(no subject)

Marie Brennan's Patented Three-Step Process for Finishing Stories That Aren't Working:

1. Realize that you've been doing it entirely wrong.
   
2. Start doing it right instead.
   
3. Finish the story.
   

It's really quite simple, when you look at it that way.

And it means that I am not starting off the new year by immediately failing at my goal to write one short story a month. I may fail next month, but let's not gallop to meet future difficulties, shall we? I have "The Last Wendy" finished, and this is a Good Thing.

(no subject)

It is a very, very good thing that a month or two ago, when I actually had some spare time in which to read, I read a couple of good books and wrote up recommendations for them right away, to be used at later dates. Otherwise, I might have inaugurated my fifth year of recommendations by being late with the first one. (I very nearly was anyway.)

But the month isn't over yet, and I have something to recommend to you: Blood and Iron, by Elizabeth Bear (aka matociquala). Tasty urban faerie fantasy goodness.

In other news, I'm off to VeriCon, in the soon-to-be hellishly cold wilds of Boston. The high tomorrow is supposed to be 12. I may, in fact, die.