2011 Top Ten Awesomenesses
6. Beach (for our second honeymoon/pre-emptive babymoon) and sandcastle
Getting rescued by firemen was cool too.
2011 was somewhat dominated by pregnancy and pregnancy-related illness, but there were a few other really cool things going on: I wrote and edited a steampunk novel; CJ’s brother got engaged (CJ and Louisette and I will all be visiting Hong Kong and Beijing next year for the wedding – and blogging about it, naturally); and my sister and her family told me they’ll be living in Canberra (for at least a year) from June 2012. We had dramas with disappearing cats, a ceiling collapse, and nearly going to court over a paperwork issue – but it all worked out in the end.
Your Christmas Cthulhu
On our honeymoon, CJ and I went to the Wharf restaurant in Merimbula. The food is great and the location stunning. There was only one problem – we forgot to take any money. CJ went home to get some, and the staff invited me to wander downstairs for free – where there happens to be an aquarium.
That was the day I met my new favourite animal: the giant cuttlefish. It has a face full of tentacles, and it stared at me with as much interest as I stared at it.
When we went on our second honeymoon early this year, one of my greatest hopes was to see my betentacled friend once more. It was still there (along with a new, smaller one), and twice the size as it was two years earlier.
So here it is: nature’s cthulhu. You’re welcome – and Merry Christmas.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEcmq1pfa0M&list=UUV1ouIamDXynbdULuW4-FZw&index=1&feature=plcp
Tomorrow: The top ten awesomenesses of 2011, with pictures and links.
“The Difference Engine” by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling
What is the difference between this book and a good book?
The rest of this review is at Comfy Chair, where I get paid for it.
Brothers from afar
Probably the best thing about Christmas (and, in some cases, the worst) is that family members come home to visit. CJ’s younger brother lives in Beijing (we’ll be visiting HIM for his wedding in 2012 – and blogging all the way), and he’s currently right here in Canberra – this is CJ’s entire immediate family, plus his maternal grandmother.
I’m counting the days until my sister and her husband and daughter arrive.
Good to go
I’m at 36 weeks today, with less than a month until the due date. If I went into labour now, Louisette would be premature (and delivered in hospital rather than the birthing centre), but the staff wouldn’t try to stop the labour. In one week, she’ll no longer be premature.
CJ and his brother were both born at around this stage in the pregnancy, so we always promised each other to be good to go by now – and we are. The labour bag is as packed as it can be; CJ has moved his computer out of the study/baby’s room; the bassinet and cot are both set up; the car seat is installed in the car.
It is great for me to see everything in order, and it’s a nice way to remind myself that I’ll soon be able to brush my teeth twice a day, EVERY day! and so much more. Oh, and I’ll get to meet my daughter too.
For the last week, my nausea has increased again, including cramps every day and just general silliness from my digestive system. It turns out there is a very good reason: Louisette has begun heading for the exit!
There are five “stations” between a normal baby locale and the “fully descended” position. Louisette is at the first station. Some babies don’t descend at all until partway through labour (others are positioned the wrong way up for ages, sometimes leading to an extra painful breech birth). Louisette, however, is perfectly positioned for labour. The fact that she’s partly descended means two wonderful things:
1) Unlike my mother, I will probably not need to be induced due to extreme lateness.
2) I probably won’t have to push as long when I am in labour.
It is hugely encouraging to know that things are genuinely happening in a giving-birth direction.
Community Christmas Carols
Every year, Woden Valley Alliance Church (or WVAC, which sounds like a new hoover in an infomercial) holds a free all-welcome BBQ and fun day, with face painting, a jumping castle (which adults aren’t allowed on – how unfair is that?), and of course Christmas carols and Santa and lollies (who arrived in a jeep this year, barely making it onto the scene before a massive storm erupted overhead – usually he rides a Harley Davidson). CJ and I never miss it.
It’s so good when a church manages to do something that is well organised and genuinely enjoyable for absolutely anyone who shows up.
CJ offered to play his bass with the carols this year, so I took my chance and stole a paparazzi shot of him.
Christmas on the interwebs
Christmas and New Year’s Day are two of the slowest and dullest days on the internet each year, so I’ve prepared three special blog entries just for you.
Christmas Eve: Something special from the watery depths (tentacles most definitely included).
Christmas Day: Top ten awesomenesses of 2011 (it turns out my year wasn’t nearly as dull as I remember).
New Year’s Day: Sarcastic Christmas letter.
You’re welcome, internet! You deserve love after giving us this:
Steampunk motorcycle
Need I say more? There are plenty to choose from, right here. Unfortunately the pictures don’t want to load today, so here’s a picture of a cat instead (for those of you too tired to click on the link).
How good are your chances?
I’m a big fan of US agent Kristin Nelson’s blog, and one of the things I love is her transparency. If you look here and here, you can get a good idea of how many queries, samples, and full manuscripts get to the next stage at her agency. She is a successful agent with a strong web presence, so I imagine she gets more queries than the norm – but I also think she has the capacity to accept more books than a tiny agency. Therefore, I think the rate of these statistics gives a good general idea of how difficult it is to get an agent in the USA.
Getting an agent is not at all the same thing as getting published, but I think your chances of getting published with an agent are about 80% – more for someone of Kristin’s calibre. Which is a huge amount compared to the 1 in 10,000 shot of the average unpublished novel.
“Clockwork Angel” by Cassandra Clare
Some of you will know Cassandra by the last name Claire, from when she wrote the Secret Diaries of the Lord of the Rings. (Very rude, very funny.)
When I read her original trilogy (very very quickly), my reaction was, “If only Twilight was like this!”
“Clockwork Angel” is the first book in a prequel series called “The Infernal Devices”.
The rest of this review has been moved to Comfy Chair, where I get paid for it.
