Slept very late today, and arose from my bower able to Brain. Yay! Sadly, the big pile o’bills that I ignored last week had priority, so I dealt with them, and now I have no Brain. The plan is to make some onion soup, have a nap, and see if the Brain comes back online.
All is not Totally Lost; I did, yesterday, hand-write the dialog for the next scene. Dialog is easy! Perhaps, if nothing else, I can write out the dialog for the scene after that this afternoon/evening, as no one here footballs.
Steve has caught an edge of this, but seems to have, so far, been spared the Full Aspect. Fingers crossed that this remains so.
And, lest you think that the entire household is goofing off, I offer this picture of Trooper, hard at work:
Trooper is on the case. Or the printer. Whatever. Photo by Sharon Lee
Slept in, had a leisurely breakfast with Steve, brushed three coon cats; two of whom like to be brushed, and one who thinks that brushing is a sign of the End Times.
Trooper and Sprite are watching the bird feeder action as the snow drifts down. Mozart is curled up in the Warmest Corner in my office. Scrabble is supervising Steve from atop the Former Home of Circular Logic BBS.
I put chocolate in my third cup of coffee to celebrate the snow, and, after I post this, will get on with the day’s writing. If all goes well, we’ll break early tonight and stream that gentle romantic comedy, The Sorcerer and the White Snake, for relaxation.
I see by the One Calendar that the rest of the week is going to be rather busy with Things, so I may be scarce around the intertubes. You have been warned.
I hope everyone has a pleasant Sunday and, indeed, a pleasant week.
There was a call, down in another thread, for the “stories” of Trooper and Sprite.
There’s really not much to tell, here.
Socks’ death left a big hole, not only in the lives of Cat Farm Management, but also in Mozart and (though she would never admit such a thing) Scrabble’s lives. We had initially decided to wait until November to take on a new crew member, since we knew we had some traveling coming up, what with the BEA and the book tour. We changed our mind when Mozart seemed to still be expecting us to be bringing Socks home This Time, every time we went away.
Here’s Socks:
Socks in a box
So, we went looking for an older — i.e. Not a Kitten — Maine Coon, to keep Mozart company.
We deliberately kept our search within New England; indeed, within Maine and New Hampshire, and no more than a day’s drive from the Cat Farm.
Which search led us, in the fullness of time, to Kelimcoons, where the decision to retire Trooper from Show Business had only recently been taken. Here’s a link to the show cat page at Kelimcoons. Scroll down a little, and you’ll find Trooper. After a lengthy discussion and many questions asked on both sides, it was decided that Steve and I could drive down to New Hampshire, meet Trooper, and put the question to him in person.
We did that at the end of June; the reply was in the affirmative, and we brought him home with us.
Trooper has been a joy from the start; he’s a sweet-natured, and genuinely kind cat, interested in the doings, and respectful of the elder cats. We worry that he’s a little serious, but then he’ll perform an unsubtle and, to him, hilarious, Maine Coon gag and put it all in perspective.
Bringing Trooper into the house demonstrated really clearly the difference between a four year old cat and an Elder Statescat. Trooper wanted to play — and, having come from a house full of cats, he wanted to play with somebody. He tempted Mozart with springs and ping-pong balls and Turtle and. . .Mozart wanted to sleep. Which was OK; Trooper likes to sleep, and he’s perfectly fine, sleeping with the Old Guy.
Just not, yanno, all the time.
So, we realized that, yes, we were going to have to get a cat for our cat. As frequent readers will recall, we made an attempt to bring in local talent to fill the position, but the talent had a different vision and we quickly, and amicably, parted ways.
Even knowing that they didn’t expect to retire any other adults until late fall, I did it — I hoped over to Kelimcoons, and. . .there was Sprite. She had lost her first litter of kittens and rather than put her, and themselves, through the trauma of attempting another litter, the family had decided to spay her and put her up for adoption.
I was immediately drawn — that face! And, then I was convinced, because, as it happens, Trooper had sired only one single litter, and Sprite? Was from that litter.
She was 15 months old, a little younger than we had wanted, but — Trooper’s daughter! And Trooper’s such a doll.
By this time the book tour was breathing down our necks, and we didn’t want to bring a new cat into the house while we were away, and. . .
