I can tell the end of The Creature Court is on the horizon, because I’ve spent the day being hit in the head by other books. Important, exciting future books which are not yet. The trouble is, now I’ve answered the last questions about Book 3, my brain is telling me that the job is all done, which is patently not true.

Also both the books smacking me over the head today are the Wrong Books and in no way the one I planned to write next. For which I have sensibly been applying for grants, and planning to use to put a proposal together for Voyager in the second half of the year.

Damn it. Work’s not done. Work’s not done. Could someone inform my brain of this important fact? I don’t have time to construct a lavish Shakespearian alternate universe right this second.

Apart from the inconvenient books in my head I had a lovely day today. We were visited by the magnificent Rowena Cory Lindquist/Daniells today, who is tripping around Tasmania with her husband and one of her exceptionally tall sons. They had morning tea with us, Rowena contributed to her ongoing reputation as the fairy shoemother by providing both my girls with beautiful gumboots at least five sizes too big (to grow into!), we had cakes and coffee and talked books, publishing and multi-media for a few hours.

After this, and much plotting for Worldcon, Rowena and her family continued on their way and we went hunting armchairs. I had been promised a nice one for my combined mother’s day/birthday present but we have been lazy. We found some exceptionally nice chairs today, though I continue to be astonished at how much the damn things can cost.

Raeli had great fun bouncing on all the chairs, declared that she had a fear of rocking chairs, and then took even greater delight in facing said fear head on in as many rocking chairs as possible.

Tomorrow I get even more post-birthday shopping fun as my mother has promised to help me find something to wear to my launch. I’m not sure how she’s going to cope without being able to give me the annual lecture on how I really should try wearing trousers, as I’ve been wearing very little else over the last couple of months.

I was wrong, we still have too much cake. I think some of the cupcakes are turning back into ooze from too much time in the fridge. Perhaps I should put them in tins. But then the icing will melt. It’s a problem. Not a very dire problem, obviously. But still a problem.

I’m trying to read my way through the Hugo Graphic Novels from the Hugo packet before Tuesday night’s recording of Galactic Suburbia. So far I’m a quarter of the way into Girl Genius and finding it a bit blah, though it’s picked up enough for me to find it at least a touch funny in places.

I can’t even settle to one novel at the moment, I’m flitting between Gail Carriger’s Changeless and China Mieville’s Kraken and committing to neither. My brain is all over the place and all I really want to do is to be left alone to do some house cleaning.

Couldn’t possibly be displacing any anxiety about any big upcoming moments in my life, could I? Nah, I’m just tired. And, you know, jiggly. Possibly I should take up jogging.

Tags: birthdays, china mieville, creature court, domestic goddess, family, gail carriger, graphic novels, hugos, presents, raeli, reading