Earlier this week, I found out something that made me incredibly excited, in the most fan-girly way imaginable: Daniel Pinkwater has a podcast! And he's podcasting his kids' book Lizard Music! All of Daniel Pinkwater's books are quirky, smart, hilarious, strange, geeky in the best possible way, and totally unlike any other kids' books I can think of. I first got sucked in when I heard a recording of him reading his wonderful kids' book Borgel (and he's a fabulous reader), but everything I've read of his has been universally great, from his kids' books to his adult essays and even his book on dog-training. (And working in a daycare, back in Michigan, opened my eyes to a whole different range of his writing, with his wonderful picture book The Big Orange Splot, which fills me with delight every time I read it - and the kids in the daycare just adored it. There's so much pressure towards conformity in our culture, from a very early age, and The Big Orange Splot is a marvelous antidote to it.) So it makes me incredibly happy that I can listen to him reading from his work while I hang out on the couch in front of our Christmas tree and nibble slices of delicious Stollen cake from the Christmas market.

And...there's a meme going around the web right now where writers post a list of what they've published this year. When I first thought of doing it, too, I felt really awkward about it. But then I thought: well, why not! After all, you guys can feel free to skip the list if you're not interested, and I will promise not to be offended. :) So, forthwith: stories I published this year, several of them free to read or listen to online:

New Stories:

"Locked Doors", online in Strange Horizons

"Crow", online in The Town Drunk

"By the Light of the Dark", in Grendelsong, Issue No. 2

"It's All About the Shoes", in Flytrap, Issue No. 8

Reprints:

Stitching Time, as a podcast in Pseudopod

"Ivy and Thorn", online in Quantum Kiss

"Locked Doors", as a podcast in Pseudopod

"The Little Tailor", online in Serendipity

Now I'm listening to an online alternative music radio station broadcast by the University of Edinburgh, "Sing, Sing, Sing" is playing in a wonderful swing-band orchestral version, and the gas fire is burning cheerily nearby. Maya's sleeping in her bed by the couch, and it's just starting to get dark outside. Mmmm...