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Here's looking back on February 2016 - how is it almost March already?? Words written: 7,655 on one project (Paranormal Investigations) Things accomplished in fiction: Alison and Richard both realize that not only is something a little strange about Shawn, but the fact that they both notice it is a little odd, as well. Alison gets a talking-to about the dangers of involving a Muggle in her new role in a super-sekrit organization. Writer-ly things accomplished: Forward momentum is being made, with some new wrinkles getting thrown up as I go. I love it when that happens. New books read: I Work at a Public Library (light non-fiction, tales from the library - thoroughly meh); City of Stairs (started in October, highly recommended by Eric - fantasy procedural, and GLORIOUS); The Sandman Overtures (graphic novel prequel series, which is gorgeous and fits in with the main series beautifully); Swamp Bromeliad (Incryptid short story by Seanan McGuire, gearing up for the new release)

I've been pretty fortunate lately, in that my anxiety has been on the low-grade, constantly running side, as opposed to leaking into full-on panic attacks. That was not so much the case this morning. It's been several months since I've woken up having a hard time breathing, much less focusing on getting myself together and getting out the door. I'm very lucky, in that my office has quiet rooms available when needed. I spent a couple of hours in one yesterday, and revelled in having a (small) room to myself, that I could keep as dark as I needed, and couldn't hear the conversations of people around me. It gave me a chance to pull myself together, and deal with the headache that had been brewing for the entire morning at the same time. I just needed to get there today, and I knew I would be all right. In order to get to work, I (or my husband) drive to the train station, and I then take a light-rail train to downtown, walk a couple of blocks, and end up in my buil

If I'm not actively reading, I'm probably listening to an audiobook. The advent of headphones and portable media devices has been, in my opinion, the single greatest technological advance for introverts in the history of the world. It allows me to not only ignore the people around me, but also listen to some of my favorite books! It does, however, mean that I will occasionally burst out laughing at seemingly nothing, but I'm used to the strange looks by now. The other important thing for me while on my daily commute by public transit is to have something to do with my hands. If I'm reading, well, that takes care of things; however, many mornings I'd rather do something else, while listening to a book. And lo, the power of crochet kicks in. I spend a fair amount of time making things for people other than myself, mostly because I will actually finish something I'm making for someone else. I may still have a blanket that I started working on when my husband an

Lo these many moons ago, when I was in college, I was fortunate enough to have friends that led me to a wonderful resource my school had. It's called the MLLL (it used to stand for Multimedia Listening and Learning Library), or the Comic Books Reading Room. Such is the beauty of going to a college populated by geeks. The MLLL was a tiny, windowless room, and you could only get in if somone gave you the code to the lockbox on the door. Once inside, however, you were surrounded by comics. Graphic novels, single issues, multiple single issues bound together on-site - it was the kind of thing to make a comic book lovers' heart leap for joy. And it was here that I discovered  The Sandman . I'll be perfectly honest - I was never much of a comic book geek. Superheroes have never really been my thing, and for a long time, that was the only kind of comic book I knew about. I wish I could remember who introduced me to Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, because it was truly a life-

I usually have some kind of music going on in the background, pretty much continuously. I have always been the kind of person who operates better with some kind of background noise, rather than complete silence. I'm also a big fan of putting together thematic playlists, usually on my iPod. By 'thematic', I mean things like 'Chair dancing' or 'Sleepy time' or 'I hate everyone/Stompy music'. Once I find a playlist I like, I can put it on shuffle and repeat and listen to it for quite some time. Unfortunately, I have a terrible memory for names and song titles, so half the time, I don't actually know what I'm listening to. It means that a song will come on the radio, for example, and I'll suddenly have memories of studying Spanish in the library stacks while I was in college, but I won't necessarily be able to place why. A lot of people have this same phenomenon with scents, in that a scent they don't consciously notice will bring u

There are some recent changes going on at work. Specifically, my boss' boss (or my Grandboss, as I like to call him) will be moving to another team within the legal department. He's been with my team (Kindle Content) since he started six years ago, so we're going to miss him quite a bit. Kindle Content basically means that he heads up the group that supports teams working with publishers of all stripes (including indie publishers) to get books, magazines, and comic books into the Kindle store and printed on demand. It seemed fitting that we get him a going-away gift that is related to books. My boss came up with the idea that we give him a copy of everyone's favorite book. It's a good thing that the going-away toast isn't until Friday, because everyone had to take some time to come up with their favorite book. It's not an easy question, especially if you read a lot. I have my default favorite, based on how many different editions I own ( A Wrinkle in Tim

Growing up, my father spent a decent amount of time travelling abroad. He was in the Air Force, and would have to go on temporary duty for a few weeks or months (twice, he had to leave for a year at a time). This was all before the internet was a big deal and easily available, so we communicated by written letter. The memory of coming home and finding a new letter waiting for me is one that I remember fondly, and I've always had a fondness for snail mail. When I found out that two authors had written a series of YA novels via letter, I knew I wanted to read them, and I'm glad that I did. The first book in the series,  Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Teapot , introduces two characters as good friends who are spending some time in different parts of the country. They are writing letters to each other, describing what's going on in their respective territories and asking questions about the other's predicament. Even though the tale is told only through letters fr