1. Mission Foods now has Gluten Free tortillas that approach the taste and feel of wheat tortillas. This is important. I am from the Southwest, and I know one great secret truth of everyday cooking out here: no matter what the filling is, once it gets folded into a tortilla, it is a taco. To celebrate, I made SloppyJoe tacos last night.
2. I made a leap of faith last December and joined a story prompt swap with a bunch of online friends. Our stories were exchanged this week. The one I wrote turned out far better than I expected, and made its recipient very happy. The prompt I gave to someone else…oh my. She turned it into a masterpiece. You’ll be seeing it in a pro SFF market soon, I hope. And voting on it for next year’s Hugo, I expect. It’s a fun and gorgeous story, and I’m proud to have inspired it in a tiny way. I’m certainly going to do the story swap again next December.
3. Last month I sent out 21 queries on a novel. I’ve received 4 rejections so far. This is also a positive thing. It means the agents involved didn’t keep me waiting for six months to a year*, as I tried to outguess them: “Okay, if they don’t respond by such-and-such date, is that a ‘no’? Or should I wait?” Nope, a swift rejection is a good rejection. If they don’t love the story, they can’t help sell it. And a quick ‘No’ means I can move on all the faster with other plans (like making lists of great freelance editors, cover artists, and book designers).
*I’d never wait that long, anyway. My query policy is to count it as ‘No’ after four months, and move on.
4. I’m finally getting around to uploading jewelry onto my Crane Artifacts page at Handmade at Amazon. I’ve pulled the necklaces in question from the remaining boutiques who had them, so they’ll now be an exclusive to Amazon. And I’ve found some great new sources for high-quality pearls and gemstone beads, so I can make more.
My ‘nest necklaces’ came out of a single proof-of-concept piece I made in 2000, after a friend challenged me to make her a stylish non-metallic necklace. I used semiprecious gemstone beads, waxed linen, and a gemstone disc for a toggle clasp. I couldn’t figure out how to terminate the end opposite the toggle, so I settled for continuing it in an extravagant tassel. When I held out the finished piece, cupped in one hand, my friend said, “It looks like a little bejeweled nest…”
Those necklaces went on to become strong sellers at several local galleries, before the economy tanked and the galleries faded. I think it’s time to bring them back. Even with Amazon’s listing and sales fees, it still comes out as less of a bite than the standard 40% to 50% gallery commission. So that means I can offer great jewelry at an even better price.