Well, not actually on me, but on a tuckerization by me in a short story or novel as part of a fundraiser for the Trans-Atlantic Fan Fund this year.

For those of you who don’t know, TAFF sends – in alternating years – a delegate(s) from North America to Europe or from Europe to N. America, to attend a science fiction convention. The point of the auction is to raise funds to make this possible. The folks running for TAFF this year are the team of (1) Anne KG Murphy and her fiance Brian Gray and (2), Frank Wu.

Frank says:

I have posted to eBay several Tuckerization auctions (in which you get to bid on the naming rights of a minor character in a novel or story by a famous author!). The auctions for Tuckerizations from Cory Doctorow, Charlie Stross, Nalo Hopkinson, David Brin, Elizabeth Bear, Julie Czerneda and Mary Robinette Kowal are up!

We also have auctions for first editions of Orwell’s “1984″ and John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”.

In addition, Chris Garcia’s fanzine The Drink Tank, issue 231, has been posted with articles by Anne KG Murphy + Brian Gray, and by Frank about our TAFF campaigns. Anne and Brian’s article serves as a good introduction about them to everyone!

And, of course, don’t forget to actually vote for TAFF!

So go on, bid on me.

It’s like I’m the Scrooge of Thanksgiving. Leftovers? Bah! Humbug.

In America, nothing matches the archetype of “Feast” like the Thanksgiving dinner, which conjures images of tables groaning with food. But all that bounty comes with a price: leftovers. Sure, with that first turkey sandwich you're living the good life. But how long before the dread sets in? More cranberry sauce? Another helping of sweet potatoes? Soon you start to fantasize about all new meals. And what better way to do that than with fantasy, which offers bounties both fantastic and filling. Herewith, my top ten leftover alternatives.

via AMC – Blogs – SciFi Scanner – Ten Fantasy Meals I Would Rather Eat Than Thanksgiving Leftovers.

Orycon starts tomorrow, which I’m very much looking forward to. Here is my schedule and I hope to see some of you there.

Woot! Scenting the Dark and Other Stories has come back from the printer which means that Subterranean will be shipping them shortly. This is excellent news, in part because it means that they’ll be here in time for Christmas.

What? You don’t think I’m spoiling the surprise that our folks are getting copies do you?  I’d be killed if I didn’t give them one.

The other cool thing is… well, collection includes an introduction by John Scalzi, which I knew, but today is the first time I read it.  Somehow I didn’t realize that it was on the order page for Scenting the Dark, you have to scroll down to see it.  Scalzi makes me weepy and blush all at the same time.  He says some very, very kind things.

Eek! How did I not post this earlier?

My story “Body Language” is now up at OSC’s Intergalactic Medicine Show with an awesome cover illustration which you must now appreciate in all its glory.

And here’s a teaser of the story.

Saskia leaned into the darkness above the stage, only vaguely aware of the wood rail against her hips as she retied the left headstring on her marionette. On the stage below, the Snow Queen’s head eased into balance. The marionette telegraphed its stance back up the strings to the control in Saskia’s hands. She ran the Snow Queen across the set to check the repair, barely conscious of her own body on the bridge above the stage. It was almost like being immersed in a VR suit.

One of the techies called up. “Hey, Saskia? There’s a detective here for you.”

IGMS does charge $2.50 for access to the full issue, but that gets you a lot of fiction.

While I was away at World Fantasy, I got the following email from Rob:

I took Marlowe in first thing this morning to Fremont Vet. The tissue surrounding his eye is very swollen but they eye itself does not appear damaged. He is running a slight fever. The vet asked if our cats have been fighting. It is possible but I didn’t witness any altercations. She found no evidence of injury so the likely cause is a severe herpes infection induced by stress and exposure to Hariet, or perhaps an infection contracted from his night in the hospital. They gave him an antibiotic shot and a prescription for topical salve. If the inflammation is not reduced in two days I am to take him back in.

He is active, has good appetite, and appears to be annoyed but not distressed. Luckily I’ll be home to keep an eye on him until you return.

That’s it from the Sandycrest feline ward.

Apparently, he downplayed that. When I got home, Rob said that Marlowe’s eye was so swollen it looked like he’d been in a boxing bout. So, while I was having fun in San Jose, Rob dutifully put ointment on Marlowe’s eye twice a day for a week. The swelling went down, we were relieved.

And then Marlowe started sneezing and both eyes were oozing white goo. We gave him a couple of days, hoping it would clear up. Alas. No.

So, back to the vet with the poor guy. This time we took Harriet along to get her shots. Marlowe is a perfect gentleman and very stoic at the vets. Harriet? Not so much. She literally climbed me.

The vet examined his eyes and said that it’s likely chlamydia picked up from Harriet. So Marlowe is on a new course of eye salve and oral medications for another week. Poor guy. If he were human having herpes or chlamydia would have meant he’d at least have had some fun first. In cats its just an unpleasant cold.

Harriet meanwhile, aside from a mild digestive issue, is perfectly healthy. Rob and I are considering renaming Harriet to “Vector.”

