Warming Up The Pipes

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell was the next book on the stack. It's interesting, but I feel overwhelmed by the sheer size of it. I know everyone has said it's a quick read, but it doesn't look like a quick read. It sits there mocking me. "You're tired and busy and I'll break you," it whispers. And it may be right.

So, I've decided to skip the stack for, I hope, some enjoyable short stories. I picked up Margaret Atwood's The Tent the other night instead of JS&MN. I can knock off three or four of her short stories in fifteen minutes--and they're good. I have the latest copies of Glimmer Train and Fantasy & Science Fiction. I may pick up a couple different magazines at B&N today at lunch (buying books for Miss Elizabeth for Christmas--fun!). Maybe Realms of Fantasy and one of the "reviews".

This serves two purposes. I have quick reads for when I do find some time to indulge. AND I am doing research on what they're buying. "Hmmmm," you say. "But, Deb, your key is the novel. What do you care about what short story markets are buying? You struggle with short stories." Exactly! Got it in one. The plan is to have a first draft of Vesta done rather soon. And MMG is starting to nag, but it's not yelling at me so I may have some free time during which I don't want to start a third novel. So, short stories. I have some that need varying degrees of revision, including a fantasy involving a mermaid, hence the fantasy mags. And I have some potential ideas for a few more. Ergo, market research. And seeing how the big boys and girls are doing it.

Before you say anything, Jenny and Ali, I already have the Tim O'Brien and Sherman Alexie books you recommended. And a couple Neil Gaiman collections--one of which I'm almost done with.

So: la, la, la, LA, la, la, la.

Insomnia

Last Spring I had a bout of insomnia. I couldn't fall asleep or stay asleep once I did manage to drop off. It did really nasty things to my mood, usually so chipper. The wonderful Dr. Ryan prescribed Ambien and behavior modification and within a month I was back on track. One of the behaviors I had to modify was reading in bed. It's not allowed. The theory is that you train your mind and body to do nothing but sleep when you get in bed. Okay. I can buy that, but it was the hardest part of the regimen for me.

My sleep patterns are starting to get a bit out of whack again. Have I been consuming caffeine after lunch? No. Doing vigorous exercise in the evening? No. Reading in bed? Well, yeah. But I've read in bed since I was six years old. So now I have to find a way to fit a chair in my tiny bedroom so that I can read before I go to sleep just not in bed. In case you think that's quibbling on my part, the good doctor says that it is allowed.

Last night it took about an hour to fall asleep after I put the book down and turned out the light. Granted, I had a stressful weekend (migraine) and an even more stressful day at work (lots to do and, well, other stuff). Then I woke up just before four o'clock. I tried to get back to sleep but the brain wouldn't shut down. So I got up at five and started my workout in front of the news. The weather guy was talking about the lunar eclipse. So I walked out onto the deck and looked at it. Just a bit of crescent showed on the upper left side. The rest was red outlined against the gray predawn sky. Hanging right over the outline of the mountains in the west.

That image made a little bit of insomnia worthwhile.