Oh, look. I am in the land of cotton. That's not snow; it's ripe cotton plants.



Oh, and in case you've never heard it:

Here is my sweetie Garret at a year and a half old during my recent vitis to NY. He has a nice healthy love of books!



Here he is with his first coloring book.


That smile.

Boiled peanuts, a local "delicacy."

...or to visit relatives this holiday season? I usually get the best airfare deals at kayak.com, and I especially love the fact they let you look at nearby airports and tweak which ones might be convenient to you. I paid about $263 round trip for WFC: from Atlanta to SFO and then SFO to Altanta with a hop to Columbia SC, including taxes and fees.

Here are some other worthy sites to check out:

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/12/01/5-little-known-websites-that-will-save-you-time-and-money-when-booking-airfare-online/

Happy trails!

...I actually saw a guy in hunting gear selling mistletoe near an exit to the interstate. See my earlier post on the subject of huntin' mistletoe. If only I'd had my camera with me!

Porta-potties repurposed as hunting blinds. These are for sale at a place right next to my church. (Yes, we have a tall fence to obscure the view)


South Carolina has the longest deer hunting season in the country, and no bag limit because basically whenever the budget gets tight a lot of locals go out and bag a deer for meat for the family.

But I'm not here to talk about deer hunting. I'm here to talk about hunting mistletoe.

You see, mistletoe grows in clumps near the tops of trees. And it's attached at one hook on the tree. So all you have to do is have good aim and split the stuff from the tree by splitting the wood so it falls and you have between $50 and $100 worth of the stuff to sell.

I suppose you don't need an expensive hunting blind to bag that quarry.

Here is a view out the window at the desk where I write and edit. That's a three mile by four mile bird sanctuary with a pond behind our fence.

I hope all of you here in the US of A had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I was on the road quite a bit and unable to blog a cheery holiday wish for you all, so here's a post holiday one. May your leftovers be tasty, your relatives easy guests, any remaining travel be safe, and the rest of your weekend be filled with good things.

I spent my Thanksgiving with 50 other relatives at my husband's big family homestead. We started the day with their traditional brunch: Barbecue and grits at Gravel Gertie's house. ( Read more... )

• 22:04 Avatar trailer: why can't I get the theme for "The Smurfs' out of my head? #
• 22:04 Greetings from Richmond, VA! #

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*crawls toward coffee machine* Oh gosh, that was fun. I saw tons of friends and genre colleagues at the SFWA Publisher's Reception last night. The Manhattan Planet Hollywood venue was a bit noisy but a nice change, and very centrally located. I just dashed off some emails to folks I promised to write at the event.

But I need to be in Richmond VA for a pre-Thanksgiving meet with my brother and sister. The highway beckons yet again!

• 09:11 greetings from Fairfax, VA! #
• 09:11 Reading "The Girl With the Butterfly Tattoo" by Stieg Larssen, a genre book translated from Swedish. Interesting... #

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A typical view of the Blue Mountains from US Route 29 yesterday.

It was a long drive from Columbia, South Carolina to Fairfax, Virginia. It took over 10 hours, and as I went further and further north I saw that the trees divested themselves of more and more of their autumn splendor.

I drove US Route 29, which runs from the middle of the North Carolina border to Washington through an enormous amount of wilderness with an occasional decent-sized town. I passed Appomattox--scene of the Confederacy surrendering to the North--and the Skyline Trail in the Blue Mountains. I passed the little town of Tightsqueeze, VA, lots of wildlife (red-tailed hawk!) and picturesque scenes, and numerous farmers markets. At lunch I shared a restaurant with hunters in muddy boots and cammo, Army guys in full uniform on break, and kids form Virginia Tech, the scene of that horrible shooting incident. I stopped at an antique store and bought a lovely souvenir of the trip which I will photograph and post later.

As dusk fell I smelled wood smoke. The country was lovely. I am glad I did not rush past it all and took my time and savored it.

Off to NY via VA. First the inlaws tonight, then the grandson tomorrow night. Monday night I will be at the SWFA reception and Tuesday my bro and sis in another part of VA. Expect sporadic internet connections throughout, as I have cancelled my PCS modem service. Oh, and that whole driving thing might keep me a little busy. Meanwhile, here is a pic of my Brian keeping the homefires going.

• 21:45 wendysphotos on Etsy bit.ly/25JpqL Buy art and support Abyss & Apex! Please retweet #

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I have an Esty shop! Come see some never before seen art photos. All profits go toward funding Abyss & Apex. Check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/wendysphotos

• 12:29 Aliens. Toilet paper. Feminism. Slush can be damned strage. #

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• 10:40 I think the term “cutesy-domestic lesbian demon story” might go down in slush history. #

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Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 2008 Download, edited by Rich Horton. Wyrm (www.wyrmpublishing.com), $14.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-890464-11-0

"A short but superlative substantiation of the quality of speculative fiction being published on the Internet, this exceptional anthology of the best science fiction and fantasy put online in 2008 includes gems by genre luminaries as well as rising stars like Tina Connolly and Beth Bernobich. Peter S. Beagle's fairy tale–like “The Tale of Junko and Sayuri” explores the love of a huntsman for a beautiful shape-shifter in feudal Japan. “First Rites” by Nancy Kress is a poignant examination of a genetically modified boy's connection with a cosmic consciousness. Cory Doctorow's “The Things That Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away” follows a monk/computer geek as he leaves his cubicle after 16 years in seclusion. After reading this 14-story compilation, online publishing naysayers may rethink their position."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review


And it has "Snatch Me Another" by our very own Mercurio D. Rivera.

Today we are working on some fundraising items for the coming year. They ought to be fun for all!

More soon. Watch this space for the details.