Published

Short Stories
"Nice: Cornerstone" a Holiday Sip by J.Rocci. Coming December 5, 2009 from Torquere Press.

"Taction" by J. Rocci. Coming February 6, 2010 from Torquere Press.

"Army Green" by J. Rocci. Sequel to "Taction." Coming August 2010 from Torquere Press.

"Ivory: No Petal Blooms" by J. Rocci. Coming December 2010 from Torquere Press.

Anthologies
"This Home We Defend" by J. Rocci in Bite Me, ed. K.I.L. Kenny.

"This Home We Make" by J.Rocci in Shifting Them, ed. Vincent Diamond.

Out of Print
"Oxers and Spreads" by J. Rocci in Men in Uniform II, ed. M. Rode.

"Puppy Tax" by J. Rocci in Animal Attraction, ed. Vincent Diamond.

http://j-rocci.livejournal.com/

Personal Note:
General and fandom-related entries are still public. Feel free to friend/de-friend at will, but I won't friend back people I don't know.

So I'm failing at NaNo -- I've written a total of 11,000 words this month. On the plus side, I had a short story published (release is next Saturday, Dec 5) and I get the house to myself all day tomorrow. Yay!

It's the second day of my vacation and I'm pooped. I cleaned house all yesterday, bought a ham and did some shopping (old ladies were throwing elbows, yo). Today, we slept in until 0800, got up, made turkey, set up the house. Had my family over. We made brie with sauteed almonds, Wegman's Mediterranean hors d'oeuvres, turkey, homemade turkey gravy, breaded tilapia, honey-baked ham, six veggies, bread and rolls, tofu vanilla pudding and berries, and rum cake. Yay, leftovers!

Other than that -- Bay broke a tooth in half a couple weeks ago. Still getting it fixed and fixing the fix (the temporary cap got infected). I had an allergic reaction to my allergy shot last week. Benadryl is our friend. Active us? Not so much.

Well, I'm going to watch Bay play Assassin's Creed II and maybe get some more writing in.

Well NaNo's already paid off -- I finished my first short story this past weekend and it was accepted by Torquere for their Holiday Sips line yesterday. Bwee!

7159 / 50000 words. 14% done!

There was Halloween and a sinus infection type thing and a lot of costuming then lazing about, and now I'm just wiped. My October in one sentence, in order of importance.

But! I'm trying to do NaNoWriMo this year, just my style -- I'm not sure if it counts that I plan to work on multiple stories throughout the month, but only moving on after I finish the current one (I have word counts to stick within).

Well, honestly, I don't care if it counts or not -- I'm tracking it to give myself a boost. So here's day three:

2188 / 50000 words. 4% done!

In my earlier vitriol, I forgot to highlight a happy occasion:

Torquere has released it's annual Charity Sips line, where 100% of the proceeds go to the year's chosen charity. So you get a nice GLBT romance story *and* you're helping out the Matthew Shepard Foundation, all for $1.29 a story.

Promo blurb:

In 2009, Torquere's authors chose "Changing Lives" in memory of Matthew Shepard for the theme of the Charity Sip Collection. Twenty one authors have written short fiction pieces, and have agreed to donate all proceeds of the sales of these stories to charitable organizations. Torquere Press Inc. will match the authors' donations completely.

Torquere Press and our authors truly believe we can make a difference by donating to organizations that promote awareness and equality. If you'd like to help, please support the Charity Sip Blitz and enjoy some great romance
today!

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=79_111


I didn't make the deadline on this one, but I did just buy a copy of all 21 stories. Woot!

And in other publishing news, my short stories Oxers and Spreads in Men in Uniform II, and Puppy Tax in Animal Attraction went out of print this month, but the other two anthologies are still available.

I apologize to any sensitive readers who happen across this post, but I'm kind of twitching with spasmodic anger at the moment, because:

The fact that the public has to be reminded during all this media uproar of the fact that Roman Polanski is under arrest for raping a child and fleeing the country is just -- I have no words.

( Oh wait, I do. )

Other than that bit of frothing vitriol, my life has been pretty chill lately.

Work's a little stressful -- working 0700 to 1500 is taking it's toll on this little night owl -- but we've been doing a ton of Halloween shopping and party planning. There's going to be pumpkin patching soon, and maybe the RenFaire, and a weekend trip to NYC in December. After I finish sanding/staining the cabinets for the kitchen.

I saw Pink and the Ting Tings in concert on Monday with Kev-chan. The Ting Tings looked like the bad part of the 80s vomited up on them, but Pink was awesomesauce to the extreme. The Funhouse tour has this whole burlesque-sideshow-freakshow type look to it, with aerial stunts and skeleton harlequins, that just really -- It was awesome. She even did covers of Queen and Led Zeppelin. I heartily approve.

