This is a quick catch up.  I hope I'll actually post an update more than once a week.  We shall see, won't we? ;)

• MAGIC ON THE STORM - book 4 of the Allie Beckstrom novels. I just got in some ARC's of the book and will be finding some fun ways to get them into reader's hands.  Stay tuned!
• DEADMAN'S MOON - the Steampunk Western novel has been set aside for now so I can write the next Allie Beckstrom novel.  I'll pick up the steampunk again, hopefully in May.
• MAGIC AT THE GATE - book 5 of the Allie Beckstrom novels.  I'm re-reading that to prepare for writing book 6, as yet untitled, but I'm betting dollars to donuts it's going to start with the word MAGIC. ;)
• MAGIC something something something, or Book 6 of Allie Beckstrom series - Will be finalizing outline on that tonight and tomorrow
• Short story collection - I handed in stories for the collection.  About 80K words worth.  Yay!
• Web page update - I'm working on getting the info over to my fantastic web guy.  Hopefully will get to that by tomorrow
• Knitting - I have ripped out this one part of the fingerless gloves I'm knitting a dozen times.  Good?  I'm a professional ripper-outter now.  Bad? I've re-knitted a glove's worth of stitches and have nothing to show for it, Lol!  Hopeful? I think I have it figured out now and can *finally* go forward!  Pictures when I have them.

So the Deadline Dames two week anniversary is done!  If you want to check in and see if you won a prize, or just see what the Dames had to say, click here.  We had a great time celebrating our first year together, and hope everyone who stopped by the site had some fun too!

But now that January is over, I'm reassessing how well I did on my 2010 goals.

Um...yeah.

The good news?  This year has just begun.  Plenty of time left to adjust my sails.

Have I failed?  Succeeded?  Let's break it down a little.  Here are my goals:

• Exercise: Started out strong and faded.  I'll get back on it in the morning with a walk. I have picked up healthier eating habits, so that's good.
• Blogging 3x a week: Didn't even start out strong. This post counts as number 1.  Let's see if I can keep it up!
• Tweet/Facebook daily: Yes! (whew, I got one.)
• Reply to Tweets/email at least weekly: I'm really struggling to find time to do this.  So that's a big zero. I may have to put a plan in place to address this.
• Turn in a project I can't announce: Well, let's start with announcing it, shall we?

Fairwood Press editor Patrick Swenson will be publishing a collection of my short stories in autumn 2010!  I'm so excited about this project!!! I don't have everything done on it yet, but I've been working on title ideas and sorting through files.  I'll let you know more as I learn more.

• Stick to my writing schedule so I can get a night off a week: That worked for two weeks.  Then real life took over my schedule.  You know what, Real Life?  Bite me.  I'm taking back my time and getting that evening off no matter how much you stomp your big real life booties.
• Write three novels: I'm not ahead of that curve yet.  Not quite behind in my word count goals, but too close to the edge.  So I'm going to set some plans in place to address that too.  I'd rather be ahead a little than constantly behind.  The first step I'll take for getting back on track is to post this blog, then write another chapter or two before I call it a night.

So how about you?  How was your January?

In case you haven't checked out the Deadline Dames this week, I'll sum up:

It's our one year anniversary and we're celebrating with two weeks of prizes!   This week:

Devon Monk - gave away a snippet from MAGIC ON THE STORM, a query letter/first chapter critique, a writing consult/chat & all three of the MAGIC books, signed.
Jackie Kessler - gave away a deleted scene from THE ROAD TO HELL, a query letter critique, two books from her backlist (signed), and a copy of Batman: RIP 
Rachel Vincent - gave away a snippet from SHIFT, and a choice of the complete SHIFTER series, or the complete SOUL SCREAMER books.
Keri Arthur - gave away a snippet from MOON SWORN, a signed book from her backlist and a packet of Tim Tams, a Riley Jenson teddy bear, a Riley Jenson mug (when the going gets tough, the tough get chocolate), and a Riley Jenson tote bag
Lilith Saintcrow - gave away two coffee mugs from Japhrimel's Corner.

