Ah, finally, time for a sane post! Life continues to go swimmingly in La Vida Cellie. Here, have a recap:

Last Thursday (as in a week from yesterday), I saw Tori Amos in concert for the first time, and she was excellent. She’s such a strong performer! Playing two pianos at once = pretty awesome. I can’t even play one piano.

As I alluded to before, work has been somewhat mad lately, but madness breeds humor and silliness, so all is good. In addition to my usual duties assembling characters, I did some work painting body textures, drawing heavily on the anatomy lessons from my figure modeling class. Mmm, anatomy! I need to find time to do some drawing soon. I need to experience Dr. Sketchy’s.

Speaking of art, I mentioned the other day that Dabel Brothers Publishing is making the Dresden Files into graphic novels. Well, the news gets COOLER! I can now reveal that I’ve been brought in as a Thematic Consultant, meaning that I, along with Jim and the other two Consultants, will be the first to see the artwork as it comes out. We give our thoughts on the artwork and help keep everything canon-friendly. We got to suggest the scenes depicted for the promotional posters, and the art we’ve seen so far is EXTRAORDINARY. I can’t wait until it’s revealed to the public! Also, our names will be credited. Yes, we are awesome. :D

This weekend, I’m going to York, Pennsylvania, to attend a Halloween bash at the home of Courtney and Ryan, the coolest couple EVER, whom I met at the PA Shindigs. Kristin, hostess of the Shindigs, is giving me a ride. Many of the attendees are part of the Star Wars 501st, so I’ll be among fellow costuming enthusiasts! A splendid time is guaranteed for all. Also, I just found out that Ko, roommate extraordinaire, will be in New York next week, so it’ll be all kinds of fun to catch up with her life. Also, it’s likely we’ll meet up with Veronica, who was my favourite professor at Penn. She taught the Feminist Fairy Tales course, which changed the way I view storytelling and revision.

In other news, I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. My daily commute allots me about an hour of reading time per day, which I didn’t realize I so desperately craved until it was imposed upon me. I’m currently reading Robin McKinley’s Sunshine, which is excellent. I read her Deerskin in said much-beloved Fairy Tales class last year, and it became my favourite book of the course. This summer, I read Beauty, which was also wonderful, and The Blue Sword is now on my shelf, jockeying for a position on my To-Read list. Mmm, such a great author!

Recently, I have read:

• Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series. It’s a lot more lightweight than my usual fare, but it’s cute and fun and the literary equivalent of popcorn. Good stuff.
• The Amulet of Samarkand, Jonathan Stroud. Delightfully complex and dark for something billed as a children’s book. I’ll be returning to this series before too long.
• Unshapely Things, Mark del Franco. Solid urban fantasy.
• Something From the Nightside, Simon R Green. Mmm, more urban fantasy. While the characters could be tedious at times, I love the inventiveness and atmosphere.
• Zorro, Isabel Allende. My mom has been harping at me to read this book for months, and now I know why! This book is extraordinary. Vivid, compelling characters and lush descriptions bring to life the early years of the man who would become Zorro.
• “Rats,” Veronica Schanoes. A darkly powerful short story published in Interfictions that makes some excellent comments on the nature of fairy tales and storytelling.
• The First Among Sequels, Jasper Fforde. Oh my good lord, I’d forgotten how much I adore this series! These books are so smart and witty, my brain does a little dance of appreciation. I need to go back and read all the Thursday Next books RIGHT NOW. And I need to give Fforde’s nursery crime series a second chance. The fact that they are not Thursday books is not a valid criticism.
• His Majesty’s Dragon, Naomi Novik. First in the Temeraire series, which has been pitched as “Master and Commander, with Dragons.” It’s refreshingly novel, written in a style very different from the sci-fi/fantasy I’ve been reading lately. I wasn’t compelled to immediately pick up the next books in the series and devour the lot in one gulp, but I’ll probably return to it before too long.
• Making Money, Terry Pratchett. While not as spectacular as Going Postal, it was still nevertheless crazy, crazy fun, and I adored sharing head space with Moist again.

I love you, New York Public Library.

And now, gotta pack!