Christmas in November

It’s a windy, windy day here. An advancing cold front, I suppose. Strong wind is something we don’t experience very often in southeast Texas. I grew up in eastern Canada where, especially in the wintertime, high winds weren’t uncommon. What they call “tropical force” winds around here are what we called “a breeze” when I was growing up.

Even the winds we got in the aftermath of the near-miss from Hurricane Rita last fall were fairly mild. Whenever I hear the wind gusting outside, I imagine cold temperatures and blowing snow. It’s quite a disconnect to go out into it when the temperature’s in the seventies.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned winning the Apex Digest Halloween Contest. I officially declare it the Best. Contest. Ever. The prize package featured a lot of books and other booty, and about 80% of it arrived at my doorstep today, from numerous sources. Apex sent me a box with some of the swag, but contributing authors also sent me their signed books directly. Funny that it should all get here at once. I received:

• Payment for the story
• Two issues of Apex
• Apex Global Domination Mug
• Signed copy of Headstone City from Tom Piccirilli
• Signed copy of Deathbringer from Bryan Smith
• Signed copy of War Surf from M.M. Buckner
• MP3 audio versions of Rusty Nail and Bloody Mary from JA Konrath
• Trade paperback copy of Brandy Schwan’s Grim Trixter
• A $20 gift certificate to the Changeling Press online store
• Signed copies of Lords of Terror by Allan Cole and Nick Perumov and Dreams of Darkness by Elizabeth Burton from Zumaya Publications
• Signed copy of Thank You For the Flowers from Scott Nicholson
• The Blackest Death: Volume II signed by Angeline Hawkes and Christopher Fulbright

Still to come: at least three more books, two art prints, a DVD and a music CD. What a haul!

In addition to all this, I received two things I’d purchased from eBay (Lisey’s Story audio and the DVD of 49 Up) and a galley of Peter Crowther’s new collection The Spaces Between the Lines from Subterranean Press.

Another very good morning working on my NaNoWriMo novel. I feel very energized to be working on this project. Scenes are writing themselves in my head. Even when I was shaving this morning, I had to stop and scrawl down some notes for something that will happen in a section I write in a few days.