And...we have a special Dame for a Day this week--Mark Henry!  He's giving out two copies of his books, your choice, HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAMNED, ROAD TRIP OF THE LIVING DEAD, or BATTLE OF THE NETWORK ZOMBIES (a month prior to release, mind you) to two lucky commenters. 

There is one week of celebration left, and plenty more goodies up for grabs!  I hope you'll stop in and take a look around.  We'd love to see you there.       

Over on the Deadline Dames, we're celebrating our one year anniversary.  For the next two weeks, the Dames are giving out all sorts of prizes.

If you want to see what prizes I'm giving away, just click here. 

If you want to read a snippet of MAGIC ON THE STORM, which won't even be out in stores until May, just click here. (for those of you viewing this via my web page, here's another link, just in case:  http://www.deadlinedames.com )

I feel very fortunate to be a part of the Deadline Dames.  I've learned so much from these eight wise, hard-working, no-nonsense women, and from the wonderful readers and writers who have stopped by to be a part of our website.

Thank you all for a fantastic year!

Eeee!!!!   I just got final cover copy for book #4 of the Allie Beckstrom series, MAGIC ON THE STORM.  Here it is:



What do you think?  I LOVE it!!!  Allie gets to kick some serious *ss in this book, and I think the cover really shows that.  Plus--look at her left arm!  The other magic marks we've never seen on a cover before.  So cool!! 

Here are all my books in a row:

     

I think the cover artist, Larry Rostant *rocks*!

I just deleted the most boring blog post I've ever written!

So.  What's up with you?

Things are good here.  I'm making progress on DEAD MAN'S MOON, my steampunk western, just got page proofs in for MAGIC ON THE STORM (book #4--and one of my favorites to write so far--of the Allie Beckstrom series) and I figured out where I was going wrong in my current knitting project. (fingerless gloves.)

Speaking of knitting--see that nice segue--here's a little project that helped me outline my book.  No, really!


While plotting my outline, I left a magical box on my notebook.
( click here to see the rest of the story.... )

There have been so many great goal and resolution posts on the net the last couple of days, I felt I should post something about my goals for the new year.

But I kid you not, every time I tried to put my goals into words my mind went completely blank.  I don't know if I'm just tired from the end of the year festivities or if I'm afraid to look up and see how tall that mountain of 2010 is to climb.

Ok, it's the second thing.

2009 was a great year, especially for my career.  

• My agent sold the next three books in the Allie Beckstrom series (#4-#5-#6) to my fantastic editor
• Two of my books come out in 2009: MAGIC IN THE BLOOD and MAGIC IN THE SHADOWS.
• I wrote two books during the year (Magic on the Storm and book 5, which has a title I can't share yet)
• I wrote three chapters and a synopsis for another series, and my agent sold that in a new two-book deal.
• I saw a short story published in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance 2

I went to Dragon*con and Orycon, and signed at Escape Fiction, Tea Party Bookshop, Bob's Books, Canyonway Bookstore, Grammy's Books, and Powell's Books.

I became a part of the fabulous Deadline Dames: nine urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and young adult writers who talk about life in the writing trenches.

I was interviewed by terrific people online, and even by my hometown newspaper.

I received many wonderful emails, tweets, and comments from readers, writers, and reviewers interested in my books and writing.  (I unfortunately, *failed* in responding to them all--guess what's on my new year's goals?)

And I ended the year finding out that MAGIC IN THE BLOOD has been nominated for Best Urban Fantasy by RT Book Reviews.

