We have nothing to fear but irony itself

Quote(s) of the day:

"If you're looking for truth, try fiction."

—Charles De Lint, Memory and Dream


"Fear is like [a] knife. It serves one purpose: it cuts into things. Keep it folded in your pocket and it can't hurt you."

—Jonathan Carroll, The Wooden Sea


And speaking of insidious sensationalism:

A new poll (a real one this time) found that Fox News was the most trusted purveyor in America. That's enough to make one gag one's pablum, I tells ya. The upside of this is that it was 11% of respondents, which doesn't say much for the overall trust level for broadcast news (which I guess would be another down side). (I'm losing track of my sides.)

This just in:

Poll results are showing that, as expected, irony remains the leading cause of extraordinary death in this nation, although some people continue to be persistently immune to its effects. The Bush Administration has funded a long-term project to research ways in which to wipe out the scourge of irony. Some day, with enough tax dollars, America may indeed be an irony-free nation.

The amazing two-headed novel

What's new in the yard: The planter of amaryllis is in full bloom, but the first blooming flowers have started to fade. The pink and yellow lantana has been popping for awhile now. The Mexican poppies--a papery, pale lavender--have sprung up here and there throughout the yard. And the pink and white geranium has been joined by a maroon and pink one.

Writing talk of the day: A real good session yesterday. The final fight is well underway. A fairly good session today. I continued the fight, then spent a certain amount of time staring at the wall. But it was good staring at the wall, thinking about "If A happens, then B could happen, and lead to C..." I blocked out important elements of the rest of the fight and hope that means I can work steadily towards the conclusion now.

This late in the game I find myself second-guessing some of my decisions and that's slowed things down quite a bit. But I have to let go of the idea that everything will hang together perfectly at this point. First draft I keep repeating to myself.

A funny thing happened on the way to writing this book: I wrote two books. Two books, with a household move thrown in for good measure. I do not wish to repeat the experience.

And if Lois McMasters Bujold cannot sell a 200k ms. as one book, I haven't got a prayer because I am sooooooo not Ms. Bujold. I am not quite at 200k (SMF) yet, but so close it's not worth mentioning. When all is done, done, done, the epic will probably have to be taken apart and rearranged, and broken in two. And somewhere in there a third book will have to be written.

But not now. God no, not now.