I should be sleeping. Let’s put it that way. In the meantime, here are a few things.

Newsarama has the full creator list for the Tori book. There is also a glorious Carla page from our story. Yes, that is “Here. In My Head” (as the Undented peeps have concluded). I’m totally amused at how they put one of the naughty pages up there. (I’m referring to the hand-down-the-pants, not the makin’ out. Click to see what I’m talking about - I wouldn’t put it as not-worksafe, so don’t worry.)

The IAF jewelry auction is on!! All money goes to Interfictions 2, I believe. Here’s my contribution, which is based on K. Tempest Bradford’s story “Black Feather”:

Yes, all knotting (read: a lot of it) was done by hand. Some of those beads are vintage glass. Athankyewverymuch!!

And the copy gigs just keep on coming. I gotta figure out how to write copy faster. I’m typing as fast as I can!

In the spirit of getting out of the habit of updates once every two weeks, here are a few things on my scene from the past week…

1. First, the important stuff: IRON MAN. Easily the best comic book movie since the first Spider-Man movie, despite the inclusion of Yet Another Gratuitous Underdeveloped Romantic Almost-Subplot. Go see it.

2. We stopped by the old haunt of Robert Henri on the way to Barnes & Noble tonight. Being able to say things like “oh, we were just passing by Henri’s old house on the way to B&N” is one of the reasons why I love New York. Henri was a dude.

3. Still recovering from The Readers Studio. I did more blogging of the event over on my new site, BuildYourMetaphysicalBusiness.com. Sir James said it best - the post-event letdown is settling in. But there are some great posts about the event (here’s Mary’s) and I took lots of pictures and there’s an Aeclectic gathering in the city tomorrow, so that’ll take the edge off.

Forgive me if I sound like a hater, but I gotta say, events like The Readers Studio and World Fantasy go a long way to remind me how, well, ridiculous comics conventions can be. I love comics people dearly, but sometimes we can really forget that we’re all a bunch of nerds. ANYWAYS!

Yes, that was the second mention of my brand new site, BuildYourMetaphysicalBusiness.com (affectionately known as “the side hustle”). I’m too tuckered to put together a proper announcement now. Next week. For now a whoo hoo! will suffice.

4. Been using my Bohemian Gothic deck more or less exclusively since I got back. I just love how Karen and Alex packed the narrative into these cards. It takes a hell of a lot to get me to ditch my Rider-Waite for readings, not just writing exercises, pondering and yeah, maybe a little pontificating. But man, I love this deck!

What I really need to do is put one big post together on Magic Realist Press for Endicott. They’ve put out 5 Tarot decks in something like the past 6 years, and each and every one has been of outstanding quality and interest to mythic arts folks.

5. Also picked up, on Shawn’s recommendation, The Tarot of the Thousand And One Nights, featuring the work of Léon Carré. These are rare pieces from the Golden Age of Illustration that went with an old Sir Richard Burton edition of the work. Elizabeth Hazel has a great article on the deck in this year’s Tarot Reader and I believe she says she couldn’t track down a copy of the original 14 volumes in any library, anywhere. Maybe my husband, armchair Burton scholar extraordinnaire, can shed some light here?

6. Also! Barth Anderson sent me a copy of his new book, THE MAGICIAN AND THE FOOL. Huzzah! Yes, it’s a Tarot thriller. Not many people I can think of can pull off one of those without it straining the credulity a little. I can’t wait to dig in. (What am I still sitting here in front of my computer for?)

Last thing: those in the know know that us ladies of fantasy are not only gorgeous, most of us also like to rawk the dazzling handmade jewelry. The Interstitial Arts Foundation certainly knows this, and so to celebrate the year anniversary of the publication of Interfictions, they’re holding a jewelry benefit auction. All pieces are inspired by stories from Interfictions and are donated by volunteers… like yours truly! I’m still working on mine but it should be done by weekend’s end. I’ll post pics.

Huzzah! We have the order code for BLUE:

So what does that mean to you? Short answer: to make sure you get your hands on BLUE, pre-order the book from your local comics shop sometime this month. Just give them the code MAY083778 and you’re good to get one when it’s released in July.

Longer answer: Diamond Distributors are the folks that get the comics in the comics shops. Retailers look through Diamond’s catalog, PREVIEWS, every month to decide what to order. PREVIEWS is huge, they have a ton to choose from, and aren’t able to return books that don’t sell. This means that a lot of indy books get passed over at order time. Pre-ordering the book will guarantee you get a copy (huzzah for you), tells retailers there’s interest in/demand for the book (huzzah for me), and is another sale (huzzah for retailers).

In closing: pre-ordering is good, all around.

