Random items of a Friday evening...

It may be old and dirty, but it works great,
and by god, it's kitty-proofed!! 

Hot
Well, there's one advantage to having a somewhat wee condo - you can cool it down with one window unit air conditioner and a fan. And as I said to a friend recently, chocolate does taste better in the heat. Melty chocolate!!

Don't laugh at my fan - it is an awesome fan. It's like 20 years old, and just so powerful. The plastic slats in the back got brittle and started breaking off a few years back, which wouldn't be that big a problem, except I worried the cats would stick their paws in, so, using the principle of darning socks, I kitty proofed.

Mr. Crane scorns this fan. He went out and got another fan a few years ago, a shiny new plastic thing, and it has already broken, but not this baby! It is now hard at work circulating the air. Can you believe this heat? I went running today and I still don't feel right. Totally brutal.

Elsewhere
Do you do this - go through word phases, and you take a shine to a certain word and use it a lot? I'm going though that with the words wee and elsewhere. Wee I like for its subtle comic value. Wee really has tons of attitude; you find this out when you start using it.

But Elsewhere! This is a hell of a word. Coy and powerful. It forces sentences into a specific and singular order, and then it arranges their collar and makes them sit up straight. Like a mean, mysterious nanny. I am so into the word elsewhere.

Deadly Destinations
There's a really fun event this month over at All Things Urban Fantasy and Dark Faerie Tales called Deadly Destinations. It's authors being sort of summer tour guides to their novel settings and giving away tons of books. I'll be there in a week, giving away a copy of Wild & Steamy!!

More excellent series-kickoff books for temporary sunshine prices for kindle!
With all my ballyhooing of Nicole's cheapie dealio (see last post) I didn't realize TWO other leaguers have cheapie deals right now. Sunshine is on many shoulders!

• Richelle Mead's Succubus Blues is only $3.99
• Jaye Wells' Red-headed Stepchild is only $1.99
• And there's Nicole's Tempest Rising: $1.99

I will admit this is a particularly insane detail;
note that a piece of the back is simply hanging
by the string. Well, it just is.

Three great opportunities to give three excellent, popular series kick-off books a test drive. I've heard this lasts through Sunday, and also, until the 27th. I don't know which thing is right.

A rare moment in the Crane household
I'm about to finish edits on the still-not-named book #3 which will fly into my agent's hands on Monday, and I recently finished a major part of a different new series project that is elsewhere.

So basically, on Monday, I will have a totally clean fiction plate, and I don't think the day job will be crazy. I think it's kind of a rare occurrence, and I'm excited for it. It means I can write whatever the hell I please during my special morning writing time. I have an idea for the best-ever new series, but I'm also thinking of doing a Simon novella, or doing a Christmas novella of some sort. I think I'll decide when I get there.

Adrian!!!!!!!!
I'm such a fan girl of Joanna Bourne, I had to trot out to her blog to see just when the heck Adrian's book is coming out, a book I've been waiting for since like 2009 when Spymaster's Lady, one of the best books ever written, blew my socks off.

I found a treat there: the Adrian cover. And an excerpt. And it will be out in November!!! The heroine of this book is named Justine. A fine name, Ms. Bourne! Godspeed to you on the edits!!