Archive for December, 2008

Oh, how blasphemous am I. I couldn’t even complete the verse, because really, how much joy can I possibly bring? Only so much…but I do try, in my way, to bring a teensy bit.

Which brings me to my point: I haven’t blogged here in at least a week. Has it been two? Three? I’ve lost track due to deadlines, Mini Maven birthday celebrations, and holiday prep (such as it is; see “teensy,” above). I’ve been keeping up with blogging over here, and I’ve been keeping up appearances here (pace Hyacinth Bucket), and I’m still doing my thing over here, too.

So the good tidings:

1. I’m definitely going to be upping the blog posting on this site. It’s a New Year’s resolution made early.

2. We’re renaming Author, Author!, so vote now or forever keep your peace.

3. In January, there will be some wonderful new features on and changes to the renamed Author, Author! site, so watch for them… I’ll of course post the new URL here when it’s ready.

This will be short; I’m about to dash up to NYC for another NY1 taping. If you’d like to watch my last segments on holiday gift book ideas, you can find them here and here. As The Glib Maven (Mr. Bethanne’s moniker) says in the first one: “Books make a very economical holiday gift!”

But back to my subject line…I simply had to share this bit from Lemondrop about Austenites who have been “found” hiding beneath bushes on poor dear Jane’s Chawton cottage grounds.

No, they’re not crouched there, waiting to spring out at unsuspecting single men who may be in want of a wife…”they” are cremains, “left discreetly next to the rose bushes, presumably by tourists whose relatives were nerdy enough to want to rest eternally there.”

Really, ladies, is this any way to meet Mark Darcy? Besides, when it comes to resting places, I’d rather stay in a tasteful urn at home, hoping that someone might occasionally read a few lines of Persuasion out loud, than be piled on cold ground beneath shrubbery.

Long, long, loooooong story — but we had no Thanksgiving dinner here at Maven Manor. Two of us were ill, and then two days later another one of us fell ill. It was a low point, holidaywise. However, although the lone well one felt compelled to put together an individual festive meal, the rest of us were too sleepy and snuffly to care. We were much happier to retreat to television and knitting.

When I’m too sick to read, you know I’m really sick. And when I’m sick enough to watch three episodes of “Clean House” in succession? Grab your hand sanitizer and run in the opposite direction, because I’m near death’s door.

That’s why I feel all right about making this post all about a link to my other blog. You don’t need to read my writing, but please make it a point to read the two articles I linked to from The New York Times, because I’d love to know what you all think about what they say. Since I am a cock-eyed optimist when it comes to books and publishing, I’m not a particularly reliable witness to what is happening these days.

But maybe that’s just the euphoria talking — euphoria at being happy to read again after four days down for the count. If there’s one thing I miss more than a big delicious dinner, it’s a big delicious novel.