I wrote the email anyway. And Kelimcoons very kindly agreed to hold Sprite for us until we returned from the book tour.
Which is why two days after the end of the tour, Steve drove down to New Hampshire and came home with a young lady cat, who immediately hid in the cellar until she realized that Upstairs was where the action was. She has spent her time since ascending attempting to Conquer this territory.
If Trooper is a little too serious, Sprite is a little too goofy. Until she collapses in your arms, and turns on her twin-engine purr-box. Then, she’s perfect.
Today! Jasmine Sprite, Princess of the Night, Warrior Princess of East Winslow, Nemesis of the Springs, Scourge of Lizards, Professor of Centrifugal Studies, and Brat, celebrates the conclusion of her second month, and the beginning of her third month of residency at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory.
All hail, Princess Sprite.
Coincidentally, today also sees the publication of “The Gift of Music” at Baen.com, at noon EST. The story may be read for free, no sign-ups, no fees. Sprite thinks this is part of her Royal Celebrations, and we’re just letting her think that, OK?
If you like the story, feel free to pass the link on to friends, and others who partake of fantasy and science fiction.
Now, here’s a picture of the Princess, to tide y’all over until noon, when the story publishes:
. . .include the celebration of Jasmine Sprite’s second full month as Warrior Princess of East Winslow, and! the publication of “The Gift of Music” on the Baen site.
Today’s festivities. . .include cleaning the bathroom.
1. You still have time to pre-order signed copies of Carousel Sun from Uncle Hugo’s. Here’s the link. Uncle Hugo’s is the only bookstore offering autographed copies of Carousel Sun. They have autographed copies of some of our other work in stock, as well.
2. I supported Doug Thornsjo’s Kickstarter campaign, and just before Christmas, received my Majors deck of the Tarot of the Zirkus. These cards are amazing. Provocative art, good hand-feel and weight, slightly larger than my favorite deck, The Halloween Tarot. Take a look at the on-going project, and buy a deck for yourself, here.
3. Mozart continues to make gains. He’s eating wet cat food again, not just beef baby food, is sleeping well, and taking an interest in the various projects going on around him. Thanks to everyone for your good wishes.
4. There’s been some question about the release dates of upcoming publications. This is what we know: January 7: Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 2, trade paper January 15: “The Gift of Music,” free to read on Baen.com February 4: Carousel Sun, trade paper March 7: Necessity’s Child, mass market Early 2015: Carousel Seas, trade paper
5. I wish to report that it is not snowing! It is, however, Pretty Darn Cold (for the purposes of this discussion, PDC is 3F/-16C).
Man it’s cold. Also, it snowed. Not, thank ghod, very much; somewhere over Massachusetts, the wind got tired of toting All That Weather, and let it go all at once. I hear they expect to have Boxford dug out by August.
Up here at the Cat Farm, we have about six inches/15cm of light, broomable snow. We have officially lost the bottom two stairs in the flight from the driveway to the deck. If it snows any more, we’ll lose the third. I expect that Snowplow Hill (being the hill made by the snowplow when it pushes all the snow from the driveway into one place) to come even with the decking today.
With the exceptions of sweeping whatever more snow settles on the deck and the remaining steps, and moving the cars for the plowman, when he cometh, I believe I’ll stay in.
What with the various catmergencies, I have been remiss in letting the world know that my author’s copies of Carousel Sun have arrived; and they’re beautiful! I’m guessing that means I can look for the pre-ordered books for Uncle Hugo soon — perhaps even today!
I have in hand from the Uncle a list of the people who wanted their books personalized, with personalizations, so that part of Our Clever Plan worked out Just Fine. Thank you all! And remember, you can still pre-order signed copies of Carousel Sun, right here.
Mozart thanks everyone for their well-wishes; he has been having some gooshy food, in-between naps, and seems generally pleased to be home. Even if Sprite wants to sleep on his head.
Mozart is back home. The tests today showed that the kidney levels are indeed up. The vet gave him a painkiller, after which he ate a little bit of regular gooshy food. So, we have him back, with painkillers, and instructions to feed him whatever he’ll eat, and call tomorrow with a progress report.
So…I’m not sure we’ve made any forwarder progress, here…