Wow.  So what's on the deck for 2010?  Good question.  Here are a few of my goals:

• Write three novels
• Turn in a project I can't announce yet
• Blog three days a week, minimum
• Tweet/update Facebook daily, minimum
• Go to Romantic Times convention (my first time ever!)
• Stick to my new writing schedule (so I can get a couple nights off every week)
• Reply to my emails/tweet, etc., weekly
• Turn in my novels on or before deadline

I have other, more personal goals (walking, yoga, eating right, sleeping right, reading more, seeing friends more, trying not to stress so much, and, of course Much More Knitting!) which, combined with the above list makes the year look pretty darned busy.

And you know what?  I'm excited.  You hear that, 2010?  I'm ready for you to be a busy, but fabulous and fulfilling year.  I'm not going to settle for anything else.  So watch out year, here I come!

Yoda, this is.  Handsome and life-size, he is.  But bald, is true.



Knitted a hat, for Christmas, I did.   



How sits it does?  Pretty cunnin', think you don't?



(Yoda contemplating the force and the 'verse.  And why his light saber isn't named Vera.)



Jayne Cobb Hat from Firefly, knitted for Child Eldest (sorry, Yoda). 
Needles: US 10.5 dpns. 
Yarn: Patons wool & RedHeart
Pattern: Knitting Nija's Jayne Cobb hat: http://www.knittingninja.com/?page_id=60

This is a fast, fun knit, and I'd love to do it again, but with a different color red and a good wool (instead of acrylic) for the orange.

And now, with thanks from The Hallway here's the quote from Firefly when Jayne gets this hat from his mother:
Jayne: "How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don'tchya think?"
Kaylee: "I think it's the sweetest hat ever."
Book: "Makes a statement."
Jayne: "Yeah, yeah!"
Wash: "A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything."
Jayne: "Damn straight."

I've been thinking about the new year and my goals.  It's just about time to take down my old full-year-at-a-glance calendar and hang up my new calendar.  Every year I try to set things up so I can be more organized (Oh!  There's goal #1--be more organized!) and calendars/files/etc., always help.

2010 looks to be a year filled with deadlines, which is good because if I have deadlines it means I have a job.  I like being employed, and I love the work that I do.

Looking back over the year, I fell short in these things:

Record keeping
Seeing friends
Taking a day off every week
Taking occasional evenings off
Updating my LJ
Updating my web page
Updating Facebook
Replying to email
Exercise
Knitting/hobby time

So now I'm pondering how I can add these things into my life more consistently and still juggle the book deadlines along with the rest of life stuff that I'm already handling pretty well (writing books, family events, kid raising, household chores, signings, guest blogs, Deadline Dames, Twitter, conventions, contests and giveaways, etc.)  It may involve a weekly check in with myself to keep me honest.  It may involve  gold stars and a daily checklist.  I don't know.

*ponder*

How do you keep yourself accountable and on track with your goals?  Is there something that has worked for you?  Something that hasn't worked?  I could use all the suggestions I can get.  :)

A while back, I promised to post pictures of the Dead Fish Hat I knitted. I'd first like to thank Portland reader, Shane, who came to my signing at Powell's Books in Beaverton, Oregon and showed me his fabulous dead fish hat knitted for him by a friend. Shane then sent me the link to the pattern, which I knit in a day, and which my husband claimed as his own.

The Dead Fish Hat and the Little Droid

This is R2-D2. He wants a snazzy hat to wear out on the town. He thinks the dead fish hat is snazzy.

But the Dead Fish Hat is angry at the lures and hooks and mechanical things that have tried to catch it. Dead Fish Hat wants revenge on all things metal.

Oh, no! R2-D2 is metal! Run, R2! The Dead Fish Hat is trying to eat you!!

Uh-oh. R2 has been swallowed whole!

Luckily, The Dead Fish Hat does not like the taste of metal (or brussel sprouts) so it spit out R2 and decided to take on a second career as a rug. As for R2-D2 , he has decided he does not like hats. However, he does like bow ties, because bow ties never seek revenge. The End.

Here is a link to the Fish Hat Pattern on Knitty.com

This Dead Fish Hat was knit on 7 dpns with various colors of worsted weight wool

A couple announcements have come through my mailbox.

