(no subject)

Today. Today I ate lunch at my favorite Italian restaurant, Novita. I have been going there for years, seriously years already, and I always order the same thing, which is pasta with red sauce and a glass of white wine. I know, I know, sacrilege. Don't tell my Italian grandma. The best part about ordering the same thing every time is that I always get the extra fresh basil on my pasta without having to ask for it, and my white wine is always pinot grigio, and the waiter always smiles extra big at me.

Also, I tip really really well.

Today. Today my author Kassandra Sims told me a bunch of funny stories about staying with her mom in Ohio, and then posted a journal entry in which she said:

I have no great insight into my own "creative process". I MAKE THINGS UP. That's pretty much the whole process right there. I make things up, and sometimes the result is good, and sometimes it's self-indulgent crap. Hopefully those two sides even out.

Today. Today I am wearing all my Slytherin stuff: green eyeshadow, green jewelry. Green beaded bracelets and a green Monet necklace from the Met. If anyone feels like buying me a gift, feel free to hook me up with this totally Slytherin necklace that I desperately want. I also want this watch. I am greedy and I love the Met store.

Oh, and hey! I will answer a question:

burger_eater said: During his "Longshot" talk [at Writer's Weekend '05], Jim Butcher said that publishers keep one or two slots open every year specifically for new authors. Aspiring writers don't have to be better than Tim Powers, they just have to be better than all the other unpublished writers out there. He said. I'd never heard that before, so I'm looking for confirmation or refutation. Miss Snark was stumped on this one. Does Tor have spaces in their schedules specifically for new writers?

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The second part of burger_eater's question was: You said that listing publications on a query was a good idea, unless the publication was from a really small market which would make the writer seem small potatoes. Now, I'm not going to ask you for specifics (unless you want to slam some short fiction markets--in that case, go ahead) but where's the cutoff line for past publications that are more regrettable than commendable? Is it the SFWA criteria for pro markets? Half-penny a word and below? Never published a story that was later chosen for a best-of-the- year anthology?

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Remember: the worst that can happen is a form rejection.

If you have a specific question about stuff that I talk about in this entry, feel free to ask it! If you have a question that's unrelated, please go to this entry and ask your question there.