I realize it’s March, but persist in thinking that it’s really the middle of February. If that were the case I’d be ahead – or at least on time – with a number of different things. Apparently my subconscious likes this idea, because for the past two weeks I’ve reminded myself multiple times where we’re at on the calendar…and then I’ll forget and go back to my happy place. 🙂

The only thing that’s a little off is that one anthology is running late because of a minor mishap, but hey – much worse things could have happened! At least it didn’t have any hard time constrictions – like in December when Midwinter Fae almost didn’t launch until after Midwinter… 🙂 This is a great collection of stories, and I’m really excited about it.

I published an interview today with Chuck Anderson and Jim LeMay, the editors of Edward Bryant’s Sphere of Influence. Chuck and Jim organized this collection as a tribute to the late Ed Bryant. All of the stories in this collection were contributed by authors whose lives and writing were touched by Ed. I still remember Ed commenting on the first draft of my story, “Sleeping Stones,” many years ago. He had a way of telling you what was wrong with your story that left you feeling positive and encouraged, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from him.

Speaking of learning, Rosie and Jasper are learning new tricks! Jasper, being the super happy guy he is, is making do with his month of not going hiking or playing ball (!!!), and learning tricks is no substitute for playing with pine cones on the trail. But it’s fun nonetheless. The challenge for me is that I need to find tricks that don’t involve lots of movement, since otherwise we might as well just go play ball. Today’s lesson was ‘hide your eyes,’ where he’s supposed to put one paw over his eyes. It started off well, but then he decided I was teaching him to roll over, which was of course breaking the rules. We’ll try again tomorrow…

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“Aidan, let me take a look at those,” Jane said, reaching out for the flowers he held in one hand. She didn’t blame Phil and Olivia. Every bone in her body wanted to run, but she felt compelled to look at the flowers, even though she didn’t know why.

She held the flowers up and shone her flashlight on them, and then gasped as she realized what she’d been missing.

“This is Micropetasos burmensis,” she said. “It’s a flower from the Cretaceous period that’s been extinct for close to a hundred million years. I co-authored a paper on this plant when I was getting my doctorate.” She shivered and met Aidan’s eyes. “Whatever’s on the other side of that opening isn’t just a different place, it’s a different time.”

– from the draft of a story that
will officially have a title as soon
as I hear what my mom thinks of it 🙂

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I’m waiting to hear back from my favorite proofreader (hi Mom!) about my latest story. Once it’s done, it will be the third out of eighteen short stories I’ve planned to write this year. I’ve been getting more disciplined about writing instead of procrastinating and doing something that feels productive, like making a new spreadsheet, or cleaning my desk. (Although cleaning my desk the other day was useful since I unearthed a few bills…) I love writing, it’s just that starting to write is often a challenge. But I’ve outsmarted myself! I have to finish all these stories, because I’ve committed to deadlines. 🙂