My google-fu is weak. What is the gas tank of an Audi A8 made of? Is it plastic? Steel?
I can find the size, and I can find plenty of aluminum tank caps, but nothing about the tank itself.
I did find a mention online that the A6 fuel tank is plastic at the top, but I need to know what the bottom is.
We have our first muggy, rainy day in a while, and after a short, brisk walk I find myself… sticky. Gross. Time to go home for a shower.
For some reason, I’m still struggling with the end of Man Bites World. I have no idea why, but I’m pretty unhappy about my progress. Usually, I struggle with a scene because I’m doing something wrong with it, somehow, but in this case I’m pretty sure I have it worked out nicely. I just can’t seem to focus on it. Bad me.
Earlier today, I dropped off a copy of Child of Fire (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble online, Borders, Powell’s, Mysterious Galaxy, Indiebound.org) with the owner of the bookstore that’ll be hosting my signing. I wanted her to see what she was getting in for, not to mention ask if there was anything she’d need. As it turns out, I need to print up a copy of my author photo for her. No biggie.
Now I need to pick up some thank you cards, my library holds and head home. I have to introduce my son to Godzilla movies and get started on those speed reading books I’ve been meaning to tackle.
As Monk often says: “Here’s the thing…”
One of the quirkly little personality traits that so endears me to my wife is that I can be extremely stressed-out or depressed without knowing it. I get sullen, crabby, pessimistic, and withdrawn for anywhere from two weeks to a month, eating badly and staying up too late, then it suddenly dawns on me that hey, maybe I’m depressed.
“Denial,” she calls it.
Anyway, this is an actual conversation I had at work today.
Co-worker: Your book comes out this month, right?
Me: Yep. Just under three weeks from now.
Co-worker: Omigod! Are you excited?
Me: No.
Which… yeah. Denial. I’m not jumping around or drumming my fingers on my knees, but I am vaguely naseous and stressed out. I have been kicking my own ass for my lack of productivity lately (Man Bites World has been impossible to write–it’s like rolling a giant ball of sloppy wet clay uphill.) but hey, maybe that’s because I’m nervous? Maybe because I’ve been writing since I was very, very small and now, 35+ years later I’m about to finally be put to the test?
And that if I fuck this up I’ll have to start over again?
It’s a lot easier to deal with my stress when I recognize that it’s there. At least, I hope it will be.
Three books I’ve written in first person. Three. (Well, two point nine books–I’m almost finished the third).
You’d think I wouldn’t accidentally slip into third person anymore, but you’d be wrong.
I’m going to compile a bunch of random things into this post and publish them all at once.
1) via geniusofevil: Heat Wave: Richard Castle is a real writer!
2) I’ve been going back and forth on some common euphamisms. Yesterday, in a comment, I used the term “godsend.” Is that a word an atheist should use? I think not, obviously, since it bothers me. In the few stolen moments I had to type out the comment, I couldn’t come up with an alternative that said the same thing.
Except there’s “ghu” or “ghod” but I think of that as an SF fandom thing, and I’m not part of that community, either. Sometimes I write “Thank Pikachu” or whatever as a joke, even though at this point I’m the only member of my household who thinks Pikachu is cool.
I don’t really have a point. This is just something I’m thinking about.
3) Nicholas Kristof on the myth that government can’t do health care. And yeah, I spent way too much time yesterday arguing health care on John Scalzi’s blog.
3a) Arguing about health care on the web makes me hate the universe!
4) PW’s newly focused blog, Genreville (verdict: interesting so far) offers Lev Grossman the opportunity to knock over some straw men. He accepts.
6) Man builds house out of Legos.
7) Work on Man Bites World continues slowly, but this is a really difficult section. Very different from what I’ve been doing before, and I’m going to have to revise it significantly once I straighten out in my mind how the protagonist would react to extremely strange events.
But Man Bites World has been difficult lately. I have a great deal of work left to do with it before I send it to my agent, but that’s not going to happen unless I can start making my daily goals.
Actually, I’ve been hoping to double them. Ha!
I’m sure things will go better once I establish a groove.
I’m at a very difficult, very painful part of the book, and I have to stop right now or I’m not going to get home in time to relieve my wife of parenting duties. I can’t make her late for work because I wanted to reach the end of a scene.
fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
In other news, I’m really amazingly happy with the way Man Bites World is wrapping up (which means my agent and editor will probably be horrified).
I’m at the Starbucks, writing. The guy across the table working on his laptop is humming to the music, and doing it in a way that makes me think it’s not conscious at all.
Argh. Must focus.
I can not understand why the characters in this book insist on chatting so much. Can’t we just jump straight to the violence? Please?
Also, I can not make the links on the right sidebar (on my blog, for those reading this on LiveJournal) rearrange themselves into the order I want.
I attribute both problems to a sleepless night and really awful dreams.
And my wordcount on Man Bites World is currently lower than when I started. ::sigh::
In happier news, my email was correctly backed up, and I haven’t lost any of it. Yay!
Also, my website needs many changes. Many. Good thing I have so much free time. X___X