Got some great news today!

Pepper and I entered 7 titles into EPIC's annual e-book award. Last year, we had a number of finalists, and though we had fewer eligible entries this year, I still managed submit 4 Jamie Craig titles, and 3 of mine.

Tonight, we found out that the Jamie Craig story, "Trick of Silver," and my VD story, "Crave," are both finalists in the Paranormal Erotic Romance category!

Ours are the only two m/m titles in that category; the other 4 are het. And it figures we have them competing against each other, but still, we're chuffed about finaling again. The awards get announced at the convention next March in New Orleans, so now we have reasons to go, lol.

It was a great way to end a very long day. :)

It's not midnight yet, so I'm still good on trying to post everyday...though the only thing of note to happen today was making plans to meet up with mydeira on Sunday for dinner at Benihana's. Watched a really terrible movie, picked up and put down a really terrible book, discovered Alex had tried flushing a wad of paper towels which is why their bathroom toilet is now completely blocked and we need to get a plumber to fix it because not even the snake will go through, and had animals acting like they're possessed regardless of everything we did.

So...kind of glad that it's the weekend. Though it's going to be a busy one. I think that'll hold true for every one until 2010, at this rate...

It...was not a great day. It wasn't truly awful, but I'm having a hard time not dwelling on the bad stuff. So to help counter that, I'm going to list stuff that's made me smile/made me feel/made me happy in the past couple days:

1. Glee. I love this show so much. What specifically this week? Jane Lynch. And Kurt's father. And Puck. I know I shouldn't like him so much but I do. I want to gouge Quinn's eyes out, but what he did for her this week...maybe it's the bad boy thing I have.

2. I finished the last part of my 4-novella series about a pair of gay lawyers in San Francisco. It's nice to feel accomplished, even if I've been a sea of self-doubt lately.

3. Turning off the TV and computers, and sitting with my kids for a couple hours tonight to play board games.

4. Oddly enough, General Hospital. Having Jonathan Jackson back has been amazing, and showing the flashback scene today? Made me want to cry. Plus, Lulu and Dante are heating up, Carly's had some great material this week, Claudia is finally gone, and they actually found another baby with red hair. Alicia saw the commercial advertising James Franco's upcoming stint and flipped out. At first she was all, "He's just really good!" But she had this goofy grin and wouldn't meet my eyes, and I finally got her to admit she was partially excited because he's so cute, lol. My daughter has good taste. ;)

1. Christmas cards! I've already posted my call, but I'm going to repeat it because I know some people fall behind on checking LJ, overlook a post, etc. If you're interested in being on my Christmas card list, go to this post and sign up. I love this season. I'd like to be able to include you in my cheer!

2. Alicia is feeling better, but now Alex is sick. They're off school tomorrow because of Veteran's Day, and Craig is working from home, too, so I'm going to have a full house.

3. Pepper and I are trying something new in our collaborative process that is terrifying both of us, lol. I'm hoping the end result turns out great to make all this nail-biting worth it.

4. I'm in a bit of pain today. Last night, I realized after I'd gone to bed that I'd forgotten my phone downstairs. So I went down, without turning on any lights and very tired, and promptly missed the bottom two stairs. I fell down and landed on the hard tile at the bottom on my left shoulder, jamming my left wrist and twisting my right ankle. Oh, and skinning both of my knees and my left elbow. Fun, huh?

Recently, I used up the last of the gift certificate I got for Amazon for my birthday from my in-laws. That shipment arrived today, and it had in it two things that have me excited: Gay Art: A Historic Collection, and Chess in Concert with Josh Groban and Idina Menzel.

Clearly, I'm excited about these for different reasons, lol.

I haven't had a chance to do much more than flip through the book yet. It arrived when the kids were home, so because of its graphic nature, that got put away after a couple careful peeks.

But the DVD...even Craig is excited about that. I love Chess, and have had it memorized since I first got the CD in college. I belt it out when I've got it on. I even lost my voice on a trip to a con in LA one year because I kept singing/playing it over and over for the 8 hour drive down, lol. I had heard Groban played Anatoly in this production, but I was super excited to see that Menzel was in it, too. Adam Pascal plays Freddy, too, which will be fun to watch. I was going to pop it on tonight, but Craig is currently working and I was threatened if I watched it without him.

Maybe I can sneak it on tomorrow and just not tell him that I've already seen it. ;)

Damn it. I forgot to post yesterday. But I didn't really have anything interesting to say, anyway, so better than gabbling about nothing, right?

