Not So Much Action as Sloth

We never did put the lights up on the maple tree. It was too mushy out, particularly since part of Rob's role will be to crawl under the deck to snake the extension cord from tree to power outlet. Then it got brutally cold and windy, with snow. The new plan is for tomorrow. Supplications to the good humor gods will be much appreciated.

Life's pretty much of a rollercoaster these days. The publishing industry is having the hiccups, my next-door neighbor has an absess following a root canal (I'm sure he'd prefer hiccups), my knee hurts, and you'll be astonished to hear that there might be corruption in Illinois. (I get to be snide about it because I used to live in Rhode Island.) On the other hand, fellow 2k8er Elizabeth C. Bunce hit the bigtime--her YA fantasy, A Curse Dark as Gold, is a finalist for the American Library Association's William C. Morris Award for best debut YA novel. We, her classmates, naturally feel that our names should be on the plaque, too. (Just kidding, Elizabeth.) Seriously, we're all very excited about this.

There's good news in the mundane world, too, not even counting the numerous opportunities to whine about my knee.

The Horn Book's January/February issue will call the Goatman "an endearing, anarchic figure," adding that the book's "humor and amiable tone make it a highly accessible but thought-provoking read." And Kliatt's November issue, the last print edition unfortunately, gave The Unnameables a starred review that called it "a fantasy novel that stands above the rest; it is fresh, original, and appealing and the kind of book you want to read again, just to spend more time with the characters." That was nice of them.

On a less mundane subject, the third grader I'm mentoring this year is writing a fantasy whose villain is an outer-space insect named Evil Albert Einstein. Today he blew up the moon. Not sure what his next move will be, but it doesn't look good for the human race. Just thought you ought to know.