1. The Save Amanda Feral event is still on and rocking. Author Mark Henry talks about his naughty, sexy, humor, horror urban fantasy books, HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAMNED and ROAD TRIP OF THE LIVING DEAD, and what it will take to keep this series going. Please do the brother a solid and check it out here: Save Amanda Feral.

2. POLYPHONY is announcing the end of the collection if pre-orders don't roll in soon. Polyphony is a wonderful cross-genre anthology, giving new writers and established writers a home for their stunning science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, and literary work, and giving readers a fabulous reading experience. Deborah Layne, the woman behind POLYPHONY is an upstanding and stalwart supporter of writers. If you haven't tried Polyphony, now might be the best, maybe even the last time, to do so. For more details, click here.

3. I just found out MAGIC IN THE BLOOD, book 2 of the Allie Beckstrom series has been nominated by RT Book Reviews for Best Urban Fantasy! Wow! My fellow nominees are amazing writers! I can not tell you how excited I am. *Crazy excited!*

4. Tomorrow I shall post pics of the dead fish hat I knitted a couple days ago. Shout out and thanks to reader, Shane Davis, who not only came to Powells Books for my signing, but also brought the fish hat for me to see AND sent me a link to the pattern. Shane, you are awesome.

For all you knitters out there, I bring you: Soapthulhu!



Items needed to summon the great old one:
Needle: US #10 dpn or cable needles
Yarn: Worsted weight yarn (acrylic has a really nice shower scrub feeling, cotton can be too soft & soggy, wool felts & shrinks)
Guage: Isn’t critical, but have soap handy for testing fit as you go along.
Also: 1 yarn needle

Elder code:
k - knit
ktbl - knit one stitch through the back loop
m1 - make one stitch
k2tog- knit two stitches together
yo - yarn over
s1 - slip one stitch
WS - wrong side
sts - stitches

i-cord directions of evil: Using dpns, knit first row 3 stitches. Instead of turning the work around, slide all sts to other end of needle, switch needle into left hand, knit (yarn will be at back, and reaching up to knit first stitch now on top.) Repeat.

To Begin the summoning:

Cast on 20 stitches using the Magic Cast-on for Toe-up Socks
found here on Knitty.com: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/FEATmagiccaston.html

Row 1: k10, put needle 2 on top, ktbl10 (just like it says in the Knitty directions)
Row 2: k
Row 3: k1, m1 k8, k1, m1, k1, m1, k8, k1, m1 (the idea is to increase 1 stitch at the beginning and end of each needle (if you’re knitting this on 2 dpns), so you end up adding 4 stitches in this row.
Row 4: k
Row 5: k1, m1, k8, k1, m1, k8, k1, m1 (increased by 4 again. You should have 28 stitches)
Row 6: k
Row 7: k1, m1, k8, k1, m1, k8, k1, m1 (increased by 4 again. You should have 32 stitches)
Row 8-13: k

Slip soap lengthwise into knitting to check fit. If you can stretch the knitting a little and it fits over the soap, that’s perfect. The idea is to cover the soap at its largest (unused) size, and to also have the whole thing be a nice sized washcloth in your hand. At this point, my Soapthulu was 4" x 4.25 “ measured flat. My soap is a 4" x 2.5" bar of Olay. I added a couple more rows for extra room, and so the whole thing would feel more like a washcloth in my hand.

Knit longer, if you have larger soap. When the fit looks good, start the holes for the tie:

Row 14: *k2tog, yo* repeat until end of row (this makes holes)
Row 15: k
Row 16: k
Row 17: k
Row 18: The Tentacle Row: *S1, hold on spare needle or yarn holder, k3 with a new needle work these three stitches in i-cord 1-3" (how ever long you want your tentacle.)