My story, Jaiden’s Weaver takes place on a colony world with rings.  I spent time with Jerry Oltion and Mike Brotherton at Launch Pad trying to make guesses about what it would look like from the planet’s surface.

One of my classmates, David D. Levine, just sent me an animation of how the Earth would look if it had rings.

Today was a strange blend of things.

We got home from San Jose yesterday afternoon and I immediately had to get caught up with all the excitement about Harlequin — which oddly, usually would mean that I was talking about a puppet. So I wound up staying up way too late to help with that.

Which meant that today I was lazing in the bathrobe, doing some sketches for a puppet gig (not involving a Harlequin) when the phone rang. It was the Portland Spirit, asking if I could come in and cover a shift. Like, right then.

Off I went to the boat and spent several hours on the water busing dishes. Exciting, yes?

Back home, I returned to drawing and now I am sad because the stuff I’m working on is cool, but it’s for a film so I can’t talk about any of it until later.  I’m not very sad, because this is fairly standard, but I just always feel dull when I have no puppetry to write about.

Holy cow! Puppeteers will know exactly why I just flipped, but I’ve found a video of Hansjürgen Fettig demonstrating his puppets. I’ve used his book as one of my puppet building bibles for years and seen the figures in exhibition but until this moment have never seen one in motion.

Oh. My. God. I have never wished to speak French more than I do right now.

Edited to add: Juliette Wade, linguist and SF writer, has just sent me a transcription of the video. Why? Because she is made of awesome.
Continue reading Hansjürgen Fettig interview

What do we love about Fantasy? The monsters.

Fantasy has a lot of monsters. Sure, they turn up in science fiction from time to time, but nuclear mutations aside, enormous beasties are typically the result of imagination — and fantasy has the lock-down on sheer ferocity. Monsters make a ready conflict for the hero, and raise the stakes in ways that no mere human villain can. The question remains: Which beastie is the most deadly?

Go on. Tell me which ones I missed.

via AMC – Blogs – SciFi Scanner – Mary Robinette Kowal – The Ten Deadliest Monsters in Fantasy.

You know, I just got a piece of fan mail — actual hard copy, through the postal service fan mail — for my work as Secretary of SFWA.  This has totally made my day.  People say this is a thankless job and they are just wrong.

I spent the day teaching puppetry up in Fremont at James Leitch Elementary. One of the interesting things about schools is that they all have different name structures for the teachers. In some I’m Mary, usually Miss Mary, and sometimes Mrs. Kowal.

I always use the married version of the honorific when I’m filling out forms but it’s exceedingly rare to actually have someone call me “Mrs. Kowal.”  It feels a little like I’m pretending to be a grownup.

All of this is percolating around in my head because Rob and I are celebrating our eighth anniversary this week. November 17th, 2009 we got married in Chattanooga, TN. I am as deeply in love with my husband as I was on our wedding day.

To celebrate eight years of being Mrs. Kowal, I’m disconnecting from the outside world.  No phone, no internet.  Just Mr. Kowal and me.

Rob and I spent yesterday bumming around San Fransisco, interspersed with me doing drawings for a potential gig and prepping for the Nebula Nomination period to open at SFWA. The sweet boy has been endlessly patient with me.

In the evening we joined the SF in SF group at Henry’s Hunan for dinner. It was like KGB in reverse in that Chinese food preceded the meal. Seeing Cheryl Morgan, Jeff Vandermeer, Jacob Weisman and the rest of the gang was a lot of fun.

Then I was off to Writers with Drinks in the Mission. Oh, my goodness. What. Fun. Charlie Jane Anders absolutely rocks as a hostess and M.C. I very much enjoyed hearing the other readers. In fact, they were so good that I got nervous about my fiction and offered the audience a choice. 1 story, 2 very short stories, or 1 very short story and a puppetry demo.

They chose option 3, so after I finished reading “Death Comes but Twice,” I pulled off my boot and used it as a puppet to demo the 4 principles of puppetry. So, you may imagine my delight when Chris Hsiang, gave me this dollar bill as I walked off the stage.

Rob and I had a relaxed day in SF and are now in San Jose where I will be teaching for the next couple of days.

I’m in San Fransisco with Rob!

Why? Well, I’m reading at Writers with Drinks tomorrow night.

And our anniversary is on Tuesday, so we’re doing a little vacation here. Whee!

Come to Writers with Drinks and say hello!

Also reading:
Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Middleman TV series)
Kat Richardson (Greywalker)
Naomi Quiñonez (Invocation L.A.: Urban Multicultural Poetry)
S. Bear Bergman (Butch Is A Noun)

All proceeds benefit EL/LA Program Para Trans Latinas.
At The Make-Out Room 3225 22nd. St., San Francisco CA, from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM, doors open at 7 PM.

While I think this is an unlikely scenario, I want to make this statement before the Nebula nominating period begins on November 15th. Because my involvement in the Nebula voting system is pretty intensive right now, I will decline any nominations of any of my fiction this year.

The system is new and I have to be able to oversee the volunteer team without introducing a conflict of interest.