February
So February, short month, not a lot of time to waste, and how did I spend it?

Obviously, not updating my LJ!


Books read:
Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost-Finder - WH Hodgson.  I'd started this long ago, set it down, finally finished it.
Heart of Light - Sarah Hoyt
Flora's Dare - Ysabeau Wilce
Midnight Never Come - Marie Brennan
Mean Streets - Jim Butcher, Simon Green, Kat Richardson, Thomas Sniegoski
Tales of Unease - Arthur Conan Doyle
Agent to the Stars - John Scalzi
Unclean Spirits - MLN Hanover
Dead Man's Knock - John Dickson Carr
Deathwish - Rob Thurman

I'd somehow missed Carr's mysteries before.  I have to admit, after this one, I'm not sorry.  The characters made me crazy.  I wanted to smack them all with a stick. I don't know if Dead Man's Knock is a good example of Carr's storytelling or if I, with my usual mad skills, managed to pick up the least of a writer's works. 
My three faves for the month, and how nice I actually had to think about it!, were Flora's Dare, Midnight Never Come, and Deathwish.

What I have to show for myself:
Well, I didn't finish the Beasts, but I did put in 23K, and brought myself to 82K for the book, putting me within six scenes from the end.  So given that I have seven days before gwyndolin  and kijjohnson descend upon my house for a YAY, WE FINISHED OUR BOOKS party, I think it can be done and I can join in on the festivities with a free heart, rather than be banished, sulking, to a corner.
I wrote 3500 words on the Moon & the Devil, but didn't finish the story, mostly because I lost sight of the character, which is utterly devastating for me.  Character is the one thing my stories hinge on.  I am one scene from the end, and then I'll yank the sucker apart and make into an actual story rather than a collection of crazy words. Plus, I named my character Sally?  What the heck was I thinking?  I can't get enthused about a character named Sally!  (It makes me think of Sallie Mae and Sally Forth, neither of which are particularly inspiring.)
I wrote two more synopses, one for Lives Light as Thistledown, one for Threads. 
I wrote a few more lonely words (one scene) on the Burlesque story.
I outlined and wrote the opening scene for a SF story. 
So, ultimately I came up just short of 30K for the month.  Which is all manner of sad and pathetic. 
It's not that I want to be able to do Nano quantities of words each month--I know myself well enough to know my brain would explode into mush, and I'd spend all my time at the day job just gibbering--but I would like to aim for 40K a month. 

Life in General:
The day job was hellish busy; end of year tasks, plus finalising inventory.  (It's genuinely awesome how much clothing can be shoved into one building.)
Got ARCs for Sins & Shadows!  Who knew!  It's a real book!  More than Maledicte, more than Kings, it's surreal to see Sylvie in book format.  She's a character I've been playing with for years. 
I am horrifically terrifyingly behind on dealing with my taxes, so that's one real world thing that has to come first next month!  
I've also been watching Dollhouse.  I know there are a lot of people with problems with the show, but I have to admit to being hopelessly intrigued.  It's an appalling world he's created (as well as utterly implausible, but that's his gimme, and I'm allowing that!) and there are some clunkers in the pacing, but overall, I watch the show and come away from it feeling. . . intrigued and speculative.  That's always been one of my favorite things about Joss.  His writing is weirdly energizing to me.  There are shows I like but when they're over, it's like the brain comes back online, screaming about being shut down without permission.  There are shows that leave me with a weird lethargy and general irritation--sort of my own personal kryptonite.  And then there's Joss--televised energy bars for my brain.  This isn't to say I think he's perfect--there are many many things he has done that make me shriek with irritation and rage--but somehow his stories just generally work for me, on a level that's not even conscious. 

Currently reading: Living with Ghosts by Kari Sperring. 
Should be: working on Beasts.