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Author Archives: allison
Jan
22
The Calm Before the Storm
I took a picture of the sunrise this morning. I hadn’t been sleeping well anyway, so I figured I’d just get up, even though the kids have no school. Of course, somewhere around noon today the snow should start up and continue for about 36 hours. I’m not a big fan of snow hype – I like snow in general and this winter hasn’t felt like winter at all, given the unusually warm December we had. Be careful what you wish for and all that, I suppose. But this whole week has felt…off. Maybe it’s compounded by the fact that I signed up for this little Brighid course online where we are supposed to be looking for signs of Spring before Imbolc, and of course all I’m seeing is signs that we’re about to be royally dumped on by the Ice King. The way the models have been repeatedly lining…
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Jan
14
Notes and Things
I’m pretty sure if you ask most writers they have a fairly substantial pile of notebooks lying about. Whether they’re book bibles, or on specific research subjects, or simply inspirational journals, I would guess that most of us keep them. To be honest there’s nothing quite as satisfying for me as buying a fresh notebook. Starting a new book or story can be hard – those first few empty pages sometimes feel intimidating until you find the story’s rhythm. But notebooks are easy, simply because they give you permission to pretty much do anything. I tend to keep one with me at all times, usually because I never know if I’m going to be stuck somewhere and using the time for brainstorming is helpful. And as chaotic as I am, I’ll use the same notebook for multiple projects, just split up a bit, since I never know how inspiration will…
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Jan
8
Out of Tune
So just a little post today to mention I’ve got a short story coming out in the upcoming Out of Tune Book 2 Anthology in May! 🙂 Like the first volume, each story is based off of folk songs  and murder ballads of various origin. Mine is loosely inspired by the Yeats poem The Stolen Child (which counts as a song, since it was set to music by Loreena McKennitt several years ago). Although the idea looks like it would be a good fit for a Melanie/Abby story, it is not – this is a standalone piece. (Sorry Abby fans, I know you’re hoping for more – I am too.) Entitled Respawn, Reboot, it actually has more to do with playing MMORPGs and the way that online games have a tendency to suck us into an alternate reality. There’s a bit of a horror twist to it as well, but I…
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Jan
4
Mud
Maggie ate the hose end off my carpet cleaner last week. My new carpet cleaner, in fact. I’ve only used it twice, but this time I broke out the attachment to try to do the stairs. I did this about three days before Christmas when the dog was at daycare. (The one time I tried to clean the carpets while she was in still the house, she followed along behind me and left dirty footprints everywhere, negating the whole point the exercise. Sort of like the muddy dog equivalent of the Forest God from Princess Mononoke.  You know. The one who makes flowers bloom and die with each step? That’s about what it felt like. Yeah. This one –> At any rate, I ran through the house, made everything look somewhat better and rested well assuming that they would stay clean for the next week or so.  Long enough for company…
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Jan
1
Reflections
So first, Happy New Year and all that – though to be honest with the oddly warm weather we’ve been having I can’t say it’s felt much like winter, let alone the holidays. I know we don’t always get snow in Virginia for Christmas, but I’ve been ready to go into hibernation mode for weeks now…and instead I’m wearing shorts. It’s messing with my head a bit. But in all the usual holiday chaos (which is still going on in the form of constant movies, video games, family, cooking and what-have-you) I’ve retreated to the spare bedroom to get anything done – for a number reasons. First, I’ve got a real craving for natural light recently and the setup here is good for that. More importantly is the chair which can recline. Not sure what’s going on with the back these days but I’m having a lot of trouble sitting…
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