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.

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.)

… just busy, and without words for the blog, really.

This is a good sign, as it generally means that I’m writing. Regular production of pages tends to mean that I’m not as interested in yammering away on the Internet.

(Note: there is no judgment inherent in the previous statement at all. Many talented writers can multitask on the yammering. Unfortunately, I am not one of them!)

Yeah, okay, and I’ve been fighting a cold as well. BAH!

Working hard to finish up recently added BLUE pages, as it would appear that it has been picked up by a publisher, whom I’m not going to name yet without the go-ahead. But soon. Especially soon, as it will be out much sooner than you might think. Yay us! Formal announcement when I can. And then… some cool promo trix that might blow your mind. Unfortunately, despite my professional marketer status, I cannot take credit for, well, any of them. (Those who gave me invaluable guidance know who they are. Thank you in advance, my darlings!)

Lots of copywriting gigs, as well. Next week I’m off to a marketing conference starring Gene Simmons. Yes, that Gene Simmons. It will be at once surreal and a rockin’ good time. I’ve been working on my wardrobe and my mindset. Entrepreneurs are a fun, passionate bunch of folks, which is one of the reasons why I love working with them. I seriously cannot wait. (Bonus: I’ve never been to Nashville.)

(The Gene Simmons connection reminds me that I owe Zornow an email, big time. Dude, if you’re reading this, I know I suck!)

What else? Will also have a short story up on SMITH magazine sometime in the next month or so, with art chores covered by talented newcomer Mike Jasorka. The story is a snidge notable as it’s my very first all-autobio comic. It’s also notable because I did not change the name of the fellow the story is about. I’m kind of dreading what could happen, but as editor Dean said, “It’s not like you trashed the guy.” Indeed.

Biggest lesson with that story: I know I’ve mentioned this before… good autobio is hard. Really hard. 5 pages, took me a solid month of writing.

After the BLUE stuff is under control, I’ll finally get down to the business of writing a story for Andrew Drilon. I’ve tried and discarded a bunch of ideas. Next one’s the charm. I also owe Charles Fetherolf a little sumpin’ sumpin’.

So many stories, so little time. But now, sleep.

I’ll leave you with a little Yeats, in his own voice. (How cool is this?)

Did I mention that April is going to be insane?

So Carla is blowing my mind with her mad phat character design technique. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had this much fun trying to figure out what my people LOOK like. It’s usually one of my least favorite parts of the process, because I have next-to-no vocabulary for it (indeed, it’s one of the very few things that can reduce Leland and I to a bickering old couple in about five minutes). The problem boils down to my totally annoying habit of really counting on the artist to fill in my gaps when most artists, kindly, are much more concerned with giving me what I want. When I don’t know what the fudge that is, well, we have a problem.

Anyway. Who knew that searching for Carla’s reference shots would lead me back to everyone’s favorite fire-and-brimstone alt.country rockers, 16 Horsepower? There is some serious religious irony here.

By way of Simon: Garfield Minus Garfield

By way of Bee: Wear a sweater for Mr. Rogers

For my brother, who used to sit riveted in front of the TV back in the Day: EMERGENCY! reruns

Cav’s piece on Deep6 (that’s Fiffe sitting behind Simon at Leland’s desk, by the way)

Tarotists: I think this is a fabulous idea.

I’m due to leave for Port Authority in a few, so I’m not sure why I’m sitting here rambling on. Going to see my old friend Kat in Boston. It’ll be good to get away for the weekend - I could use the change of scenery and a little of that old-skool New England charm, truth be told.

Who is the artist? Anyone know? (edited: yes! Wendalyn knows! Artist is Ken Wong; see it in its full glory here!)

The book sounds great, too:

“According to 15-year-old Magdalena’s mother, the world is strange, beautiful, and watery-full of secrets and discoveries known only to mother and daughter. But when her mother dies suspiciously, it becomes an arid world of anxiety, sexual confusion, and desperate loneliness, where an imaginary family of bickering fish torment her. Magda’s only outlet is the beautiful but destructive fires she starts in the marshes near her house. As her father and aunt try to pull her into a mundane world of school, schedules, and stepmothers, the voices of the fish in her head tempt her toward insanity. Magda must plot a course between her mother’s fatal madness and her father’s soul-destroying normalcy.

The Shape of Water is a darkly lyrical and surprising tapestry of mundane and imaginative worlds. Magda untangles family secrets, struggles to cope with profound loss, and finally discovers a stable place in the world-without compromising herself.”

