Vylar Kaftan

I just realized some of my older friends (college friends, etc) haven’t seen me in years–and have never seen Shannon. So here’s a picture of us, taken last year. Yes, we have matching hats, which we get teased about a lot.

Since I never bother to change my LJ icon, I would like to use my professional picture. It’s located here:

http://www.vylarkaftan.net/about-me/

It’s also located as a file on my computer. Every time I try to upload it (either cropping it square, or not) it comes out fuzzy.

Anyone know why? Can anyone help me do it right, either by telling me how or (if you have good tools) just helping me do it?

ETA: Thanks, Peer! How does this look? It’s much better than my attempts.

In honor of Post a Rejection Letter Friday, I hereby offer you…

Rejections!

That’s right, folks. Just post a comment, and I will happily write you a rejection letter. It will be personalized. It will be random. And it will completely and utterly reject you.

And you can quote any of my rejection letters anywhere you want. Scout’s honor!

Who’s first?

ETA: Man, you guys are gluttons for punishment.

I have 15 heads of garlic. What should I do with them?

When I think about my goals and priorities for the coming weeks and months, I keep getting distracted by all the things I “should” have been doing for the past six months. I feel like I’m buried under an impossible mountain of to-do lists. One thing at a time, I know–but it just seems like I can never do all of this.

Also, I have trouble with unrealistic expectations.

One problem I’m having is that my physical environment is stressing me out. I’m a neat freak and this apartment has gotten out of control. The office is literally piled with junk. I cannot walk in there safely, nor reach shelves. I’m good at cleaning and organizing, but I dislike huge chores like this (I’m a “clean as you go” kind of person.) I don’t currently have the flexibility and stamina necessary to handle this.

At least the office door can stay closed.

What do you guys think? Try to do little cleaning tasks in the other rooms, and keep the office closed until I’m ready for it? Attack the office with Shannon’s help and confront some clutter that’s been there for years? I can’t decide which would help more–all the little cleaning/organizing tasks that are bugging me in the rooms I use most, or the awful nightmare of the office.

(As a side note, the reason I recognized what was happening here is that Shannon scrubbed, vacuumed, mopped, and dusted before I got home from the retreat… and it was fabulous. I felt much better about being in this environment. Have I mentioned that I love this man?)

Last December, SFWA put out a call to all active members to nominate some works for the Nebula. There was a flurry of activity.

Since stories lose eligibility after a certain period of time, I thought it made sense to read some stories now at mid-year and see what I want to nominate. I’d like to encourage other active members to do the same.

So! Anyone who has a short story or novelette that you want me to read and consider for nomination, I’ll do it. Just post here. I will read 1-2 works per person. If it’s not available online, you can email it to me. Or tell me it’s available from the Nebula site, where I can go find it.

If anyone wants to read my work, I suggest either Break the Vessel or Kill Me, both from Helix.

ETA: Yesterday I did hear about the drama surrounding Helix’s editor, as detailed here and here. I knew none of this when I submitted my story and signed the contract. I am greatly distressed by the incident. But I take contracts very seriously, and have one signed with Helix. Therefore, I am continuing to promote my stories as I normally would, and I hope my readers understand that.

If anyone prefers not to visit Helix, drop me a line and I’ll send you a copy myself.

I’m just finishing 10 days in lovely Chattanooga at a writers’ retreat. The Codex Writers met for a short workshop, with Ellen Datlow as our guest. We critiqued stories, and then we had a whole week dedicated to writing, brainstorming, walking in the woods, and getting poison ivy.

Just kidding about the poison ivy. But it was a close call.

We stayed at the house of Mary Robinette Kowal’s family, and they were the best hosts one can hope for. They have a guest house made of logs, and that’s where I stayed. Her dad plays the musical saw and we heard him perform the Star Trek theme. That was pretty amazing.

During the 7 days of retreat (after the workshop), I wrote 3 novel chapters (long ones), wrote 2 flash fiction pieces, revised 2 novel chapters, and brainstormed one story I hope to write when I get back.

This has been a wonderful experience and I’m so glad I came here. I’m heading home in a few hours, and while I’ll be glad to see Shannon again, I’ll miss the experience of the writing retreat.

It is impossible to escape a science fiction event without at least one or two new books stuck to you, like flies on flypaper.

This makes me so upset. Several Clarion West students were victims of a burglary in the house. Everyone is okay, but these students need new laptops. If you would like to donate towards helping these students, there’s information at the link.

I can’t imagine how awful it would have been to lose my laptop at the workshop. I will be helping out.

In this story, I just typoed a phrase as “Spam of Satan.”

I’m tempted to leave it as is.