Eight years. The day always creeps up on me, even with the constant reminders.

There's a quilt I walk past at least once a week. It hangs above the elevator banks, so that you can study it, contemplate the 125 faces staring back at you, as you go about your business. You'll be thinking about your next meeting, and look up. There's this one man with a huge grin on his face, rocking back in his chair, by the lower left corner. It hurts more than the portrait of the man in his dress blues. It shouldn't.

The quilt is a reminder and a promise, just like the memorial wall: We can be wounded, we can bleed, we can die -- But we will not break. Under those eyes, our steps become more determined. Steadier. We keep fighting.

I used to avoid the subject of 9-11 in normal conversations. It would give me this tight feeling in my chest, my throat. This burning in my eyes. Because I almost lost my most important person that day. Because so many others lost theirs.

A coworker and I had a conversation the other day, about how 9-11 was the defining moment of this generation. And it was, it is, as so many others have explained in far more elegant ways than I can. A plane crashed into a building, then another, and another, and from that second onwards, the world was never the same. As a nation, as individuals. It touched everyone's lives.

But for two years now I have faced that anxiety. I didn't go out and enlist; I don't believe that violence is an answer. I didn't study engineering to build better weapons; my beliefs are not in destruction.

If we want peace, we need to pull the teeth from our war machine. If we want stability, we need to strengthen our foundations as a nation not by removing support for our warfighters, but by removing the necessity of war.

I reflect on 9-11, the horrible atrocities and the strength of the human spirit, and I reflect on myself. How did it change me?

How did it not?

But one thing I know for certain -- There is this mass of anger and anxiety and pain in me, stemming back to that day, and I turn it into violence towards my own heart, because when I am afraid, I snarl and grab it by the throat and hold it down until it stops twitching. I stare back and I do not back down.

Today at 0937, I listened to the silence in the office. At the enforced normalcy as business carried on. As the world kept plowing forward, touched -- but inexorable in its determination.

Blarg. Had a doctor appt today -- On stronger antibiotics and now am very sleepy. Yay.

BTW, Coasties -- Made of fail. Yay for keeping the Capital safe and honing those crime-fighting skills. Boo for lack of common sense and planning abilities. We were like gophers in our little cubicle farms, heads popping up, going "WTF?" Because the day wasn't stressful enough. So fail.

Just FYI on the writing front:

I have a story snippet, Fall favorites meme, and a recipe in the latest Torquere newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vinenews/.

September is also Torquere Press' sixth anniversary, so they're giving away prizes all month. Check out the Torquere Social Group for more info on free stuff: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/torquere_social/

Went to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at WolfTrap last night. The National Symphony Orchestra and a local choir played the music real-time while the movie was shown on several big screens. They were so spot on, you didn't think "oh, look at the orchestra" because you were just engrossed in the movie.

So yes. Awesome time with ms. virtasquee. We sat on the lawn and had a picnic, complete with umbrella cover because it drizzled on and off -- which just added ambience.

And of course I picked my Muse's brain on the car ride home, as I often do after our Saturday night outings, so now I have a more concrete idea where two of my stories are going. Woot!

Yay! This Home We Defend was released today!

Blurb: Three years ago, Zev lost his memory, but he found a new Pack with Callie and Gareth in Washington D.C. and life has settled into a nice routine. But when Zev's out in the city visiting a friend, he crosses paths with another shifter, Mark, who seems to know Zev from Before. Instinct sends Zev into a panic, even though he doesn’t know why. Mark is determined to get Zev back, so it's up to Callie and Gareth to protect their Packmate if they want to stay together. Features characters from "This Home We Make" in Shifting Them.

PS: Shifting Them is currently 20% off, if you want the story of how Zev, Callie, and Gareth hooked up. The other two anthologies I have stories in, Animal Attraction and Men in Uniform II, are also on sale!

One day, I will have a single-author paperback published, but it's still awesome to see my story on paper ^.^

Watched What Would Brian Boitano Make? today-- It's going up there with Good Eats on our list of favorite Food Network shows. I love when people don't take themselves too seriously and can just kick back and have fun. Probably because I find that difficult to do myself.

Starting to watch Being Human on BBC America. The first two episodes have kept my attention. I'm reserving judgement for now.

Oddly enough, I find myself watching Ice Road Truckers, too. I can't stand to watch all the fishing shows-- don't ask me why, I think it's the fear of deep water projecting-- but I can watch marathons of truckers driving through snow. And more snow. And some snow on the side. Go figure.

Supernatural, The Mentalist, and NCIS all start again in a couple weeks, I think. Is it near the end of August already? Life. It goes ffwoosh.

