Grab Bag

I woke up to a foggy Christmas Eve day here at Jones Central, but then here in our tower by the Sea of Monsters it’s often foggy in the mornings.

There’s an awful lot that’s been going on around here, so this morning’s post is a little scattered. Good press for The Bones of the Old Ones continues to roll in, so I’ve updated the official page with some new quotes that link to the reviews. And, as I mentioned yesterday, there’s an e-book promotion going on right now until January 7th. My British publisher is offering e-copies of The Desert of Souls for only 1 pound. (That’s a British pound, not a pound of, say, peanut butter fudge.)

Once my high-school-aged son finished finals he was quickly buried in The Bones of the Old Ones, which he snagged from the living room table. Anyone with kids knows that they don’t necessarily like the same things you do. My son is polite and well-behaved, so if he’d found my book dull or didn’t like it he might have pleaded that he’d gotten distracted or had lots of things he needed to do over the break. He would have saved my feelings. But he loved it. Now, there are lots of cool things about being an author — about being able to have the job I’ve dreamed of doing since I was a little kid — but listening to him talk about his favorite parts was a wonderful moment, and one I never expected.

Speaking of my son, he had a pretty vivid Star Trek dream the other night. Every now and then I’ll dream I’m tuning in the television to discover a new episode, and John O’Neill tells me he’s dreamed the same thing. Maybe a lot of geeks our generation (mid 40s) who grew up watching Star Trek reruns have them. I loved the show so much that I really didn’t want the adventures to end. Anyway, I’ve subjected my son and daughter to my favorite episodes over the years, and he woke up the other day having had a Star Trek dream complete with Klingons working behind the scenes to foment a war that Kirk avoided, and concluding with one of those patented Kirk anti-war speeches. My dreams are never especially coherent, but his had a complete plot arc and resolution, which made me a little envious.

Typing all the time without a desk or a table is starting to give me an arm cramp, and I’m going to have to do something about my work space. My mom’s living in the room I had been using for an office and we’re still nowhere close to having the basement ready as a little apartment for her, so I need to take action before I end up with carpal tunnel or something.

Over the holidays I’m hoping to step away from the laptop to spend some time with the family. There will be presents exchanged. My favorite part of the holidays is watching people open presents, which is why I’m usually the last one to open myself (I’m usually the guy with the camera). This year I’m not expecting as many “oh wow” moments. The kids are getting older and most of their presents are more practical things, but I’m sure that there will be some smiles.

I’m most hoping for some rare books, a CD of the band Tinted Windows (with one of the guys from Fountains of Wayne,) and the most recent Conan graphic novel. One of my sisters and her daughter sent a care package that included peanut butter fudge –made with the proper peanut ratio that almost all store-prepared fudge seems to get wrong — but, alas, it has already been devoured.

It is hard to believe that it will be 2013 soon, and that before too long after I’ll be heading to Terre Haute for a book signing, and then to Detroit for the ConFusion fantasy and science fiction convention. The days are just shooting by.

Here’s my sincere wishes to all of you to have a safe and happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Robonica, or whatever else you have!