I received a contract for "God-Shaped Box" from Hub Magazine!  I'm starting to think the Brits like me better than the Americans.  Seriously, though, I'm very excited about this.  I feel like "God-Shaped Box" is one of the most personal stories I've written, and it's one that is very close to my heart and my faith.  It's also perhaps one of the few stories I've written where violence, sex, and profanity are pretty much absent (there are some serious drugs, though).  I wrote this story as an exercise to prove to someone (namely myself) that Christianity can work in SF; that it's all about the writing and telling a good story.  So I'm really pleased Lee Harris at Hub accepted (and validated) it.

I'm not sure when it's going to go live, but you can bet I'll let you know when it does.

Thanks to prusik , garunya , bogwitch64 , Meg Rottman, and lisamia  who all read this and gave me some very good feedback and made it a better story.  You guys rock.

Emma was sick pretty much the whole weekend.  Actually, I think it started earlier in the week, but she didn't allow herself to succumb to it until Friday because she's that badass.  But, yeah, it was not a fun weekend for her.  So I took Claire to her gymnastics class Friday, dinner with my parents at Taco Surf that night.  Saturday, Claire and I went to Panera to get cinnamon crunch bagels for the three of us.  That afternoon, I took her to a one-year old's birthday party where they had a bounce house and heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches -- two of Claire's favorite things.  (She doesn't demand PB&J be heart-shaped.  Yet, at least.  I suppose that could all change now).  If Claire were to meet Jesus in heaven, I would not at all be surprised if he told her, "In my Kingdom, there are many bounce houses."  So we managed to have some fun while Emma rested.  I also got to read quite a bit of Spook Country and get some much-needed tennis shoes. 

For those keeping score at home, I *did* finish rewriting "The Gearaffe Who Didn't Tick" on Friday and sent it out to Shimmer.  I reworked the opening paragraph, rearranging a lot of it, adding parts, and all that.  I also added 1,000 words to the story, including a new scene, some more details of the setting, and got into a bit more specifics about the treasure the coalyote mentioned to Annabelle.  Thanks to everyone who helped me out with both the story and the opening paragraph.  I can't tell you how much it means to me.  

This has probably been the most difficult short story I can remember writing because it's so different from everything else I've done.  In other words, it has talking mechanical animals.  That said, in the end, I am terribly fond of it and proud of what I was able to turn out.  It will be interesting to hear other people's reactions.  (I wonder how many people submitted to the contest.)

Now, I think I need to start working on some sketches...

After spending years working on a story, it's amazing to let it go for a little while, let other people look at it, and have them voice some of the mistakes you've made in it.  Some of the mistakes, you know are there, but you still just can't figure out where exactly or how to fix it.  Maybe because you're too close to see it, nose buried into powerbook, eyes burning.  But it's a good thing.  An affirming thing, even, because now you have a much better idea of what's wrong, and start formulating a plan on how to fix it.