it's a godawful small affair

 journal  4 Responses »
May 052008
 

The stitches are out, and the pathology is in: the love-heart shaped freckle1 must be cut out. In one of life's little ironies, I will probably end up having a few author photos taken on the day I travel to Sydney for the surgery. Let's hope I can arrange for the publicity to be pre-surgery, eh?

While I was away, the dayjob had the temerity to hire a new employee called Debbie. Thus ends my claim of at long last finding a workplace which featured only the one Deb. So far I'm Deb and she's Debbie, but confusion abounds and I suspect we're going to have to resort to surnames sooner or later. Just, you know, for a change.

  1. which is not, post-biopsy, so perfectly shaped any more [↩]

send me photographs and souvenirs

 journal  Comments Off
Apr 292008
 

Ah, the post-travel funk. I knew it would hit sooner or later. A vague but nagging ache from the freckle biopsy today suddenly has me feeling vicious and uncharitable.

Where are my mountains? Where are my Himalayan children and my stray dogs cheerfully escorting me on my way?

This is a snap of the main street of Paro (which is not the capital of Bhutan, but does sport the country's only airport). The dogs of Bhutan are an interesting breed — they all have stiff, brushy tails which curl over at the top. They are, one and all, strays. Given the rabies problem in the country, they are probably all infected. But they're cheeful little sods, with very little aggression, and they take their escort duties very seriously, picking up passersby and walking them wherever they should wish to wander. We picked up one dog on the first morning of our trek, a second dog that night, and no less than five dogs on the second evening. By the end of the trek I think we had more dogs than people.

The other thing they take seriously is their night-time barking competitions. The dogs organise themselves in packs, and send up a rousing chorus looooong into the night. After that kind of exertion, sleeping during the day is an absolute necessity. But in a median strip…?

everybody panic celebrate!

 journal, shadow queen, writing life  1 Response »
Apr 082008
 

It's been a whirlwind couple of days.

There was the visit to a dermatologist about a suspicious freckle: I'm scheduled for a biopsy on my return1, and probably surgery to remove said freckle when the biopsy results come back. If the concept weren't so terrifying, the freckle in question would be quite cute: it's a perfect love-heart shape.

There has been yet more shopping, but today should see the last of it: spending money for the trip. I am now the proud owner of monopoly US money!

Today also brought some good news in the form of cover art. Not that I actually have cover art, but my editor is gathering information to brief the artist, and I can't tell you how utterly thrilled I am at who's been commissioned. I'm not sure I'm allowed to spill the beans on that front, and maybe it's better to keep it a surprise until there's actual art, which I will doubtless adore and pet and call George.

Also, I can't remember if I blogged this already or not, but word on the publication date is now January 2009, which means my book should be on the shelves in time for Christmas shopping.

It's such a bizarre concept I think I'll run away to the Himalayas for a fortnight to contemplate it!

  1. the fact that the dermatologist is happy to wait 3 weeks to biopsy the freckle is a huge relief — I was beginning to imagine trekking through Bhutan with black eyes and a bandaged face from an immediate excision [↩]
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