…as you can tell by the word count.
Something odd has happened. Before the book’s story really starts, Bren has gotten into his computer and started reading some notes Geigi gave him and this looks as if it is going to be a prologue. I haven’t done a prologue since book i. But this is kind of an interesting take—the whole train of events recapped from the Landing upward, in Geigi’s words, with Geigi’s behind-the-scenes knowledge of events from the atevi point of view, interspersed with Bren’s as he adds commentary of things he knows that Geigi might not. Sort of the Cliff’s Notes version of Foreigner with the things you didn’t know tucked into it. Talk about your book starting to talk to you…
This sounds so exciting!
BTW, in between chapters, can you go down to the school board and be really really mean to Shelly Redinger, one of the finalists for the Superintendent’s job? She just started in the neighboring school system less than a year ago and they really need her, but she is trying to move back to Washington for sick parents.
So tell her to take herself back to ole Virginny…
Oh, my.
THat’s a hard one.
I’ve finished Intruder. Thanks for another good read.I find it so interesting how Caljeiri is so much a kid, but so much not a human kid. It feels like a young Atevi. His conversation at the end was wonderful.
The new book sounds intriguing, and I’m so glad it’s flowing well. I’m finding Cajeiri a more interesting character as he ages and begins to integrate into atevi society. (Although he’s actually only aged 1 year since landing after the trip to Reunion station!)
I’ve been lurking on this site for years, and apparently went so far once as to register with Gravatar because I did have an avatar there, but had to register with WordPress tonight to leave a comment. Out in the open now…
Welcome! — The lad has had some maturing experiences, not to mention two years sitting right at Great-grandmother’s knee. Just now and again, he IS a child, but he’s learned to duck and cover. 😉
He seems to be very good at what he does, now. He’s definitely impressed his father with his cleverness, but also with his sense of political delicacy that was lacking before. I’m sure Sidi-ji had a lot to do with that, but so did Bren. After all, Cajeiri did remark that his mother insulted both his great-grandmother and Bren, two of his most influential examples of how to act in any given situation.
Glad to see that you’ve been at the keyboard, CJ, especially after the past few weeks of fun and games in the bathroom, basement, kitchen, yard, etc., and with Jane being not up to her best health, either.
I’ve been moving from my farmhouse to a smaller ranch style house in town. I’m closer to my parents’ house and can get there in about 5 minutes as opposed to the 15 minutes that it would take before. Also, this is MY house, and the first one I’ve ever bought on my own. I’d been a homeowner before with 2 other houses, but that was when I was married.
Moving yourself is a PITA, especially when you have things that are heavy. I have a bunch of stuff in the storage area, but even without that clutter, I have a ton of things that need to be either moved or REmoved. I threw away a bunch of old magazines, such as for amateur radio, beekeeping, beermaking, etc., but I did NOT throw away, give away, donate, recycle, or otherwise dispose of a single book from my library.
All 3 of the cats are still adjusting to the move. I brought the oldest one over first, to let her establish herself as the “lead cat”, then brought the “teenagers” over. Birdie is still hiding, I guess she hasn’t established as well as I had hoped, but Sydney and Sadie are bouncing all over the house, exploring this and that. There is a wooden valence above the picture window in the living room that they’ve discovered they can walk across if they climb their tree. It was hilarious to see Sadie up there the first time, I hadn’t realized they would do that, but it makes a wonderful perch for them to survey the living room. Still trying to figure out where to put the litterbox, as the bathrooms are too small to accommodate one. I want it as far from the food dish as I can get it, but also it needs to be somewhat “private”. I had considered putting it in the basement, but I don’t think that’s practical. Well, I’ll figure out something.
Just letting you all know that I’m still around, but am busily cleaning the old house and moving stuff into the new house and trying to get re-organized.
Congratulations, Joe! We feel your pain—but the knowledge this is yours is really great. What we did with our litterbox: we bought a child’s toy chest, sawed a hole in one end, painted it—the litterbox fits neatly inside, a tight squeeze, leaving place for a litter mat to prevent tracking, and just lift the lid to clean and fill. It really prevents the aroma from floating about. It SO prevents it you have to remember to clean it before the cats go on strike.
