I suspect girliejones would find this mildly unbelievable given her own deadline situation, but I’ve been struggling to focus on editing work this past while. I got to the end of a large batch of copyedits and so on, and then I just sort of went south. I know there’s work to do – I need to get some contracts out to people, focus on a couple projects which need nudging along, and I have to do a lot of reading. I just don’t feel…motivated. I’m drifting. Still, the girls are out at a birthday party today so my plan is to record the podcast this morning, then do the contracts and other paperwork that’s sitting around and then get on to Locus editing. When that’s done, I might ponder proposals I think.

I’ve also, again, been pondering World Fantasy. If anything I feel less like going than ever. I still won’t decide until WorldCon, but the cost balanced against the number of stopovers etc really doesn’t inspire me to do it. I would normally have spent some time in Oakland with Charles but, while I know I’m welcome and have friends there, it’s just not the same. I used to arrive and just collapse. Charles and I would sit around and talk for days and not do much else.  That’s not an option any longer so I do need to ponder. Anyhow, podcasting next….

The weekend before last Ian Nichols and I met up to discuss Legends of Australian Fantasy, editing, science fiction, and the upcoming Hugo Awards. The article ran in The West Australian this morning and I’m grateful to Ian (if a little embarrassed, to be honest) for making me seem at least semi-literate.

I love Planet Books, but I also am coming to pretty much adore bookdepository.co.uk, which is the cheapest book outlet I know.  I was over at Planet on Sunday and bought a copy of Lou Ander’s Masked. I have a PDF of it somewhere, but I really can’t be bothered reading that and (a) I really wanted to support Lou and (b) I really wanted to read Ian McDonald’s story in the book.  So, nice new book sitting on the couch beside me as I type for the win!

I also stopped at the post office this afternoon and there were packages from bookdepository.co.uk. Since I stopped reviewing in 2002 the number of ARCs etc I receive has dropped and dropped to the point where, even for the year’s best, I pretty much have to buy a book if I want to read it (which is understandable I guess, if a bit disappointing). Still, today brought my copies of Gwyneth Jones’ essay collection, Imagination/Space, and Eleanor Arnason’s Mammoths of the Great Plains. Jones has become one of my very favorite critics in the field, and picking up this book from Aqueduct seemed a great way to both get some wonderful reading and support a terrific press. Arnason, on the other hand, is one of the genuinely undervalued writers in our field, so I’m eager to catch up on this novella (which Gardner just said great things about).  So, post office for the win too!

What else? Well, this morning I listened to my first episode of Grant Watson’s Bad Film Diaries podcast. I’d meant to listen to it before, but then I’d always meant to get to the convention panels he was doing and somehow never had because I was in the bar drinking with friends, so it really was time I stopped and listened. It was a terrific decision. In the podcast I downloaded  Grant discusses Alien 3 and is just incredibly interesting and informed. I’m hooked and am not exaggerating when I say that if the rest of the series matches up to this he’s got my vote for the Hugo next year, definitely. One of the best genre podcasts going.

Eldest child is screaming and shouting, youngest child is upset because we may have to decide to stop her reading the book she’s reading, we may need to change travel plans, there’s a crack in the kitchen wall (not new, not big or serious, but *maybe* a little bigger), and everything is stress and misery. I want to run away from home today.