Except I've still got nothing, lol. It's been a busy couple of days, with a ton of cleaning, shopping for stuff for the house, proofing a galley, writing about 4k, taking care of Alicia since she's sick, and all the normal house stuff. Alicia is doing better, and will likely go to school tomorrow, but I have really got to hit the grocery store soon. I've been scrounging up meals with stuff in the house, and considering I haven't done a full shop in almost 2 weeks - just a couple runs for milk and bread - it's been interesting, lol. I ended up making a potato soup for lunch yesterday that my mom used to make, a comfort food for when we were sick. That compelled me to try other recipes from when I was growing up, at which point I realized why we had them so often. They use staples that are always on hand, lol. Funny it took until I was 40 to actually learn that.

Long day. Very tired. Alicia came home sick this morning, and most of my day has been taking care of her. Doesn't bode well for the weekend, though at least her temperature had gone away by the time she went to bed.

It's official. My eye appointment today confirmed that while my long distance vision is still perfect, my left eye - which has always been weaker - has deteriorated enough to fatigue my overcompensating right eye. Thus, I now have prescription reading glasses. Or I will in two weeks when they come back fully fitted.

I picked out two sets of frames, since our insurance paid for one and I'm notorious for losing things like that. I took pictures of the frames at the opticians, but the quality is crappy. This pair is the blingier of the two, and really comfy, while this pair is incredibly lightweight and more neutral.

Such is life. And hey, if it helps the watering and headaches, I can't really complain, now can I? :)

So, we watched V tonight...( Read more... )

I didn't balk too much this past summer when I turned 40, but I've been balking at something else recently that proves I'm not as comfortable with getting older as I thought I was. For a few weeks now, my headaches have become a little more common, and my eyes have been getting tired and achy for seemingly no reasons. I don't wear glasses or contacts, though when I was 18, I was told one eye was near-sighted, the other one far-sighted, and should probably wear reading glasses to help the headaches I got then.

I got them, but they didn't help. They actually made things worse. So I stopped wearing them and just got used to the constant conscious focusing I have to do every time I change perception depths. It's gotten to the point that it's automatic, but lately, it's not as fast as it always was before. Which leads me to think that maybe some of my other maladies might be related to my eyes, too.

So Thursday afternoon, I go for my first eye exam in 22 years. Yes, I know I'm overdue, but there never felt any need for one before now because I had such excellent vision. I have no idea what it's going to reveal, though I suspect something is probably wrong. And you know, the idea of needing glasses bugs me a hell of a lot more than the numerical value of my age. It's silly and vain (because if I do need glasses, I doubt I'll get contacts because I've always been *uber* sensitive about stuff near my eyes), but oh well.

I guess I'll know on Thursday.

I know people will cringe when they see it, but I'm starting my organizing early this year because it's the only way I can guarantee getting it done, lol.

I am sending Christmas cards to anyone who might want one. All you have to do is leave your address in a comment (all comments screened) or drop me an email at sigrid72 (at) gmail (dot) com with the info. Let me share my Christmas cheer! :)

One of my stories has been listed as today's Daily Deal over at Amber Quill Press.

It's an m/m vampire novella called Bridge Over Troubled Water:

Detective Brady Lindstrom deals in death, and not just because he’s a homicide cop with the slaughter of a century to solve. Ten years ago, vampires murdered his lover. Ever since, he’s looked over his shoulder, ready for vampires to strike again. Or maybe just the one he loved.

Exhausted and angry about the needless deaths he has to investigate, Brady worries that the killers he’s looking for aren’t even human. Those fears are compounded by an unexpected visitor, the battered and nearly broken Cole Singer, the lover he’d long ago given up for dead. When Cole offers to trade information on the killers in exchange for sanctuary, Brady realizes he doesn’t have a choice. He just can’t turn his back on the face of the only man he’s ever loved. Even if he’s a vampire...

There's an excerpt at the site above, and today only, it's only $1.50. But you have to buy it through this link, not the blurb/excerpt page since it's part of the Daily Deal program.

This won't be of interest to very many people, though I'll be honest and say I have absolutely no idea who might or might not watch soap operas. ( But General Hospital is making me smile these days... )

Somebody asked me for this recipe, so I'm going to post it today for my memories and anyone else who might be interested in a nice alternative to regular apple pie.

( Apple-Raspberry Pie )

No accident today, so that's a mark in the plus column. However, I woke up with a headache and am currently nursing my coffee in hopes that it eases soon.

