Death and other funny people

Well, the big story I referred to in previous posts is now officially a very rough draft sitting around 8600 words. That's the longest story I've ever written, and I'm not sure if I'm in control anymore. It's developed its own mind, it's own stink, even. I'm a short story writer. Novels are great, and I plan to write one someday, but to have a treacherous little story start sprouting cancerous growth in plot twists and weird subtexts, really pisses me off. Little buggers, I'll teach you to stab me in the back.

On a lighter note: Estigma de Cain tagged me to write 5 things you don't know about me. Hmm, lemme see.
1. When I was a kid, I used to have short dreams strung one after the other like commercials. The setting changed every ten seconds and you never knew if the next dream you were going to get would be a nightmare. Surprise! Horror!
2. When I'm studying medicine, I imagine the various diseases and organs as having their own personalities and voices. It's the only way to stay interested in this crap after 8 straight hours of memorizing.
3. One of my best friends just had her fist baby today. It's the fist baby to be born in our group of friends and I can already feel the philotes twinning around her. Welcome to the conyugato!
4. The keyboard to my laptop is broken, so I write on an old plug-in keyboard. The battery is also broken which means my computer has as many cables coming out of it as a conventional desktop. Not very portable at all.
5. I like chocolate in anything but ice-cream. Everything includes Mexican mole.
Ok, so now leaf and beth, it's your turn.

My brain is busted today from that story/novel wannabe. Excuse the grammar, spelling, typos, and general lack of sense.

Some people are just evil

"Godtouched" is up at Strange Horizons

My short story "Godtouched" is up at Strange Horizons

It's nice to see the story up there. Let's see how everyone likes it

Pity me

I'm trying to rewrite a story that I wrote some two years ago and which sucked greatly in it's original version.
The problem is that the little shit is now trying to turn into a novel. I'm at 3000 words and it hasn't even begun, I just have all these leukemic kids in a stolen car in France on their way to nowhere. Death looms over them. In fact, Death is driving.
At the same time I'm reading Oracle Night by Paul Auster. Paul Auster is not the kind of reading you want to be doing when you want your plot to progress at a reasonable speed. So far, I've resisted the temptation to put footnotes in every page to illustrate the character's genealogy up to the upteenth degree, but I have quite a bit of exposition. I'm not sure how this will read when I'm not too tired to read.
The story looks fantastic, I'm not just sure I can pull it off
Pity me.

But, what the hell, here's to my Finnish friends

Non-writing related good news

I'm getting published (as a co-author) and it's not in a fiction venue.

Last year when I was in France I worked on a very interesting case (Medicine, guts and all that). My teachers said that it would be difficult to put my name on the paper because there were too many doctors who had participated and I was only a student. Well, turns out they have managed to put me up there as a co-author.

This is so cool. I think I'll get points for this for my internship exam and it'll sure look cool in a CV.

I'm really grateful to these people for giving me the opportunity not only to work with them, but also for giving me all that credit (which, quite frankly, I'm not sure I deserve). Not to mention taking the trouble to track me down after I'd left the country in order to have me send them my full name and signature.

I would have never managed to get my name on a scientific paper in Spain. I'm so glad I made the decision to spend a year in France.

Strange Horizons

For the last couple of days, I've been working with Karen (one of the editors of SH) to get my story "Godtouched" ready for publication. Going through a story I wrote some nine months ago has been an interesting experience. My writing has changed a lot since then, but I still like that story as much as the day I wrote it.
It was also interesting to have a story professionally edited; I already knew that my grammar and spelling needed work, but I this was a whole new level.
Anyway, I'll post again when the story is out. I really hope you guys like it.

REPTILIAN HUMANOID SEX ED

Things every girl over 15 should know.

Reptiles lay eggs. Male reptiles also lay eggs, but only in the privacy of their own homes where they can't be spotted by the determined Reptilian Humanoid zoologist, and they never admit to it in public, not even when threatened with dismemberment.
But they do, oh, how they do.
RH eggs vary in sizes and shapes. Because RH control the Government, the Industry, The World and, well, just about Everything, they can make their eggs look like common everyday objects. The smallest of reptilian eggs usually adheres to the leafs of things-- like lettuce. Don't worry about eating them-- anything that serves to cull the reptiles is a good thing.
The biggest RH eggs have sometimes been described as Minis. Human collaborators usually use them as means of transport, so if you see a Mini, don't hesitate to kill the humans inside. The Mini is a clear example of a vehicle conjured up in the wrong side of the sheets, a Machiavellian invention of ophidious cunning and a perfect incubator in disguise. Just look at the Mini web page. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you see this? Sleek, no? Well, "sleek" is clearly the mark of the reptile. Because it sounds like slick and that sounds like lick, and that sounds like gooey reptile saliva. So there.
Another thing teens should remember, is that RH have been known to hit on Human females. Why they do it, no one knows, but why does a dog lick his ass? (because it can). But remember, no matter how hot a Reptile looks, he only wants you to make eggs, or ride Minis. And you don't want that girl, do you?
So, here is a list of common RH flirts, in case any of you innocent little girls should come across a Reptilian Humanoid in disguise. All of these are 100% true and have happened to me or my Reptile Fighting Friends.
Remember, these are not just random things that came up in a conversation. These pearls were dropped by the frothing mouths of reptiles disguised as male humans who walked up to a girl (sometimes underage) and said this as their first pick-up line.
Next to each one, you will also find the correct response to avoid further trouble.

((Warning: not for fragile stomachs or children))

"Got a man?" Answer: Yes (and proceed to dismember)

"Want a man?" Answer: No (and proceed to dismember)

"How do you feel about oral sex?" Answer: flip the bird. If your religion forbids this, proceed directly to dismemberment.

"I like purple dresses" Answer: OK, this might not be from a RH. It could just be an incredibly stupid guy, but just in case. Dismember. If there's green blood all over the place, it was a Reptile. If not, Darwinism.


BTW: in case you were wondering: ophidious is something perfidious in which ophidians participate