Well, Marianne’s away for the weekend.  I cleaned the fish tank, which was smelly, slimy and cloudy.  The fish all seem fine, but I think the filter isn’t coping.  Took the girls to Sizzler for dinner, which Jess loved.  Came home and I read the girls the opening chapters of Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree, which delighted Sophie at least.

It occurs to me that, both as a way of being a little even handed, and to keep track myself, that Night Shade are not the only publisher not based in New York or Sydney that I love. Pete Crowther’s PS Publishing is a wonder, and Bill Schafer at Subterranean keeps putting out books I want to have. Here’s my currently list of must have SubPress books for the rest of the year. Bill owes me a copy of the Shepard, but the others look great too:

• Black & White, Lewis Shiner
• Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy, Bill Schafer ed.
• The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives, James Blaylock
• Conversational Hearts, John Crowley
• The Chronicles of Master Lu and Number Ten Ox, Barry Hughart
• The Best of Lucius Shepard
• The Best of Michael Swanwick
• Worlds of Weber, David Weber

Just opened the morning email, and there’s a newsletter from Jeremy over at The Shade letting me know about a 50% off sale that they’re having at the moment.  They have some incredibly cool books just out, or just over the horizon, including new novels from Walter!, Greg Egan, Graham Joyce, Harry Turtledove and others, alongside some very cool anthos from John Joseph Adams (the editor to watch at the moment, IMHO) and the VanderMeers (whose pirate book includes a great Garth Nix novelette).  All you’ve got to do is slap in an order by midnight May 25, and you’re away.  Now, I know the skeptics amongst you are saying, it’s all very well for him to recommended the Shade, but he works for them and is a reviews guy, so he scores all of the books for nix.  Not so, my little droogies.  I have handed over the cold, hard just recently for the new Walter! novel and the new Paolo Bacigalupi collection, and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again.  I’m definitely going to get the Joyce novel, and I’m one behind on those Glen Cook omnibuses (I don’t even read ’em, but they look so cool I want them).  Anyhow, this is a great sale. Go forth and order!

Gack I’m tired.  I spent about seven hours doing taxes today, and I figure I’m a bit over half way through. 2006/2007 is pretty much together. I need to plug in the deductions, source a little bit of info, and talk to the accountant.  2007/2008 is also coming together. The ground work is done, but there’s still some detective work to do.  I’m determined, though, to end this whole ‘doing the taxes’ problem once and for all.  By the end of the month I expect to get last year’s taxes done, and have this year’s done to the point where I can submit them the moment I get my group certificate.  I should be able to get on the plane for Denver and know that I don’t have to worry about taxes till mid-2009, and those should be well organised.

Of course, once the taxes are done, I move on to trying to prepare for applying for my own job.  Have to write a resume for the first time in 15 years, and prepare for my first job interview about as long.  Round the same time, I’ve got to finish a couple books, both of which are coming together very nicely.  That takes me through to late June (skipping a couple birthdays), and then the relatives arrive from New York.  By mid-July (truly), the year will be all down hill.  These aren’t simpler times, but I can see them from here.

Critic Farah Mendlesohn has been writing about children’s literature, and children’s literature specifically, over at her blog The Inter-Galactic Playground, for some time now.  It’s always a fascinating site to check out, and is building up towards what should be a very interesting book of Farah’s.  She’s just posted a critique of my book The Starry Rift which really delighted me.  It’s not a review – it contains spoilers and so on – but it is very interesting indeed.  Reading it made me eager to get my teeth into another book I want to do, which I’ve been messing with for a while.  Of course, given how overloaded I am today, that might have to wait for 2011.