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.

That's why you've got to keep telling yourself, "No power in the 'verse can stop me"... It sounds trite but I think it helps.

Susan, why not stop overthinking, and just write the thing?

For those who want to read those short stories, I'm happy to send. Bev, I think you've read one of them: "I Am The Lion" is in the PariSalon4665 anthology, and you have that, yes? The other is "Soundstrike".

Someday, I will dig out the one I wasn't as happy with, "The Mother of Ghosts." Too preachy at the end - the damned thing got away from me.

Yes, I love "I Am The Lion". I would like to read "Soundstrike," and if you're ever ready to let go of "The Mother of Ghosts," I'd like to read it too.

Is Burden of Memory talking to you, any?