Shouts

All right, all right, I admit it: it's been awhile. How are you doing, anyway? Have you lost weight? You look great!

Until I get this current pass done (the last before the new work goes out to the Tiny Dynamo and all the Beta-Readers), internet time is strictly rationed. Strictly. Rationed. My apologies, and you really do look great. Something with your hair, maybe?

The lovely and talented Shauna Roberts and Barbara Martin *both* awarded me the Premier-Dardos. I feel humbled that you find something of worth and value in the clicks of my keyboard. I'm supposed to pass this on to other worthies, but there are simply too many of you, and too few of me doing the typing. Please feel free to accept one on my behalf...

Speaking of worth and value, I recently finished Where Serpents Sleep by our very own CS Harris. Holy Smoking Joes, it was like a master class in how to write a thriller, and how to keep a series thrilling. Pace. Suspense. Action. Intrigue. Heroes. Villains. If I were the type to teach Creative Writing classes, my students would find her work required reading.

And on the heels of my godawful incoherent post (I humbly promise never, never, NEVER again to drink and blog), Candy's historical thriller shows *exactly* how to make research feel authentic without bogging down. Bloody marvelous.

There's more I want to talk about, so much more. Sidney's new podcasts. Wayne's offbeat, lyrical and poetic photo essays. The way that like the cartoon mouse Savoir Faire, Charles Gramlich is everywhere.

Sadly, I'm out of time. I doubt I'll even get to the 103 unread messages in my Google Reader at the moment. Yup, 103. I blame the rationing.

And the war. Always good to blame the war.

I know what it is. You've been working out, haven't you?

Picoed

Fancy and Lisa were both kind enough to give me the Pico. It's flattering (dangerously flattering, perhaps) to hear one is inspiring. Thank you both.

The hard part for me here is picking only five others. So many of you give me so much. Heck, some of you maybe don't even mean to give it: I'm greedy enough and ruthless enough to take inspiration! :-)

So, at risk of giving duplicate awards:

Fancy, back at you! Your bridge project is cool as hell, and you always put a smile on my face. Amazingly, you do it in a second (or third? Fourth?) language. I can order more beer in maybe ten languages, but I can't do what you do, and you make it look so easy!

Lisa, you get one too. Between watching The Founding Wheel come to life and the way you share as you learn, I learn heaps!

Etain, occasional blogger and damn fine poet. Also in a second language.

Wayne, mighty fine writer and too damn cool for words!

And Riss, multitalented, multinational, reminding me always that the artistic life is a self-defined life. Again, she takes the difficult and makes it look easy!