upon a sea where the mystic moon

[seren_ccd]

It's Wednesday! And it's not a bad day.

Here are Five Things that Have Made me Smile Today:

1. My husband is feeling better. Which means I am feeling better.

2. They've been digging in the line of shrubbery outside my office and today they've filled it back in and put fresh damp mulch on. It smells like my childhood outside when I would go running barefoot through the paths in the parks.

3. This Open Letter to Madeleine L'Engle I found on McSweeney's. I loved Madeleine L'Engle and A Wrinkle in Time totally formed my world-view when I was 10.

4. This interview with Michael Fassbender. Yeah. I just. Yeah. Watch.

5. I've been reading Getting Rid of Bradley by Jenny Crusie (I know! I like her books.) and I'm so seeing these people as the two lead characters.



Rachel Weisz as Lucy Savage and Adrien Brody as Zach Warren.

An excerpt:

Zack laughed. She looked so funny, neat and round with all that crazy dead black hair haloing her face, calmly announcing that she was a lot meaner today. What a sweetheart.

Dumb as a rock, but sweet.

"You're not going back to school tomorrow," he told her. "You're moving in with your sister until I figure out what's going on."

Lucy frowned. "How long will that take? Especially if you're going to figure it out by instinct. I don't have that much sick leave. I don't think anybody does."

She wasn't that sweet.

Zack glared at her, and she blinked.

"Sorry," Lucy said. "I don't know what's gotten into me today."

Y'all. There's a dog named Heisenberg that does a dead dog joke. It's adorable.

Annnd, just for the heck of it:



Have an excerpt from the next story in the Teeth, Claws and Guinness series:

“I imagine you’ll be helping Hannah with her drinks booth?” Portia asked coming back by his table with a bowl of beef stew.

Evan’s eyes widened. “Her what?”

“The Sheep and Crow always have a booth at the festival with samples of local ales from all over Wales,” Portia said. “She could probably use a nice sturdy young man such as yourself to help keep things under control.”

“Are you saying she needs a bouncer?” Evan asked before taking a bite of stew and nearly groaning aloud at the rich flavour of the beef.

“Oh, is that the term?” Portia said innocently. “You should talk to her. How is she, by the way?”

Portia’s last question was phrased casually enough, but Evan could see the concern in her eyes over the ‘incident’ that occurred the week prior with Davis.

“She’s fine. Well, she says she’s fine,” Evan said staring into his bowl. “Loud noises make her jump, even though she tries to hide it.”

“You’ve been staying out at her house since it happened.” Portia wasn’t asking a question, merely stating a fact.

“I have,” he said. He met the older woman’s eyes. “Is that a problem?”

“Please. If Hannah wants you there, be there,” Portia said with smile.

“No, not that,” Evan said feeling his face flush. “I meant, uh, could me staying out there, ah, damage, um...”

“Evan, are you asking if you staying with Hannah, alone, in her house, will hurt her reputation and standing in the community?” The amused tone of Portia’s voice made Evan flush even more.

“I suppose I am,” he said stabbing at a piece of potato.

“Well, I’m hardly the woman to tell you anything about what a person should and shouldn’t do,” Portia said, “But I’m fairly sure that we are living in the twenty-first century and too many folks like Hannah and her family too much to ever think about saying anything against her. I’m pretty sure you’re safe.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled before eating more of his soup feeling somewhat like a teenager asking permission to date someone’s daughter.

“Don’t mention it,” Portia said her eyes sparkling with mirth. Then she left him to his lunch.

Happy Wednesday!