Was home sick today. Spent most of the day in bed. Bay got home and we went out to Five Guys for burgers. Now my tummy's upset. Stoopid body. We rented Dragonball: Evolution, too. That was a fun time killer, since I am totally not familiar with the anime/manga. At least the live action was prettier than the anime?


Decided to update Baby's First Coffin on FFN. My fic LJ update will follow at... some point.

Man, I'm tired. Back to bed with me.

Life as I know it:

1. Aaron's car engine imploded (piston through engine block, so I suppose exploded is more appropriate...) and now we're down to one vehicle. Have been car shopping. Hate cars. And car salesmen.

2. Had two stories accepted for publication-- One's in an anthology, "This Home We Defend" (a sequel to my other short story "This Home We Make") and the other is going to be a Single Shot at Torquere, "Taction" (a story about an Army Specialist injured in combat who goes back to his grandparents' farm and meets a hot cowboy). So yay feeling accomplished.

3. Still working on the basement-- We decided we wanted to tile the floors and build a dais for our washer and dryer to sit on. I love how our little house projects manage to turn epic.

4. Starting the birthday/holiday season. Yay for lots of stuff to do...

Just saw Star Trek.

Dudes, I was that girl. The one squeeing every time Karl Urban opened his mouth. Karl Urban. As Bones.

(I totally should have worn my Bones name badge pin... Don't judge me, you so would too if you had one!)

Needless to say, I loved it and flailed almost as much as I flailed during the G.I. Joe preview. This year is the year of awesome films-- Esp. since the past few years of movie-going have seemed pretty meh for me.

What I really want now is some Kirk/Bones or Spock/Uhura or Spock/Kirk or Kirk/Sulu-- You know what? I'll take any pairing for this movie. Any.

I would go on about the plot and the hope and the taking responsibility and being held responsible and the being more than you think you can be-- But I still need to process. And maybe see it a couple more times.

To sum: Star Trek movie = awesomesauce.

My nine pound cat literally sneezed from her spot on the futon and spooked my 70 pound dog, who just steamrolled her way onto my lap in fear. My lap, which she barely fits even her leg on as is, considering she takes up half the couch.

...

sooo embarrassed on her behalf...

We were going to go up to DC on Sunday for the We Are One celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, but we had a political dinner party and watched it on HBO instead (some people do sports gatherings, we do politics...) Same with today-- We could do the whole "I was there!" or we could sit in the comfort of our home and go yay at the TV.

Guess what we chose.

I feel like doing a zombie-apocalypse-esque entry-- "All the highways are closed. Traffic isn't moving. Cars are abandoned on the road and people are walking. Our food is dwindling. The world's gone--"

Only, we went food shopping Sunday morning, so we're good through the week ^.^

*watching World of Warcraft Ozzie Osbourne commercial*

Ozzie: I've been the Prince of Darkness since 1979!
Bay: Have you been the Prince of Darkness since 1979, Bae?
Me: *sniff* I am the Pretty Pretty Princess of Darkness, thank you. Techncally, you would be the Prince of Darkness since you married the Pretty Pretty Princess of Darkness.
Bay: Ah. I stand corrected.

So there was revelry and craziness and all that:

1. Worked my behind off the month of December. Got the entire week of x-mas off. Was struck down by the plague. Karma?

2. Family in town. Still have not sat at home for one day straight since Dec 20-- No, check that. I took a sick day this past Tuesday and slept for 18 hours straight, kid you not. Ebola! The niece had her first b-day. Took 12 hour round trip to PA to visit grandparents-- Chickenhead did very well in the car and everyone was impressed by her manners when we were up there. No drywall was eaten. Mum, virtasquee, pheephee, Chickenhead, and me went downtown yesterday to walk around and have coffee-- she did really well there, too, esp. since it was her first time walking in a city. Did manage to wash dishes and do laundry yesterday for the first time this month. Yay clothes!

3. Received free contrib trade paperback of Shifting Them. Made of awesomeness. I'm going to put a shelf in my study for all my professionally published works-- fiction and nonfiction. I just have to hit Ikea at some point (and paint the damn study walls). But I did get a little bit more writing done this break, too.

4. Fell in love with the Tin Man miniseries. (In my defense, my dad told me it sucked the first time it aired, but the man had me specal order Phantasm 2 from Europe for x-mas, so his opinion no longer counts.) We've also been playing the latest Prince of Persia (he's sarcastic! and funny! very Han Solo-ish!), Katamari Beautiful (it appeases my OCD), and Fable 2 (My badass warrior married a bisexual raunchy monk. This game is awesome.)

So yes. Hope everyone had a happy and safe holiday season! Can't wait to see what the new year will bring.