Flux has got some really compelling stuff in their lineup, I’ve gotta say.

The Shape of Water by Anne Spollen will be released in April.

As I mentioned previously (on Twitter, if you must know), February is not exactly shaping up as my most productive month ever. With a visit last weekend from my longtime pal Richard, various n’ sundry signings and tea with folks most Interstitial, last weekend was a complete bust, work-wise. This weekend, I don’t have that option. Nonetheless, I’m breaking up the WEIRD TALES work I’ve been doing all day to post at a time when absolutely nobody is hanging around on the Internet but I.

In honor of Horny Werewolf Day, Leland and I took some much needed together time at The Museum of Natural History. I think the last time I was there was with Mr. WIZARD, pre-Robot Chicken. So it’s been a while. Once we found our way out of the school group check-in station on the first floor, we were A-OK. No werewolves, just kissing. Yes, married people kiss in the shadowy parts of empty rooms, too. A lot.

Believe it or not, I’ve started keeping a running list of Things To Post About. So here are some from the previous week, in no particular order:

Roy Scheider, may he rest in peace. A few people reading this know of my longtime crush on the man, so I was a bit broken up to hear about his death last week. Then I watched Jaws again, and felt better. I need to have a Roy Scheider film festival, I’ve decided. The French Connection, All That Jazz, and Jaws yet again, because I’m almost always up for watching Jaws, even if I just watched it a few hours ago. Because I’m a dork like dat.

I recently read the first trade of Jason Aaron’s Scalped. While I was very impressed with the storytelling, I can’t say that I cared much about all but one of the characters (those who have read the book can probably guess which one). And - forgive me for quoting Sir Robert here - well, it makes me wonder. Why does something like Brubaker’s Criminal keep me utterly emotionally engaged, and Scalped leaves me totally exhausted and disaffected and shrugging my shoulders? I’m still pondering, but one hunch is, while I empathize with anger on the page very deeply, I need more than that to keep me going.

My new favorite blog is a bit of a departure.

From the “what fresh hell is this?” department: my all-time favorite red lipstick, Dietrich from BeneFit, appears to be missing in action. Walked into Sephora to get a new one; no dice. Came home and checked the website; denied. Ghah!

I find myself charmed as all get-out by this.

Took a few new pictures.

Back to work…

Blogging is not the only thing we’ve neglected in the past couple of weeks. Yesterday, we wheeled three bags of laundry to the ‘mat down on MacDonald. Plus a backpack. Plus two quilts, which I carried by hand. Someday, and someday well before we make our millions, we’ll have our own washer and dryer.

Big news first: last week, Leland delivered 120 pages to Simon & Schuster. Yay! One book down, four to go. Go, baby, go! So we’ve been taking it a bit easy for a few days and getting caught up. I spent Friday at Deep 6, working and chatting it up with the fellahs. Which was actually considerably more productive than you might think.

Got my contributor copies of the latest WEIRD TALES in the mail, and they are stunning. I continue to be impressed with the reboot of the magazine. And it’s got comics this time! Oh yeah, and an interview of mine, with Donald Tyson. I think it’s on stands now.

Sami has another look at this thing we’re working on over at his blog. Also check the cute new vampiric profile photo! And another one in an interview that you might not be able to read, but that’s okay! Because the picture is awesome!

Lots piling up on the reading shelf, including this Yeats biography (with some crappy reviews on Amazon that I don’t agree with), The Hound Of Rowan, a smart, readable introduction to Western esoteric traditions (from the guys who brought us Gnosis magazine, back in the day), and Betwixt, a young adult novel I’ve been wanting to read for a while now.

If you missed the Superbowl, you missed the new Iron Man trailer. My only complaint: it’s too short.

Electric Angel New Wave Rock N’ Roller crush I forgot about ’til some recent late night YouTube surfing with my Lady Bee: Ben Orr.

… comes by way of Terri’s post on Kahlil Gibran:

“For too many centuries women have been being muses to artists. I wanted to be the muse, I wanted to be the wife of the the artist, but I was really trying to avoid the final issue — that I had to do the job myself.”
-Anais Nin

I’ll now ironically note that I’ve done no work whatsoever today. Nor yesterday. It has not been a great week for working. (Sorry Dean - I know I owe ya, it’s coming.)

And with that, I’m taking my annotated Hans Christian Anderson and going to bed, by cracky.

It’s going to take every ounce of my willpower to keep working today. Here’s why:

Complements of my sister Angela and her husband Mark! Thanks, guys!