To bind off, measure out about 16 feet (four yards) of working yarn and cut, so you now have a really long working tail of live yarn. Thread yarn through yarn needle, and thread needle through three stitches of i-cord. Pull tight to bind off end of tentacle.

Thread yarn up through tentacle. You will use this yarn to finish knitting Soapthulhu.* Repeat between * * 3 more times (with each slipped stitch going over on the same spare needle or yarn holder.) until you have 4 tentacles, and 4 slipped stitches held to the side. K16

Row 19: *k slipped stitch off of spare needle/yarn holder, pu and k stitch between slipped stitch and tentacle, pu and k stitch behind and at base of tentacle* repeat * * across row, pu and k stitch between last tentacle and back row. You should have thirteen stitches on your face-of-Soapthulhu needle and 16 stitches on the back side of Soapthulhu. K16

Row 20 Bind off all stitches loosely

To Finish him off!

Make 3 stitch i-cord about 12"-13" long. Thread i-cord through holes at base of Soapthulhu and tie in half or double knot, to close. Tie creates 2 more tentacles.

With different color of yarn, stitch diagonal eyes.

Bind off, weave in all ends.

Ta-da! Instant evil in your shower. Enjoy!


This pattern is copyrighted by Devon Monk 2009-2010. It is offered to you for free in the spirit of community. Please enjoy the pattern for personal projects and gift giving, but do not sell the pattern or the items made from the pattern. That would anger the elder gods, and we all know what will happen then, don't we?

That's right. You heard me. Soapthulhu.

Last year around this time, I knitted Cthulhu lipbalm cozies. I also knitted soap sweaters, which were washcloths knitted with a pocket in the center where a bar of soap was stashed. I don' t know what it is about December that brings out the Chthulhu knitter in me, but here I am, once again, messing around with the great old one.

Without further ado, I bring you: Soapthulhu!


Made of acrylic so the great old one can also be a great old scrubber in the tubber.


What's this? Untie the tentacles and...



...tip him over to reveal...


...soap! The green, sticky spawn of the stars, is apparently all about cleanliness. Who knew?


Bet you've never seen this! The..um...back side of the great old one.




And finally, here is Soapthulhu, empty of soap, but thinking fondly of the havoc he will wreak upon the showering masses with his bar of soap. His evil, evil bar of soap.

It's been a very, very busy few weeks. Let's see if I can sum up:

Interviews & guest blogs here:

Enchanted by Books - http://booklover07202.blogspot.com/2009/11/guest-author-devon-monk.html
RomCon - http://www.romconinc.com/index.php/conversations/post/113
Deadline Dames - http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=2163

News:

Fellow Deadline Dame Lilith Saintcrow's YA BETRAYALS hit the Times Children's paperback list. I am soooo excited for her! Check out her blog post here: If I'd Listened

Things that have happened, and the joy thereof:

On Friday the 20th, I turned in the manuscript for book #5 of the Allie Beckstrom series. Now I wait for editorial input. I have a feeling this one will need a good hard scrub to make it into the book I know it will be. I'm looking forward to what my editor has to say about it and am actually already excited for the upcoming revisions. It's a sickness, I tell you....

On Sunday, the 22nd, I compiled pictures and title ideas for book #5 of the Allie Beckstrom series. I hope some of my ideas for both come in handy for the book, and for the artist.

On Thursday, the 26th, we had 37-38 people in our house for a sit-down Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, this is possible. Yes, it means we move every stick of furniture out of the living room to make room for tables and chairs. As I told Dame Rinda on Twitter, we don't have a "style" of furniture decor in our house, we have a "weight limit." Everything in the room has to be light enough my husband and I can haul it out of the room 2-4 times a year. It was a lovely meal, and I'm so happy we've kept this tradition going.

