Craig's Journal

1:16pm: The City in the Lake
Today is the official release date of The City in the Lake. This has been a long time coming, long enough that it managed to come as a surprise to me to find the date no longer in the future.

It's a young adult fantasy -- meaning, in this case, that it's aimed at teens and avoids sex scenes. I suppose some might question my objectivity in recommending it, given my supra-fraternal* interest in the author. But of course that would be an error: I'm not claiming that everyone I know is going to like it, just that it's a good example of its type. For instance, as a traditional fantasy with a purely invented setting, I don't know whether it will be to princeofcairo's taste, and of course mollpeartreehas the excuse that she doesn't actually like fantasy. Those of you without such excuses. . . well, let me know what you think.

There's a review here if you want a second opinion by someone who isn't a blood relation. Rachel herself has a webpage (on her site, mostly about her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel kennel) left over from when the book was accepted here, more about the process of writing, and getting the book sold, than what it's actually about. Aspiring authors may find that interesting.


* What should the equivalent term to fraternal be for sentiment towards one's twin? A quick search finds two Latin words for twins, but I am not finding an adjective derived adjective actually exists for geminus, -a or gemellus, -a. 

5:55pm: So there's good news and bad news
The good news is: no one was hurt, and I lost virtually none of my personal property.

The bad news is: there was a fire in my apartment building last week. The fire started in a wooden annex on the back of the brick building and -- at least on my upper floor -- the actual fire damage was entirely contained in that area. The only things I lost were a few items stored back there, none of it valuable or important. This considerably tempers the basic reaction of shock and horror, since it is so much better than what I was envisioning immediately after being informed. By the Fire Department investigator, incidentally, who called me at work under the mistaken impression that my landlord had already reached me with the basic news.

My first thought once I saw the place was that they would just tear off and replace the annex, do some fairly massive cleaning, and replace some windows and the locks on the doors the firemen broke down. However, it appears the other parts of the building sustained more serious damage, such that I'm now being told it will be four to six months before the building is again habitable. Under the circumstances, I don't expect that I will want to move back into the building from wherever I end up.

Since my brother has a house in the area, I'm staying with him while pursuing a hurried sort of apartment search. (And I got time off work, so that's good.) But my normal social activities, such as they are, will have to be curtailed for the moment: no gaming, and don't take it personally if I can't make it to, say, your Oscar party.

3:41pm: Lee Harris's book
As promised to mollpeartree a while ago, my thoughts on Lee Harris' Civilization and Its Enemies. This is less a review than a litany of complaints, I admit. Consider this a measure of my disappointment in the book.

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