So as mentioned previously, I am currently on a writing retreat in Kent, CT. My goal for this retreat was to complete revisions on my middle grade novel.

I can now report that I have done that.

Of course it will need another pass to smooth down and polish the new sections (two new chapters were added), but the novel feels like it’s in much better shape than it was before.

Additionally, I completed revisions on another novel that I had written years ago and that I (hopefully) beat into better shape.

So I’m feeling successful right now.

The retreat ends tomorrow morning, but I’m holding out hope that I can finish up a short story by the end. I already completed one (these are already in progress – so it’s really not that impressive) but if I can go home with two novels and two short stories in very close to finished state, I will be happy.

For the second novel, though, I’ll need new beta readers, so if you’d like to read through a less than 60K word YA post-apocalyptic fantasy novel with brown people, let me know.

Back to writing…

This week is a bit of an exciting one. On Wednesday I leave for the annual Altered Fluid & Friends writing retreat for what will be nearly 5 days of writing. This year it is even more exciting than usual for a number of reasons. One of those being that it will occupy the time between me finishing one job and starting another.

It also gives me the much-needed time to finish revisions on my middle grade novel. Come the end of February, I intend to hand it over to my agent and, hopefully, forget about it for at least a little while. And for the moments when my brain will inevitably need a break from that, I have a few short stories that I need to complete as well.

The other exciting thing is that N will be coming up for part of the retreat, which minimizes one of the harder parts of such retreats, namely being away from the people you care about.

Perhaps in anticipation of this, I had a dream last night that played out like a story. In it, I was picked up from the airport by two men driving a car. The fact that they anticipated where I was going before I was able to tell them, clued me in to the fact that they were up to no good. It was soon clear they were abducting me for nefarious reasons and one of them pulled a gun on me.

Unfortunately I don’t remember the exact reason for them wanting me but I remember pleading with the man, saying that I’d be out of the way since I would be on my writing retreat and it was really important to me and if they just let me go I wouldn’t muck up whatever they were planning. It was as soon as I mentioned the writing retreat and the gunman realized how much it meant to me, that he moved the gun barrel toward my right hand. That’s when I really started freaking out.

Thankfully, the dream shifted gears shortly after that.  So yes, the retreat – I’m really looking forward to it.

I don’t typically get political on this blog and that’s mostly because there are numerous people that I surround myself with who are better at this thing, more eloquent, than I am. But sometimes I feel the need to say something.

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen some amazing events transpire across the world, one of which being the people in Egypt succeeding in ousting the dictator, Mubarak, and calling for what I think we all hope will be democratic elections in the region. And there are now people in Bahrain, in Yemen, in Tehran, and other cities calling for similar democratic process. And I sit here and watch them risk their lives, their blood, for a better life and wait for what seems like the inevitable response, that we stand in solidarity with them. And yet it doesn’t come. The US government “condemns” but does little else. There are no peacekeeping forces. There are no sanctions. Even the UN is mute in the face of this massive wave of democracy. And I see, and mourn in the face of the inherent hypocrisy in what this country claims to stand for, and what it actually does. We, as a country, are being schooled in what the fight for democracy actually is, and the lie of what this country stands for is made plain for everyone.

And yet it’s not just fighting in other countries. Recently, in addition to seeing the rights of LGBT people being trampled across this country, we have recently seen an attack on education in this country, on unions, and on the right for women to choose what happens with their bodies. There has even been an initiative that would make it easier for people to legally kill abortion doctors.

This is unacceptable.

We must protect the right for all of our people to healthcare, including the right for women to have counseling and aid and, if they choose to, abortions. We must protect the right for people to unionize in the face of a government that is all too quick to cut the programs that help support workers and their families. And we must protect and defend the rights of all of us to have equal protection and liberty under the law.

This is not negotiable.

I am heartened by the Democrats in Wisconsin who chose to remove themselves rather than participate in an action that was blatantly in defiance of the very ideas this country was founded upon. I am heartened by the protests that are being planned in response to the cutting of funding to Planned Parenthood, an organization that seeks to do good by reaching out to women across our country.

It’s not enough.

A few years ago I watched and wept as Obama was elected as the President of the United States and I thought it heralded a change in this country, a wave of tolerance and progressive action that I could be proud of. I know I was proud of my country that night. Since then, there have been few moments where I’ve had anything near that level of pride. Don’t ask, don’t tell has become a battleground. Guantanamo Bay, they now say, can never be closed. The promise that I thought we could count on has not come to pass.

So it’s up to us. We have to fight all this bullshit wherever it rears its head. We have to fight for the rights of women, for minorities, for LGBT individuals, for anyone who doesn’t have a voice that’s protected by politicians or lobbyists or corporate interests or the rich or the strong. We have to support the efforts of other people around the world to protect their own rights and their lives and families.

This can take the shape of donations,  protests, or simply tweeting information about what’s really happening. But we need to do something. They depend on us to be quiescent, to be distracted by our daily lives, by our consumerism, by television, by the Internet, by the Grammys, by all the little things that occupy our time. But these things are important. Not because CNN tells us so, or because Fox News is covering them, but because they ultimately affect our lives and the lives of the people around us. Because, without hyperbole, they mean the difference between life and death.

That is too important to let slide.

I know I’m probably preaching to the choir when it comes to people reading this. But at the very least, I stand with you, unless you stand against us. And if so, we will not let you pass.

It’s too fucking important.

I have this great post in my head, all about the two Church shows I went to see, last night and the night before. It’s a sprawling post going into my history with the band, its members, the shows, the venues, the albums and songs. However, partially because of those two shows (each of which clocked in at over 3 hours), I have a significant sleep deficit for this week and whatever part of my brain translates that potential post into an actual doesn’t seem to be functioning properly.

So instead you get this.

I’m sure the post will materialize later. Maybe tomorrow when I get to catch up on some sleep.

There are also other things to talk about – new jobs, writing retreats, recent reading – but that will all have to wait as well until my brain returns to full functionality.

In the meantime, accept this video of a brand new Radiohead song from their new album, “King of Limbs” which is released this Saturday.

As I said on Twitter – Thom Yorke dances for your sins. Watch. Listen. Love.

Lotus Flower

It appears I fell off the blogging horse for a few days. Things have been a bit hectic lately. Aside from some Valentine’s Day activities, I recently was offered a new day job and accepted and so that took up a decent amount of my time. The new job proves to make my life at least a little easier, so I do have that to look forward to.

Just a few things to remark on, none  of them connected:

• I went to Red Rooster in Harlem on Saturday with N. It’s a really nice place and the food is terrific. I’d been to Marcus Samuelsson’s other restaurants before – Riingo, and Aquavit – but Red Rooster just seems to have something, maybe it’s just a warmth and welcoming atmosphere, that those other places lacked. It’s definitely worth a trip to Harlem for. The meals were great as were the drinks and dessert as well.
• I have, with the help of friends Torie and Jeff, discovered the game Munchkin. I played a couple of rounds this past weekend discovering not only Munchkin Cthulhu, but Munchkin Impossible, their spy-flavored version. It’s a fun game, though I am itching to try a mixed-game with multiple genres.
• Tonight and tomorrow night I got to see one of my favorite bands, The Church. I’ve mentioned them here before. This concert is a special one where they’re playing three of their albums in their entirety – the most recent, the amazing Untitled #23, Priest = Aura, and Starfish. While I love all three albums, I’m mostly looking forward to Priest = Aura because they typically don’t play much from that one.

That’s all I have to report for now. And because a computer crash ate my last attempt to post this, I’m sending it off now.