I'm in the midst of working on corrections to Spellbent as well as working on the sequel but recently progress has slowed during some back-and-forth while I find out exactly what I should be doing revisions-wise. Par for the course. And I still don't yet know when the first book is scheduled. I should be seeing my editor at World Fantasy, and hopefully she will know more from their marketing people by then.
If you can't write, do research, right? So on Friday, Gary and I ended up in a nearby pet store and they had a ferret out in a cage, and we asked to hold him for a bit. Yes, this constituted research; a ferret plays an important role in the books, and while I've Googled 'til the cows come home I'd never held a ferret before, and sensory details are important.
The ferret really dug Gary -- apparently his beard is some kind of fascinating ferret plaything. Gary dug the ferret, and was very sad when I told him "No, we can't take the ferret home." We just don't have the resources to properly care for another pet. We have five cats, all of whom showed up at various times as strays; before the last two arrived as a pair of starving kittens, we'd intended to get a dog. We're both incredibly silly for dogs. And apparently for weasels, too. But five critters is our limit, until the money fairy arrives.
In other news, Context (a local SF convention) went well ... I run their writing workshops, and all the students seemed to be pleased. Many more editors attended than in the past, and I picked up a couple of freelance assignments in addition to request for book blurbs.
Also, I found out that my short story "Wake Up Naked Monkey You're Going to Die" got an honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: 21st Annual Collection. I'm surprised, but obviously pleased! The story originally appeared at Horror World and can be found in my humor collection.
My other editor emailed me the preliminary layout for my poetry collection, and it's looking good. He wants to do a small run of limited-edition hardbacks in addition to the trade paperbacks, which is pretty cool. I've warned him that poetry is not going to sell like humor, but he thinks the numbers look good.
Speaking of numbers, I've been obsessively watching the economic meltdown. A lot of people are just barely holding on as it is, so my fingers are crossed that we don't plunge straight into a real economic depression.