Blogtagging

Well, since I've been blogtagged by Joy, I suppose I should play the game. It seems a harmless enough meme. I have to tell you six interesting things about myself and tag six more people.

1. One of my ancestors fought in the Mexican-American War, and when he returned home he named his baby daughter after the battle of Cerro Gordo (which means Fat Hill). He feminized it (and mispelled it) to Cero Gorda (which means Fat Zero). That name has been passed down for generations, and it is my middle name. When I was married, I took the opportunity to fix the spelling and finish feminizing it. The final result: Cerra Gorda.

2. My eyes are usually grey, but they can be any combination of blue, green, and grey at other times.

3. My two favorite bands are Skyclad (from England) and The Dirty Three (from Australia). The Dirty Three are an instrumental band consisting of guitar, bass, drums, and violin. Yes, I know that's four. They added a member but didn't change their name. Soon after I had discovered The Dirty Three, they played in Tucson at a tiny warehouse/art gallery. That was the most amazing show I've been to.

4. Even though I read mostly science fiction and fantasy, for some reason I write mostly horror and straight fiction stories.

5. I enjoy dog obedience training, although I have had little practical experience. I've nearly finished teaching the novice on-leash exercises to our Anatolian Shepherd/Great Pyrenees cross, Phantom. He's been a tough one for a novice trainer like me, because those breeds haven't been selected for trainability like many companion breeds have been. Consequently, it takes significantly more effort and patience to get him to comprehend what I want, compared to other dogs I have worked with. However, once he understands an exercise he tends to be very solid on it in a short amount of time. Assuming that we'll be able to take him with us when we move, I plan to continue his training all the way to Utility if possible.

6. I like to do thread crochet, the smaller the better. I own the two smallest steel hooks available, which I have used to crochet cotton sewing thread. I have thought about trying to sell hand-made lace dollhouse furnishings such as curtains and tablecloths, but I have no idea how much of a market there would be for that.

I will now tag Corvus/Sadeq, TheoPhileo, El Pato, Deanna, HookerMama, and Silverfoot.

Phew. That pretty much exhausts my list of blogs that haven't already been tagged.

Tiger's Easter

We went to Yuma to visit my mom and stepdad for Easter. Since we'll soon be moving out of state, it was nice to have this last holiday together.

We introduced Tiger to her basket on Saturday, and she loved it. Putting things into containers is one of her favorite activities right now, so we figured she'd have no problem with the Easter egg hunt.

She found the first egg with no problem, but then she became fascinated with shaking it. We had filled plastic eggs with graham crackers, animal crackers, and goldfish, so they rattled nicely. Tiger didn't quite get that she was supposed to put the egg in her basket and find more. So we lead her to the next one.

Rattly eggs were far more interesting than a basket, so she threw that down. Then we led her to the third egg, and she had a problem. There were more eggs than she had hands!

That's when the lightbulb went on. She could put the eggs in the basket! After that, she zoomed around the yard grabbing each egg as fast as she could.

Later, she relaxed in her high chair and enjoyed the contents of a few of her eggs.

Writing Frenzy

I've just pounded out the longest story I've ever written for a Liberty Hall Flash Challenge. Usually my stories run 300-500 words for these challenges, but this one went over 1000. And, it was good! Well, at least I think it was; I didn't have time to read it over before submitting, but I feel very good about this story. I would say more, but there are Liberty Hall denizens who read this blog so I'll keep my mouth shut. Wouldn't want to ruin the fun of guessing who wrote what.

I've been working on a rather literary scifi piece called "Sailor in a Jet Black Sea." Conrad flees to the depths of space to escape the voices that plague him, only to discover that he brought them along. It's one of my favorites, and I've gotten some good critiques that will help make it ready to send out to markets.

There has also been one more review of the Fall issue of Shimmer (and consequently, of "A Convocation of Clowns"). It's up at SF Site, but here is the relevant bit:

"Other highlights include..."A Convocation of Clowns" by Mel Cameron, a very creepy flash piece that is adequately summed up by its title."

The 120 days of Shimmer's exclusivity are over, so now "A Convocation of Clowns" is back on the market circuit as a reprint.