makes up for that. Many writing talks being had, about specific projects and more generally, in that way that kicks the story brain into gear. I just finished my revision pass and sent it in to editor Amanda, managed a couple other nervous-making business-y emails, and tomorrow will start thinking in detail about the plot of the book I'm writing next. I'm hoping to get a synopsis written in the next couple of days, so that I can get into the real work of it once we're home.

There is guacamole with most every meal, and later there will be margaritas. The pool is warm, even if the outdoors isn't quite.

Basically: I can't complain. I wouldn't even dream of it.

Last night, taking the dogs out for a late walk at my parents' in the country, I was looking at the sky. One of the biggest trade-offs we make living in light-polluted cities is losing the stars. Even though it was a foggy night, there were still plenty of things visible, including a star shining so bright it had to be a planet.

When I came in and said this to one of my nephews, he flipped out and asked if we could go back out and see it. So we did (aside: barefoot in late November; it was chilly, but not bad: what have we done to our own planet?).

I love astronomy and wish I'd held onto more of it, so sad to say I had to google to find out which one it was. (My mom was using an app on her ipad, but I cling to the old ways.) I was able to figure out via the help of Astronomy Central and EarthSky that the planet in question was Jupiter.

(photo from Astronomy Central)

According to this University of Oregon page: "Jupiter is the largest of the nine planets, more than 10 times the diameter of Earth and more than 300 times its mass. In fact, the mass of Jupiter is almost 2.5 times that of all the other planets combined. Being composed largely of the light elements hydrogen and helium, its mean density is only 1.314 times that of water. The mean density of Earth is 5.245 times that of water. The pull of gravity on Jupiter at the top of the clouds at the equator is 2.4 times as great as gravity's pull at the surface of Earth at the equator. The bulk of Jupiter rotates once in 9 hours, 55.5 minutes, although the period determined by watching cloud features differs by up to five minutes due to intrinsic cloud motions." There are lots of other fascinating things about Jupiter, including that if it grew much more in mass, it would actually shrink through gravitational compression. 

Science is awesome.

Afterward, Christopher and I talked about how day lengths govern the entire rhythm of our lives, and the "extra time" at the end of the day in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars books, and whether the loss of cultural interest in space travel has any correlation to more people living in light-polluted population centers.

*

I dreamed a movie that never existed with Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant opposite each other, on an enormous ship. Different kinds of stars.

As stated elsewhere, I'm attempting to stay off social media (aka The Services, to invoke a more sinister, Skynetish flavor) for the next little bit. There'll probably be a few more posts here in the meantime. It's not that I feel like I've been spending too much time on twitter, etc., of late or that such things are particularly disruptive or a bad influence or anything like that. What they are, though, is noise, and I'm at the point with this book where I need to cancel out as much noise as possible, the better to capture the signal. I think it's a good plan. There are those times when you just need to be in the book you're writing, as much as possible, and cutting down on distractions (like the controversy of the week or, more dangerous by ten times, the fascinating convo of the week–everything but Cute Animal Pictures, really) is very helpful with that, in my experience. Particularly when it's one of those books with a lot of "no one will ever get this, everyone will think I'm just insane, because this is insane" moments, which this one is.

So: Thanksgiving. I hope you had a happy one if you're celebrating, and if you're not I still hope you had a nice day.

Setting the problematic historical context aside, Thanksgiving is the major holiday that stresses me out the least, and the one I typically like best. (Apart from Halloween, of course.) The lack of gifting means lower stakes and less insanity, and at heart I am very down with the concept of pausing to appreciate the good things in our lives. Be it refugee Thanksgiving with friends, as we've done in past years, or lovely days with family, like this one, I feel like one extremely lucky lady.

And, even though I'm avoiding The Services temporarily, I wanted to pop in here to say how grateful I am that I'm able to be a part of such wonderful virtual (and real!) communities, full of people who talk and laugh and grouse and support each other, whether from up close or afar. That is no small or imaginary thing. You're all much appreciated.

1. I meant to do this yesterday, per the Friday Five tradition, but instead it's the Saturday Six. Yesterday I hit a bleary, exhausted state, chased off only by a block of couch time to consume the first part of the Project Runway finale (Tim Gunn hugs = should be bottled and sold) and Brian Selznick's Wonderstruck. I think my love for Hugo Cabret was no secret, and once again, I just felt drawn in and recalibrated by this beautiful book that no one could have done except this particular author. The old cinema feel of both is outrageously in my wheelhouse, and I'm so hoping the Hugo Cabret movie captures even a little of it.

2. Actually, I've been having a run of reading great stuff, some for review, some for other projects, some just because. About as far from Wonderstruck as possible is Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold, but I thought it was bloody amazing fun. By which I mean bloody and amazing and fun to read, without losing any of its weight. Highly recommended for George R.R. Martin fans who only want to read one book and not a series (this is a standalone, although now I'm going to have to read his trilogy too), and who love a fierce, complicated woman at the center of the narrative.

3. Another really complex, fabulous book I just finished reading is Delia Sherman's The Freedom Maze–I won't say too much at this point, because I'm reviewing it for Locus and I'll have to write that review to truly sort out my thoughts. But this is truly a special book, and one that's perfect for middle grade readers, teen readers, and adults alike. Managing what Delia has managed here is really something. And, OH, I also just read Kelly Barnhill's The Mostly True Story of Jack and it, too, is amazing! Like I said, good run of books. It's odd for me to read this much middle grade in a stretch, but these are really perfect examples of how middle grade–especially with a classic feel to it; I'm thinking of Laurel Snyder's WONDERFUL Bigger Than a Breadbox too–is so universal in its appeal. This is a really great year for both YA and middle grade, in general.

4. Speaking of good things for YA: Lauren Myracle. Can we all just give her a standing ovation? One of the things that ticks off those of us in children's and YA lit is how there are always these clueless representations of the field in the media, from people who really know nothing about it. (See this brilliant Mad Libs version of the typical YA rant.) I've made my feelings about the whole NBA mess known elsewhere (twitter, tumblr). It's the most unfortunate thing, and I HATE that Lauren Myracle was forced to endure it; I felt heartsick for her from the moment it became clear what was happening. I feel terrible for all the nominees now (and Chime really is a truly brilliant book–people at media outlets summing it up as a "teen witch novel" should, y'know, read it), and I also do feel bad for the folks at the NBA. Still, it was their responsibility to clean up the mess, and that's what they should have done, rather than making a Bigger Mess. ANYWAY, what I wanted to say is, the one good thing in all of this, of course, has been the wonderful bright light of Lauren Myracle. YA couldn't wish for a better ambassador to show what it's really about, and her appearances on NPR (I teared up) and everywhere else, not only demonstrated what a class act and wonderful person she is, they made the entire field look good. So, hey, mainsteam media, next time you need someone to talk about YA? CALL HER. (Or someone else FROM the field.)

5. So, well, yes, I've been reading and working lots on various things. And also working on the circus book, which has at last found its footing, but is still by no means one of the easy ones.

6. World Fantasy approaches! And, yes, I'll be there, though I'm not doing any programming. I will also be Christopher-less, but I do have a most excellent roomie. Anyway, I can't wait to see/meet/hang with all of you. Happiness.