On Friday, the 27th, we went to Orycon for three days. I have no photographic evidence, but I had a blast. I wish I hadn't eaten the wrong thing and gotten sick on Saturday evening. Other than that, it was fab, and I even had a chance to knit with Chris York (writing as Christy Evans) and an array of amazing women and one brave man on Saturday morning at the Stitch and Bitch. Patricia Briggs was the Guest of Honor, and it was wonderful to catch up with her (albeit briefly) again. If you haven't read her urban fantasy, I cannot recommend it highly enough! Start with MOON CALLED and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

I can't begin to list the writers and friends I ran into, but there were so many wonderful people there, including the writers-on-the-way-to-publication who were kind enough to come to the panels I was on and ask really great questions. I hope some of what I said was useful, and not too rambling or boring!

On Sunday, the 29th, we went to Powells Books for the massive SF author signing. What a hoot! I had an incredibly good time! The readers were so much fun to talk to, and I learned some new, cool things about St. Johns and even got to see a knit dead fish hat up close and personal. (and yes, now I want to knit one) I visited a bit with Barb and JC Hendee, Brent Weeks, P R Frost, Brenda Cooper, and Lilith Saintcrow. I even got to ooh and ah over Nina Kiriki Hoffman's Nebula and hold an arc of her upcoming book THRESHOLDS in my hands. There were authors, readers, stormtroopers, free books and cupcakes. What more could a girl ask for? Powells, and especially Peter and his crew, really know how to put on a great event! And I bought books...oh, yes, indeed, I did!

On Monday, the 30th, I finished the copy edits for MAGIC ON THE STORM and sent it off to New York. Whew.

That brings me to this evening. This evening I blogged. Here. And now I'm off to knit. Because tomorrow I start on the outline for book #6 of the Allie Beckstrom series. And after that, I'll hopefully spend December writing on the steampunk western series, starting with DEAD MAN'S MOON.

Busy? Boy-howdy, yes. Clam-happy? Absol-frickin-utely.

I have news!! My lovely agent and I have sold TWO BOOKS of a new series!

These books are not in the Allie Beckstrom Magic world. These are a whole new thing. What kind of new thing? This kind:

DEAD MAN'S MOON and STRANGE HUNT: In the steampunk America of the 1800's where strange creatures, machines, and magic aim to claim the same scrap of land and sky, sometimes all a man can count on is his honor, his word, and his claws.

What do you think? Sound like fun?

The Allie Beckstrom urban fantasies will still be coming out every six months, and though I haven't talked to my editor about it yet, I believe the new series will be on a yearly release schedule.

More when I know it! For now, let's celebrate!! *A cha-cha and a dance-dance!!*

 I might be quiet for much of this week as I try to wrestle book five into shape, but I wanted to make a quick post today.

My friend, Brenda Cooper's book, WINGS OF CREATION is out today!  Congratulations, Brenda!   Brenda is a talented writer, a class act, and a gracious, thoughtful member of the science fiction and writing community. 

If you haven't tried her YA science fiction, go!  Get thee to a bookstore and pick it up today!   You can win a copy if you click on this link to her site where she's doing giveaways too!   


And here's a quick description of the book:

I always have the best intentions.  To pre-plan, write lists, and take things in small, easy-to-accomplish bits.

And then release week comes around and I am running around like crazy, because I have done none of the above, LOL!  Let's talk about:

Book signing and launch--MAGIC IN THE SHADOWS --the last* launch (big party) for the Magic series.  I love doing book launches--really I do.  But I've done 3 of them (4 if you count the one at Orycon) in one year--which is so cool because that means I've had three books come out within 365 days--and I feel so very lucky for that. 

But the time (and um..money) it takes to put these together is more than I can do at this pace.  Since my deadlines for turning in the next book in the series also fall right when each previous book is hitting the stores, trying to be super productive writing-wise, and super sharp social-wise at the same time is a heck of a balancing act.  

So if you want to come to the last big launch party for the Magic series, it's:

Saturday, the 7th
4:00- 7:00
TeaParty Book Shop in Salem Oregon. http://www.teapartybookshop.com/?p=953
Signing, reading, Q & A, refreshments, raffle for great goodies, and an all-around good time.

