Yikes -- we have a pumpkin to carve today! And I'm not talking about our 21-pound orange cat (but don't tempt me). Hard to believe it's almost November already -- holy crap. I can't wait to see Drew in his horse-and-cowboy outfit for the trick-or-treat extravaganza here in our new 'hood.

This a.m. I got some good work done on the 2-3 new chapters I need to assemble for Sixteen Miles. I think I've got it figured out, at last. Tomorrow I should be able to dive back in and get some good writing done.

Here's a snippet, 'cause I can't help myself:

She'd been digging so hard she bent the trowel in her hand. Now that she'd gotten the frame of the metal door uncovered, she sat back to get a better look at the big picture.

The frame was set in concrete, and the concrete was decorated with vines the likes of which she'd never seen before. Curling into figure-eights and snaking back in on itself, with leaves jutting out like spines.

What did we get into, buying this place?

As if in response to the feeling of dread creeping into her at the sight of this horizontal door, her cell phone began to vibrate in her shorts pocket. Melissa jumped, thinking something had crawled up onto her thigh. Then she groaned. Better not be Smoot. If it was Gil, it had better be good news.

Instead, it turned out to be someone she hadn't talked to in weeks. Even worse.

"Hello, Mother," Melissa said, closing her eyes on the labyrinth of vines and leaves covering the door on the floor of her machine shed.

And another thing I just realized is that today is the last day for the Strange Horizons Fund Drive. They're a fine magazine, one of the few that has not only maintained their high quality and relevance, but also simply survived. Other 'zines have come and gone, including the late, lamented Sci Fiction, but Strange Horizons has prevailed. So go help 'em out. Give what you can -- I know they'd appreciate it.

Later!