"Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world."
--Giuseppe Mazzini

The above quote inspired the new title of my novel, Echo of the Invisible World. It used to be An American Symphony, but I came to realize that a title like that implies a grand statement about America (which it doesn't), and will involve a lot of main characters (which it also doesn't). It was also a nod to Mr. Holland's Opus, which was probably more clever than I should be with a first novel. Plus, the new title, in addition to its reference to music, refers to some things I'm doing with the Akashic Record, which adds layers to my story. I turned in the first twenty pages (prelude and first chapter) to the class to be torn to shreds next week.

Kewl kewl news: my copies of The Dream Engine issue 6.0 with my story "Shiny Diner Blues" came Tuesday, and I can't stop smiling. My first publication. I'm now a published author. Wow. A bunch of my coworkers asked for a copy, and I'll be sending more out to friends and family tomorrow. Whee!

I stopped in The Record Exchange last night while waiting for the night bus after my class, and got the deluxe edition of Meteora, the new album by Linkin Park. It's a phenomenal follow-up to Hybrid Theory; they have a real knack for picking only the best songs possible for their albums, and putting them in the most optimal order. They went a little overboard with the packaging this time, but I think it's worth it. The deluxe edition has a DVD containing "The Making of Meteora", a 30 minute featurette. These guys are an incredible band, and I'm so glad they've finally released a new album.

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Now Reading:
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

Stories Out to Publishers:
11

Stories Sold This Year:
3

Novel Word Count:
5100