This is not the last signing I'll be doing, though.  I love to do signings! 

Currently, I'll be signing at:

Orycon in Portland, Oregon http://www.orycon.org/orycon31/
Friday, the 27th 6:30 (reading)
Saturday, the 28th 2:30 (signing)

Powells Books in Portland Oregon http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780451462879-0
Sunday, the 29th
4:00 with these GREAT authors: 

• Lilith Saintcrow (Flesh Circus, Orbit)
• Jay Lake (Green, Tom Doherty Associates)
• Thomas Harlan (Land of the Dead, Tor)
• David Levine (Space Magic, Wheatland Press)
• Brent Weeks (Beyond the Shadows, Orbit)
• Camille Alexa (Push of the Sky, Hadley Rille Books)
• Barb and J. C. Hendee (In Shade and Shadow, Roc)
• Brenda Cooper (Wings of Creation, Tor)
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Diving into the Wreck, Pyr)
• Dean Wesley Smith (numerous Star Trek novels)
• Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Fall of Light, Ace)
• Mike Shepherd (Undaunted, Ace)
• A. M. Dellamonica (Indigo Springs, Tor)
• Timothy Zahn (Odd Girl Out, Tor)
• Alma Alexander (Cybermage, Harper Teen)
• Louise Marley (the Singers of Nevya series)
• Ru Emerson (the Bard's Tale series)
  ....and Pyr senior editor Lou Anders

So if you can't catch me in Salem, I'll be up Portland way soon!  Hope to see you there!

*Ok.  So maybe I will throw other parties for the Magic series.  As a matter of fact, I'll do a little sumthin' sumthin' at Orycon.  But no super-big bashes for awhile.  Unless one of the books hits the NYT Bestseller list.  'Cause then we're gonna throw a party like you've never seen! ;)

Ilona Andrews interviewed me over on her blog!!  It's up today here:

http://www.ilona-andrews.com/2009/10/31/is-it-magic-underwear/#postcomment

I talk about magic, writing, knitting, and underwear.  Check it out, won't ya?  Oh, and if you leave a comment there, you'll be in the drawing for the give away of my books--all three of them will go to one lucky winner!

And if you haven't tried Ilona's books--what?  Well, then, let me just shove away that rock you've been living under, and point you to these wonderful books.  I think you'll love them!

Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniel series:
MAGIC BITES
MAGIC BURNS
MAGIC STRIKES

Ilona Andrews' The Edge series:
ON THE EDGE

So my family and I went on the spooky tour of the local Mission Mill.

It was fabulous!  They warned us ahead of time that it was not a haunted house experience, but instead was a tour of the mill with the darker stories and history woven in. 

It was dark out, but not raining.  About twenty-some of us showed up and were taken through the historic mill, room by room, above ground and below ground, outside in the pulling field where dead sheep were gathered up and a church now stands, and inside to the dye room where a man was torn apart.

My favorite bits were the blacksmith working his forge and hammering away on a spike--the image of him standing in that low-ceiling room with just the tip of the metal spike glowing jack-o-lantern orange and spitting sparks with each blow of the hammer that arced out the open door to where we stood--will linger with me.  So will the gunpowder smell of the forge, and the iron and oil machine shop, where the ghost of Wayne still lingers.  Wayne worked in the shop for years and  trained the mice to come to his window when the noon lunch whistle blew, so he could feed them.

I'll remember the child who wandered silently past us, clutching her missing, bleeding stump of an arm (ok, so they did do *some* spooky stuff!) who may have been the ghost of the child who, in the 1800's, hung his arm over the edge of the freight elevator and was forever separated from it.

And I'll remember the huge gears, belts, trap doors, and wicked-teethed machines, in dust-heavy brick rooms, where children, and men, and women once sweat out their days and lives in the dim yellow light.

And the looms. I'll remember the looms.

Now I know what the "kiss of death" really is.