So I’m sitting next to Mary K. Greer, one half of Tarot’s Grand Dame Dynamic Duo (Rachel being the other half, natch), and I say, “Didn’t I see you with some knitted Tarot cases?” (Her amazing blog is new to me, you understand, so I was unawares that she’s been knitting these for a while now.)

Mary: “Yeah!”
Me: “Do you have any left?”
Mary: “I sold most of them…”
Me: “Awesome! Well…hrm.”
Mary: “Wait, you’re a knitter, you can totally make your own…”
Me: “Yeah, but it wouldn’t be a MARY GREER bag!!”
Mary: *smiles*
Me: “Sheesh!”

I nabbed the yellow one in these shots. It’s got a little Goddess charm on it. I am totally nerding out!! I’ll put my new Arabian Nights deck in it.

Can you tell I’m back from The Readers Studio?

Yes, this weekend was a total whirlwind, and so nourishing after the month I’ve had. Marketing seminar, three copy gigs, NYCC, preparing for the Studio, and of course PREVIEWS hits next week (I think) which means BLUE promo begins in earnest, like, now. I think April 2008 is the busiest month I’ve had since I’ve quit my job, and that’s kind of saying something. I’m looking forward to May in a big way, and not just because spring is finally here.

The Readers Studio was a gas, and it was great seeing so many good friends. Some of these folks I’ve known for about 8 years now, having met them back in the early early 2000s at American Tarot Association meetups. Man, I miss those. They were tiny (never more than 50 people) and scattered (I think they had one in each of 6 regions throughout the US), and the ratio of presenters to attendees was something like 8:1… always an intimate, intense experience with those of like mind. I can honestly say that those early events were the beginning of a shift for me, the beginning of the path I’m on right now.

I will never forget the very first ATA event I attended… walking into a hotel lobby (can’t remember exactly where - Albany, probably) and sucking up the vibrant energy of cool, creative, extremely smart and refreshingly normal occultists, people genuinely interested in their personal transformation, their feet firmly on the ground and their minds going a mile a minute with so much to share. This was well before I got the whole “heart family” thing worked out (I was practicing with a group at that time, but they were the wrong group and were to go kaboom shortly thereafter)… and well before I’d finally admitted to myself that I was a writer (in fact, I dropped out of the scene for a few years while getting my writing underway in earnest). I think in some way that world was leading me to the inevitable, and I remain grateful.

So many wild and cool things over the years…

… My first reading from Matt (he was 19! I can’t remember what it was about, but I do remember going, “Who the hell is this kid and who was he in a previous incarnation? Sweet Lord in Heaven…”)
… Meeting John Gilbert first, and his double-take at how young I looked (still way older than Matt tho)
… Barbara, looking beautiful, polished and professional as she stood at the podium to announce that Llewellyn was going to distribute Lo Scarabeo decks in the US (and then the crowd went naners, trust me)
… Meeting Rachel for the first time, and being so intimidated because, you know, holy shit, that’s Rachel Pollack
… Chic “Frater Kodak” Cicero striding into the hotel lobby in a photog’s utility vest (read: pockets galore) with what seemed like two tons of camera equipment trailing behind him
… Being politely, yet repeatedly, hit on by a certain wild & wacky West Coast ceremonial magician and author (who will remain nameless)
… The one and only time I’ve ever seen anyone actually read with Tarot Of The Cat People
… Making out in the stairwell about an hour later with the one and only person who has ever given me a reading with Tarot Of The Cat People (I was totally hung up on someone else and couldn’t even enjoy it; luckily, Mr. Tarot Of The Cat People was astute enough to pick up on the cues and sweet enough to be, well, sweet about it)
… My first run-in with Lon (”A pretty girl reading my book in the hotel lobby… it’s like every author’s dream come true. Where’s my camera?”)
… Lon giving me the 411 on the temple of Solomon over a huge plate of fries and a Tom Collins
… Mary Greer chaperoning as 100+ Tarotists as they reverently fondle a real, live original Rider-Waite deck from 1910, purchased by Stuart Kaplan in an eBay bidding war only days before (I took pictures of this momentous event with that old camera watch from back in the day, but alas and alack, I can’t find them any more)
… Wald & Ruth Ann’s wedding in hotel room transformed into a ceremonial temple, complete with checkerboard floor

And now Wald & Ruth Ann continue to carry on the tradition. No gin or kissing this time, but I did give a talk on marketing that was very well-received!

I did a bit of blogging about the event on my new site, BuildYourMetaphysicalBusiness.com. You know, the one I haven’t officially announced over here yet. Lots more to say about the event, but I’ll do it over there.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I’ll be raving about cool decks here and on Endicott.

