Monday, January 27, 2014

A Few Cool Things

It is snowing again here, and although it was 30 overnight, then temps are now heading back down into the basement--it is expected to drop to the teens during the day, then back to the negative single digits overnight..for the next few days.

All of which has brought on a migraine (on a day when I planned to Get a Lot of Writing Done, dammit!), so I'm just going to post a couple of cool things to amuse you and then run away again.

Cool Thing the One:
To celebrate the upcoming release of the Baba Yaga books (September and December, if all goes well with Berkley), I found myself this REALLY COOL shirt on Etsy.
Baba Yaga Tee Shirt
 I'm not a big tee shirt person, especially because I only like them if they have V-necks or scoop necks (not the normal crew neck, which is much easier to find). So you can imagine how excited I was to find this one that had a picture of the Baba Yaga's traditional cabin on chicken legs.

In case you're wondering, the writing says "Turn your back to the forest, your front to me." That is the magical phrase that you were supposed to say to get Baba Yaga's hut to turn around and show you the front door. (And no, I don't read Russian...I asked the shirt's creator.)

I've been thinking I might give away one of these when I get closer to the book release. What do you think? Is that something anyone might like? They're cotton, and very comfy...

Cool Thing the Two:
I just finished reading my pal Alex Bledsoe's newest book in the Eddie LaCrosse sword jockey series. He Drank, and Saw the Spider is the fifth book in the series, and they just keep getting better and better. In fact, when I started reading, I intended to make a note of some of the best lines, and email Alex to tell him how great they were. By the time I hit about the 10th one, at only chapter two, I gave up. Yes, the book really IS that good. (Minerva didn't want to give it up so I could read it, as you can see. She is a cat of discerning taste.)


Cool Thing the Three:
I spent the last week putting together all my numbers for my accountant, so she could do my taxes. (Gah. No, that is NOT the cool thing.) For the first time ever, my combined jewelry and writing income actually exceeded my "Day Job" income. Mind you, that's before taxes, since once the government gets their huge Self-Employment chunk, it will be a lot less. And I'm going to have to pay out a large amount in taxes, which isn't going to be fun. And to be honest, some of that is a reflection of the not-so-large size of my salary for running a not-for-profit shop and not working full time. But still, as a concept, it is kind of cool. You have to take your wins where you can find them.

That's all I got, folks. Tell me something cool that's happening in your life, okay?

11 comments:

  1. I am impatiently awaiting the arrival of my second grandchild! She could make her grand entrance at any time. I am one super excited Grandma! Hope that migraine fades soon. I get them too and they are miserable.

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  2. I'll have to take a picture of my Baba Yaga matryoshka doll. It's her on the outside, followed by her hut on chicken legs. Inside that is the egg, inside that is the needle. They looked at me like I was way way cray cray in Russia when I kept asking for Baba Yaga stuff. (Actually, I got the same response in Ireland trying to track down Pooka items...)

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    1. Gina, that sounds AMAZING. Only now I really, really, really want one!

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    2. http://tinyurl.com/nlj8dtr

      (Ebay FTW)

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    3. Wow! You rock :-) Is that what yours looks like?

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  3. That t-shirt is great! I'd love to win one, so if you could rig that for me that would be awesome.

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  4. I would totally wear that t-shirt. :)

    Some really cool things: booked house in Santa Cruz for Spring Break, will hit 10K on the WIP this week, and we're finally, finally, maybe (hopefully, please please) going to get some rain!

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    1. Santa Cruz! 10K! Rain!

      Wow...your cool is way cooler than my cool. Why am I not surprised?

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  5. Wow, my Russian is really rusty. Luckily I remember "lecu" means forest, thanks to a dinner at a restaurant that specialized in foods from the forest. Thanks to this wonderful internet, I found the translation, in case anyone is interested: The hut, the hut, turn your back to the forest, your front toward me.

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