i. Dude. Where's my pre-order of "The Sweet Far Thing?" Day late, dear Amazon. It was a pre-order, therefore, it should be here now. I said now, bitches. *kicks Amazon* Usually, these guys treat me fairly well - the amount I've saved on shipping alone is great, but *clenches fists* this is Libba Bray we're talking about. This is the final freaking book in the series. So hello! Ship it to me already goddamnit!

ii. My X-Mas went very well, thank you. All three days worth. The relatives are still here, so I haven't quite had a moment to myself. My father's starting to get a little stir crazy, definable by the fact that he's started talking about museums he'd like to visit and movies he wants to go see with me (I've reserved seeing "The Golden Compass" so I can go with him. My daddy likes fantasy.) My mother, I think, may have developed a complex from the fact that my dad and I really spoiled her this year. She got the biggest gifts from both of us, and every time she mentions her gratitude she gets this guilty tone in her voice and manages to look embarrassed. It's kind of funny. if only for the fact that she doesn't realize how much she holds the house together, or how much she's done for me personally - especially for my education. The hell is a deep fryer compared to several years worth of tuition, you know? Oh, I'm spoiled. I know it. I'm also eternally grateful for being spoiled.


iii. Speaking of spoils: Cash and books. O.O Hardcore bookage.(Hardcore cashage too, for that matter, but thinking about it prompts me to want to go shopping which I have no intention of doing this week with all the crazies out at the malls. Boxing Week? Yeah, no.) Honest to god, that's all I really wanted. I have need for very little these days, other than decent reading material. "Decent reading material" manifested as a shitload of non-fiction and fiction and New Orleans-centric reading material (which has caused my heart to start hurting again. It happens every year. Like clockwork. *sigh*):

Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs by Stephanie Rose Bird
I've poked at this book each time I've visited our local magical supply store in Montreal. I don't have any books that deal specifically with hoodoo in my library, so this is a first. I know the taboos between Western magic and African-derived magic tend to be rather different in that Western magic leans heavily on the threefold law - harm none because whatever you do returns to you. Hoodoo's definitions of "do" and "don't" tend to be a little more nebulous.

Jambalaya: The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals by Luisah Teish
Same deal. Hoodoo but with a personal bent - heavily references Yoruba and Dahomey, though the practice she outlines is in reference to New Orleans hoodoo.

Mortician Diaries: The Dead-Honest Truth from a Life Spent with Death by June Nadle
I think I was expecting something a little more along the lines of Thomas Lynch's "The Undertaking." Quirky mortuary studies? This is turning out to be a bit more of a grief counseling handbook. :/ So not what I was after.

Orleans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carre by TJ Fischer
OMG. No, seriously - this book is aweeeeeesome. It's a massive hardcover that is packed with information, anecdotes and photographs of New Orleans French Quarter. I was looking for inspiration for The Ante/Bats, and this is how its manifested. Freaking incredible. Moreover, the "garden" side of the book packs in the side of the Quarter you don't often get to see. The French style of building puts the buildings of the Quarter directly on the sidewalk (the banquette), with room for private garden courtyards in the back. So you get to see the facades of the buildings with all the fancy ironwork and gabling, but rarely do you ever glimpse the lush greenery behind them. I am utterly charmed.

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black
Wow, hello! Talk about dark. I'm still a little staggered by this series - the content is not something I would have expected from a YA novel at all. In fact, these books are harder and heavier and grittier than some of the contemporary horror that I've read in recent years. I totally recommend them, but if I had kids, I don't think I'd let them read these books until they'd reached a decent age.

Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie by Holly Black
See above. o.O I actually prefer "Tithe" and "Ironside" to "Valiant", but that's just me. Lolli rubbed me in all the wrong ways in this book.

Stones and Bones of New England: A Guide to Unusual, Historic, and Otherwise by Lisa Rogak
I think its a guidebook to cemeteries of New England. Lots of colonial burial grounds, nice typography, and great artwork. The photos are in black and white, though, which is rather disappointing.

A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau by Carolyn Morrow Long
Can't wait to start reading this. I don't like biographies, per se - but I make the exception for Mam'zelle Laveau.

New Orleans Architecture Volume 3: The Cemeteries by Leonard Victor Huber
'Nuff said.

Old Canadian Cemeteries: Places of Memory by Jane Irwin and John de Visser
This is the big, heavy book that hurts to hold on my lap. It's huge. I haven't started it yet, though I can say the photography is great. (The printing lacks a little. I find the images are made grittier due to paper choice.)



iv. You-Know-What: Still at it. About a week back I made the decision to switch the already partly written chapter 28 with a different chapter 28. (Does that make sense?) PARTIAL SPOILERS for "The Ante": The substitution calls for something that resembles "The Life and Times of Remy LeBeau" in under forty pages... and it includes maybe 90% of what's not been said in the story so far. Anyway, this carries a moderate level of difficulty for me, because holy cow is it easy to get swept away by the Brotherhood when Wanda and Pietro feel like getting subtextual.

I keep having to remind myself that Evo!Jean Luc is a jackass, which means Fagan's equally a jackass (yeah, I wrote Fagan... of all characters. I'd have written in the Antiquary too, but I figured that'd be stretching it. I still might, if I can keep the whole baby snatching incident vague enough... and under two hundred and fifty words because I'm already at eighteen pages and the "big stuff" isn't even written yet.)

Anyway, last night I finally had the opportunity to make the reference I've been pining for regarding The Pig... he may now be referred to in future conversations with Remy!muse as "that Lovecraftian Horror." Today, I'm going to make an attempt at killing Genny and Etienne in tandem. Should be fun. (Tra la!)