Today, I get to make victoria sponges for Alicia to take to school on Friday. For those who don't know what they are, it's basically an unfrosted sponge cake with jam or cream between the layers. Know why I'm doing this? Because Alicia's teacher announced that they weren't having a Halloween party like the rest of the school. It's a combined 4th and 5th grade class, the kids who are considered academically excelled, and according to her, they are now too old/mature for Halloween parties so instead they're having a cultural heritage party where each kid is responsible for bringing in some food item to share with the class that's part of their heritage.

When I heard about the reasons why they're not having a Halloween party, I laughed actually. The thought that 9 and 10 year-olds are too old for Halloween is ludicrous. I like Alicia's teacher, and the idea of a cultural heritage day is a great one, but as a substitute for Halloween?

I don't think so.

This has not been a good day. Craig worked most of the night and came to bed at 5. I was up 90 minutes later and in the shower, but when it came time to leave for school, the kids dawdled and we ended up not getting on the road until 7 minutes past our normal time. That 7 minutes is important because there are so many frigging schools around here. By leaving that much later, I got caught up in the school traffic, so my normal 5-7 minute trip to school took twice as long. Worse, on the ride home, I ended up getting caught in the traffic of everyone arriving at the high school, too. I avoid that when I leave earlier.

What did that mean today? That meant I got rear-ended.

I had gone past the front of the school, approaching the corner where I turn to go down the side (with yet another entrance for people to pull into) and into my neighborhood. The SUV in front of me started making the turn, then stopped because a kid was crossing the street. I stopped, with plenty of room and time, but the woman behind me didn't, and rammed into my backside. I couldn't pull over right away. Traffic is way too heavy for that. In fact, by the time I could pull over, I was half a block from my house so I just pulled into the driveway instead. She followed me, and we got out to inspect our cars. My van was fine, due to Craig's laziness on Sunday when he got back from sailing. He'd failed to take off the tow hitch like he usually does, and that was what the woman ended up hitting. Pieces of her car were stuck to it, and there were some scratches on my bumper, but that was it. She, in her sedan, had it worse, but I was more worried about the two-year-old she had strapped into the backseat. Thankfully, they were both fine, we agreed to part ways, and she left.

I was a tad shaken. Still am, actually. I didn't sleep great, and the headache I had from arguing with the kids only got worse after the accident. I'm trying to regroup. I think it's going to be a very long day.

This is me, trying to get back - again - to how good I was being about posting before the move. I'm not even going to try and catch up. I think it's impossible, and let's face it, a little boring, lol.

So to kickstart posting every day again, I'm going to share a recipe I tried the other night for the kids. We have a new ritual in this house. I used to be *really* close to Safeway, and had no problems running to the store every day to get what I wanted. It was fast and then done, which I liked. Here, the local Safeway is better than our old one, but not nearly as close. Going every day would be a pain in the butt, so I've taken to doing one weekly shop, and then running to Lucky - which is closer, but I really don't like very much - to get something I might need last minute. Because I'm kinda sorta planning a week's meals - if not specifics, then generalities because I just do not want to be doing the shopping so often - I've taken to sitting the kids down the night before the shopping trip, giving them free rein of all my cookbooks, and letting them pick something out. It's been interesting, lol. Probably the biggest hit so far was this drink that Alex picked out for Saturday night, though.

It's a Weight Watchers recipe, but that just means it's not as calorie-laden as it's full fat siblings, lol. But it was ohmigod so good, and a keeper for us.

( Mexican Marshmallow Mocha )

New month, fresh start. Life is slowly finding a new order, so I'm going to do my damnedest to get back into the swing of LJ.

It's been an odd month. We're still getting settled into the new house - which I love - but it's a slow process as a lot of projects, like hanging curtains, have to wait until Craig is home on the weekends. I took the month off from working on any Jamie Craig stuff, which gave pepperlandgirl4 massive amounts of time to write two long ST fics, and yesterday, we picked up on a project that we've been wanting to get back to for over a year. We were invited last June to submit to MLR, so this is the story for that.

But being eager to get back into writing with Pepper has been tempered by my frustrations with a sequel I promised that I just can't get into. ( Because this turned into a rant and I mention last night's ANTM which has a spoiler in it )

Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like such a whiny bitca. It's been a crappy morning already, and it's only 9am. I made homemade cranberry/orange scones this morning in an attempt to cheer myself up - and because the kids are home on fall break so I wanted something special for them. So far, it hasn't worked.