It's true; she cannot be struck speechless.

I particularly loved that bit too, Erika. And Hil, that's lovely.

Hil, that's a beautiful, beautiful piece of work, there.

I'll like something, and someone Smarter Than Me will sneer at it, and explain all the reasons it was awful, and I'll feel dumb and unsophisticated and defensive.

Zenkitty, it doesn't make me feel remotely dumb. Part of my intense loathing for it, however, is that I suspect a lot of the practitioners out there of desperately wanting their interlocutors to feel dumb, which in turn makes me want to point at them and say rude things. It's not a pretty impulse, but it's there, so I just try and push the entire subject as far away from me as possible.

The other part of that is that, with my seventh novel coming out in 2005 and one of them sniffed at for a major award, I'm not quite so easy to dis (or disregard) on the issue. I also honestly don't care if people have problems with my wine tastes, or my reading tastes, or my art tastes or food tastes or any other form of taste.

I just don't have a lot of time for the sacred cow of culture (sorry, P-C, it's the old phrase), is all. People create things, or they don't create things. Other people react to the created things. The majority of people seem to enjoy doing that second option; I do it differently, and don't think my way is any less valid than anyone else's. Yes, I know, frighteningly arrogant. Such is life. But this is an old, old conversation, and I'm an idiot for jumping back into it.

And me out the door. Happy New Years, all.

Hil, I loved that.

leaving only the shadow tracings of her presence on the word.

Should that be world? (I honestly don't know, since both kind of work)

Thanks, everyone.

Should that be world? (I honestly don't know, since both kind of work)

No, I meant word. Lilith is only mentioned in Midrash and later commentaries; she's just kind of vaguely refered to in the written Torah.

erika, yours is extremely tight and powerful, with edgy humor and your unique voice, but for a wider audience than you usually write for. Extremely well done. And it looks great in print, too!

Hil, I loved yours. It does make me want to know more--and it could be about any two women and a man, at any point in history (okay, just typed hitstory--erika's rubbing off on me).

ita, yours, as always, is visceral and poky. As in, it pokes at me long after I've read it.

Ginger, yours--ow. Oh, ouch. Um. I remember your telling me about this. Somehow reading about it is worse.

The new websites are exciting. I can't wait to see more, of both.

Kristin is reading two of my early short stories. One was written when Jo was a newborn, the other in 1988 or thereabouts.

Share, please?

Thanks, Beverly. It'd have to be a wider audience, cause y'all are usually my audience. But that particular piece started with an audience of one.

Hil, I love your drabble. Intriguing stuff.

Tomorrow is the day I officially re-start Anna's story. It's normal that I've gone from being excited to being scared and balky, right? As in, "Why did I think I was a good enough writer to even attempt this story? And what if when I write it down it's nothing but a pale, mechanical thing, with none of the wild beauty and all-that-is-best-of-dark-and-light magic it has in my head?"

Normal, right? And feel free to bitch slap me to make me write it anyway.

Kristin is reading two of my early short stories. One was written when Jo was a newborn, the other in 1988 or thereabouts.

Share, please?

They are worth sharing. The first is just joyous and funny; the second is unbelievable, vividly frightening. Shirley Jackson-esque, truly.

That is way powerful, Hil. What an intriguing subject, too.

Normal, Susan. And, um, consider yourself bitch-slapped. You know you can do it, and make that magic on the page.

Oooh, I'd like to read those stories, too, Deb! I love short stories, and I've never been able to master them. And Gravekeeper, which I'm sure I forgot to tell you, was fantastic. I was so surprised by the first person narration, since I've only read your Ringan/Penny stuff, but it was dead on for this story.

You know you can do it, and make that magic on the page.

Well, at this point it's more like "hope" than "know." I'm a much less cocky writer than I was this time a year ago. In a way, that's good. I needed some humility, some willingness to learn from writers beyond the handful I acknowledge as masters. But I'd like to get some of that old Destined for Greatness, No Power in the 'Verse Can Stop Me feeling back. It helps me keep going.