It was pretty unanimous - either the last one I posted, or this:

This one it is. For the Tori book anyway. Dougan is taking matters into his own hands on the other thing.

OK, enough of that. A couple more things I want to point out:

The long-awaited ACT-I-VATE website is LIVE! Check it out, it looks terrific. Wonderful navigation, snappy, et cetera.

Also, Hot Husband is up on You Tube along with the rest of the Deep 6 crue:

Deep 6 part 1
Deep 6 part 2
Deep 6 part 3
Deep 6 part 4 (hot husband installment omg!!)
Deep 6 part 5
Deep 6 part 6

I have two copy jobs due, and what am I doing? Bleepin’ around with this author photo thing for the bleepin’ Tori book (and the bleepin’ Chemset book). Because that’s due, too.

If I don’t figure this out soon, I’ll cry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m crying.

Help me pick.

(Yes, I know most of them are fuzzy. I’ll take fuzzy over bald, thank you! I’m very sensitive about the bald thing.)

My dad’s birthday, at least. Have a happy one, fellah. (Yes, I’m callin’ home later!)

I’ve had my head down writing copy for the past few days and am a bit behind on blogs and things. Much thanks to Midori for mentioning BLUE over at Endicott. There have been a lot of cool posts over there lately, so please do visit if you haven’t in a while.

Like this important bit: Delia and Chris barzak have announced the call for submissions for Interfictions 2! Awesome!

The sun is finally coming out in Brooklyn, and to celebrate, Leland’s bottle tree has poked its head above the surface for the first time:

That was probably the easy part. Despite my Cancerian supposed green thumb, I tend to kill any plant in my care. However, I seem to be doing something right, as the herb basket mom sent along appears to be thriving:

I have to credit Leland with this - I came “this close” to chucking it all when the first shoots were a little wimpy. He saved the day. As usual.

Crazy busy month this month. Not quite sure how I’m going to manage it all…

So, I head on over to the UPS store on 7th, and lo and behold, my copy of New York Magazine has arrived, the New York Canon issue, the one with “196 Cultural Works That Best Defined The City Since This Magazine Began” on the cover. This makes me very happy, as I am an old skool New York nerd and there’s lots of old skool in a list like this.

But of course, with a list like that, certain things will immediately spring to mind. For me, one certain record, the “if this ain’t on the list I’m going to cause a riot” record, immediately pops into my head, not a fraction of a second after I lay eyes on Madonna circa ‘83 (who graces the cover, natch).

I anxiously flip through the pages. Flip-flip-flip. Scan the music section. Scan-scan-scan…

And it’s there! PAUL’S BOUTIQUE is there! And lo, the sometimes shaky ground on which my psyche rests remains firmly in place; the world continues to turn on its axis, etc.

The rest of the list is pretty cool. Reminds me of a lot of stuff I’ve always meant to check out but for one reason or another haven’t yet.

Whew. Gives you some clue as to my mental state today. Had my head down working for most of it, but did manage to get out to Prospect Park to watch the sun go down.

Looks like I’ll actually be on a Weird Tales panel at NYCC, with Stephen and Molly C. and (meep) Mike Mignola. Friday at 2 pm. Apparently Leland’s ACT-I-VATE panel is at the exact same time, as is the Vertigo panel. This seems very wrong.

Overheard at Deep 6 today:

Simon: “You oughtta be able to go to Philadelphia with us this weekend. Your wife was off… canoodling with Gene Simmons.”
Leland: “She was not canoodling!”

Oh yeah?

OK, that’s enough cryptastic-ness for now.

Finally! Dean’s Next Door Neighbor project has launched!

“Everybody has one. And, no matter how close or how far, we all live next to someone, and we all have a Next-Door Neighbor story,” says NDN Editor Dean Haspiel. “With this in mind, I asked some of my favorite storytellers and cartoonists to create their favorite NDN stories so that we at SMITH Magazine could share them with you over the next year.”

The first wave of stories launches with an urban “daymare” titled “Next-Door Neighborless” written by novelist Jonathan Ames and illustrated by Nick Bertozzi, whose graphic novel The Salon, was hailed as among the best comics of 2007. Upcoming stories feature the talents of Kevin Colden, John Cebollero, Joan Reilly, Ed Piskor, and Miss Lasko-Gross. The second wave will be announced in June and includes a super-secret, special first-time writer/artist matchup.

And me.

(Incidentally, what Dean says up there rings true, at least for me. I didn’t think I had a next door neighbor story. Turns out I did, with a little pondering.)

Not sure when my story goes live, but I can say with all definitiveness that it was drawn by talented newcomer Mike Jasorka of Bombshell Comics.

Anyways. Ames and Bertozzi are up first; it’s pretty sweet stuff so check it out.

More later.