HORSESHOE CRAB AWARD!!

My super-terrific friend Katie gave me a blogging award last week! It's the Horseshoe Crab Award for a long-lasting blog. Aww! Thanks, Kt! Here's hoping I keep trundling along, posting every now and then, for a good long time.

If you don't know her, Kt is a talented artist, writer-type, AND classics student. I'm a bit disappointed that my award's title wasn't written in Latin!

Today I am celebrating have 12 pieces of short fiction and poetry out on submission. I feel like I've been doing a lot of hard work and reaching this magical dozen makes me feel great. I've also been making some headway on my novel! Last year I spent most of my time learning and absorbing; this year, I feel like I have the brain space to actually write!

I have also been reading lots of challenging works (Duras, anyone?) and just re-read American Gods. I was re-reading in a more critical fashion than the first time I read it, but I'm considering going back through and charting out the plot points to build my skills. Never hurts to think more about books you like!

Oh--here's a delight: in just a few days, Armored, John Joseph Adams's anthology of power armor and mecha stories, will be released. I can't wait to see the story that Jak Wagner (my adorable brother) and I wrote together. If you're hungry for a sneak peek, there are a few stories on the webpage that you can read in full!

Eating & reading amazing

Ahh, blissful weekend of delicious food for belly and brain. Here's an overview of the chow:
-- Onion Cheese-Swirl Rolls: these tasted like onion rings. I made a batch of bread dough and rolled the dough out into a rectangle. I spread the dough with mayonnaise (trust me) and sprinkled on grated cheddar cheese and lightly salted chopped onion. Then I rolled it all up into a log, sliced the logs into lovely rolls (like a cinnamon roll) and baked until golden brown and delicious.
-- BLT wraps: the best wraps I've made in a really long time! We prepped a mashed-garbanzo bean salad (just a little bit of mayo with lots of pickle relish), added lots of salad mix, chopped tomatoes, tempeh bacon and feta. Could have used some onions, but I was too lazy to chop.

The brain food came mostly from a wonderful newsletter I've been getting from Brain Pickings. It's a wonderfully curated assortment of bits from some of the finest contemporary writers and thinkers--you never know what you'll get to read about, but you will be smarter when you get done.

Feeling smart is a special treat for me these days. I've had the horrible realization that 6 years in a job that does not challenge my intellect is making me stupid. Writing genre fiction has made me a much better word user and more careful reader, but my analytical mind is shriveling. My ability to make successful arguments is wasting away. I worry about what I'll be like in a few more years.