Well, first off, I agreed a while back to do a werewolf short for an upcoming anthology. A Christmas anthology. A Christmas werewolf anthology. So... here I are on the hook for 8-10k words by Nov 20 and I was not having a good time of it.

So I harrassed my most werewolf-knowledgable friends, Caitlin Kittredge and later,cmpriest  and we kicked ideas until something stuck--well not immediately, but in a back-of the brain sort of Oh-That's-horrible sort of way, because we were driven from a perfectly reasonable coffee house by 9/11 spouters of the liberal stripe (as bad as spouters of the conservative stripe only a bit more Pinko and Green.) And as I was walking home wondering how to make something really dependent on the werewolf and Christmas elements (not just werewolf and incidentally Christmas or vice versa) I had an Idea. So I rushed home and wrote it up as a 3 para synopsis. Haven't gotten a 100% go-ahead yet, but I think it will--pardon the reindeer reference--fly.

So there, one madness.

And not long ago I allowed myself to be persuaded to attend the upcoming signing at University Bookstore for Laurell K. Hamilton. I've never met the woman and I started and stopped reading Anita Blake at Bloody Bones, but I figure since I get told I'm imitating her often enough I should probably give the woman a chance in person to show me what she's about. But ironically the very person (yes you, blue_succubus ) who persuaded me to go is dumping me so she can go drool on Bill Clinton. Boooo!

/Cue Count: "Two! Two madnesses!"

And because I am truly insane, I agreed to mentor a young writer. (As if I have anything to say.)

Then there's the matter of revisions and eventual copyedits, another novel to do, and a novella I agreed to deliver by April.

Madness, I tells ya! Madness!

But at least I get to go hang out with the cool kids on Halloween for Cherie's horror extravaganza at Hugo House. OK, it's not just Cherie's but... hell, I know what the important things are. Be there or be... a smashed pumpkin. 'Cause all the cool kidz r goin.