Thank you for the suggestion. I’ve tried the “igloo” shaped containers, they didn’t seem to like that, so will give the toy chest a try. Just trying to figure out now where in the house to put it. Their food is in the dining area of the kitchen/dining room, and there is absolutely no place to put the litterbox where it wouldn’t be in my way. I have it in a small half-bathroom, but I would like to be able to use that bathroom once in a while. Well, we’ll figure it out, I’m sure.
Where did you get the toy chest? There isn’t a large toy store in my area, but I could probably find one online. How big, I’m not using a standard litterbox, I have a large Rubbermaid storage container that would fit under a bed. It’s about 5 inches deep, and perhaps 18″ X 30″, which seems to be fine for my 3 big cats.
This one is similar in design, lift the lid to clean, put a kitteh-sized hole in the less conspicuous end. I think it’s still a bit small for your pan, though.
http://www.furnitureunfinished.com/product_info.php?cPath=186_190&products_id=530
Also go to Amazon and use the following search string: ‘toy chest unfinished’ and ‘bench toy chest.’ The bench ones tend to be actually sittable, ergo larger. They all have that gap that prevents childish fingers from getting crushed, but that works out great for giving a litter box just the right ventilation.
you want one about a third again as long as the pan so the kittehs have a foyer to their accommodation. It makes them happy with it.
And a very happy Easter to all!
@WOL – I think Bannik upkeep falls under the Donations button….
@joe – congrats on the move. I hope this home is much easier to heat, and block out drafts than the last one. How about the yard? Is there a lot of upkeep?
@ready4more, Thank you! the house is much newer, it’s a 1-story, it’s insulated, there are fewer rooms to heat, and the furnace is 2 years old, fueled by natural gas.
The yard is perhaps the smallest yard I’ve had since I lived in Virginia Beach, I can mow it with a regular lawn mower in about 20 minutes or so. There is a lot of landscaping that was done before, so I’ll need to keep that up, but by and large, the majority of the “groundwork” has already been done.
REALLY excited about the prologue. I love reading your synopses.
SORRY?!?!?! I’m happy for you finding the Goddess of Flow in your house again – sorry is not on the horizon of reason! 🙂
Love the idea of the prologue and Geigi’s POV, and I’m eager to read it — so no, don’t think of stopping! Keep writing, and give that Bannik anything he wants! We would like him to stay very very happy with both of you.
Hello, I’m new here 🙂 Long-time fan and fllower, but commenting for the first time.
I’m so glad to hear writing goes well. Looking forward to every bit of the story 🙂
I just run across a picture of a small monkey and had to stop and think about how much it looks like I imagine Boji – so I thought I would share it with you: http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/106/9/c/Baby_Monkey_by_RedPigeon.jpg
OMG. It’s a baby Boji—just needs black fur and gold eyes.
That is an adoroable little creature! I’m fairly sure he’s a cotton-top tamarin. Here’s an adult picture:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zettepics/4542642292/in/set-72157623782956369
And here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zettepics/4586720257/in/set-72157623782956369
The baby is SO CUTE!
I try to look at a picture of a cute monkey, and the web filter says “access denied” because of “incidental nudity.” 🙂
Great little monkey. That reminds me of a cover painting I’ve only seen in a coffee table book, two or three roughly primate aliens, can’t recall if they wore clothing, on guard and they seemed to be carrying an unconscious human in some space uniform. Very striking, memorable cover. I don’t know the book title or author. I believe the coffee table book was one of those 70’s-80’s gatherings of science fiction art for critiques and history, or one that had an imagined story around the covers from a “Terran Transport Authority or Empire” sort of thing.
Are you thinking of Whelan’s cover for one of the Little Fuzzie books by H. Beam Piper? Were they golden-furred, large-eyed aliens carrying a foreshortened human through a forest or jungle?
And I’m especially looking forward to reading something from Geigi’s perspective 🙂