That's fantastic, Allyson! Even if I didn't know you, I'd buy the book on the strength of that pitch.

What I've been up to while I've been missing:

The inaugural issue of "The November 3rd Club," an online literary journal of political writing, is now live on the Web at [link] featuring the poetry, fiction and nonfiction of:

MARK AMES, TONY BROWN, JANE CASSADY, LEA C. DESCHENES, JERRY GARCIA, THERESA CECILIA GARCIA, ELIZABETH P. GLIXMAN, LIZ GONZÁLEZ, S.A. GRIFFIN, BOB HOEPPNER, JOSEPH HUTCHISON, RACHEL KANN, DAVID MACPHERSON, DANIEL MCGINN, RICHARD MODIANO, GABRIEL ROSENSTOCK, ELIZABETH ROSS, SKIP SHEA, JACKIE SHEELER, THOMAS R. SMITH, MARC SOLOMON, ELLA SPRINK, J.E. STANLEY, TODD SWIFT, FISH VARGAS, LAURA LEE WASHBURN and LENORE WEISS.

Brought to you by the editorial work of myself, Richard Beban, Ray McNeice, Michelle Ben-Hur, Carlye Archibeque and Sam Hamill, and the web mastery of Lea Deschenes.

Enjoy, tell us what you think and keep an eye out for our publication readings in Los Angeles, Worcester and elsewhere this October!

Victor, that looks damned good. Grabbing and beautifully laid out.

Allyson, one other thing that you would have to pay for. AFTER the copy edits are done and IF you then decide you want to change something, the cost of that is on you. A friend of mine suddenly decided to change her hero's name. When she found out what it would cost to reset the entire book, she left it alone.

Remember, this is AFTER the publisher has said that's it. So make any changes during the copy edit phase.

Victor, that looks damned good. Grabbing and beautifully laid out.

Thanks. I'm EXTREMELY pleased with it.

Hey, it cut through my rejection issues. Changing the world ought to be simple after that shit, babe, not to worry.

Rain drabble. Just some stuff that I haven't been able to get out of my head all week.

October 2, 2002

Rain drips down my dorm room window. The windows are already rattling, but they’ve rattled during every storm this year – I picked this dorm because I love old buildings.

My friends are down the hall, online, watching the “worst-case scenario” animation of the city flooding. I told them that this one can’t do that, but didn’t even convince myself. The Weather Channel is on mute now.

The sky is an eerily pink color. “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight.” I leave the blinds open and the TV on, grab my teddy bear off his shelf, and try to sleep.

Hil, that is awesome. Also, very topical.

It's damned good, and vivid as well. One thing that made me blink: eerily pink colour. Something in the structure there - no idea what, but I can't shake the feeling it ought to be either an eerie pink colour, or else just eerily pink.

I may, however, be talking entirely out of my arse.

I am both made proud by and distressed by the following: I put up a gag newspaper account of the Republican response to a very stupid hypothetical accidental demise of mine in Victor's November3 lj, and apparently someone passing by, whom I don't think I know, wanted cites because he thought it was real. Proud because my Journalistic style hasn't gone completely south, and distressed because this guy wouldn't think it strange for the President to be quoted as saying "Ours is not to reason why. Stick a needle in your eye." Or maybe he just read my "lede". Anyway, bwah ha ha! And I am too good enough for AP...so yay me.(It is crossposted to my lj if anyone wants to read it.) I feel like such a genius right now. (But I also don't believe that shit. I disclaimered it too, saying if sick jokes bothered people, they'd be better served by reading something else.)