My book has a title.

And it is:

The Dragon of Trelian.

There Can Be Only One

At least, that's what I'm trying to believe with regard to the super-creepy spider that was in my bathroom this morning. He looked like he'd escaped from a National Geographic special: big, black, jumpy, fast, and possibly furry, although I certainly didn't touch him to find out. He almost got away, too, which would have been terrible...knowing he was in there, somewhere, but not knowing exactly where or when he'd pop out at me again...ugh.

A friend recently suggested that maybe the universe is trying to tell me something with all the spider encounters. And I thought, well, yeah, the universe is trying to tell me that it is vast and full of spiders. But I've been trying to think of other, more positive, possible meanings. For example, each time I face down one of these eight-legged beasties, I can't help but think about how far I've come in the spider-managing department. There was a time when I would have been paralyzed with fear, unable to even imagine doing the Dixie Cup catch-and-release thing. And so each time I handle a spider in my current still-phobic-but-much-better-able-to-deal state, I try to feel good about it. It's useful to remember that you really can change and improve, and that things that are hard now will not always be hard, and that lots of obstacles that seem insurmountable are actually things you might be able to get past at some point. Okay, maybe I'm getting a little carried away with the extrapolating, but hey, ya gotta take inspiration where you can find it, right? And if I can find something inspirational about spiders, by golly, that's pretty amazing. Well, to me, anyway. :)

ANYWAY. I really never intended for this to become such a spider-centric blog. Sadly, there just happens to be more spider activity than writing activity going on right at this moment. I do have some nice book-related news, though: Library Lion was nominated for the 2009 Colorado Children's Book Award! I just received a nice certificate in the mail. You can see the full list of nominees here.

In other news, I'll be visiting students at P.S. 33 in Manhattan this Wednesday. Can't wait!

Hope you're all managing to stay cool somehow. This heat is awful. I'm not a big fan of the summer in general, but this is crazy. CRAZY! Why can't it just stay in the 70s? Would that be so much to ask?

Quick June Update

Found out last night that an appointment today was being canceled, so I find myself with the gift of a suddenly free morning. The problem with gifts like these are that I spend too much time stressing about how best to use the suddenly free morning, instead of actually using it. Mostly I'm going to get in a couple of extra hours of work, I think, but I also thought I should add a blog post, since it's been a little while.

So, quick update:

Still not 100% sure the title we've sort of selected (mostly by running out of other options) for the novel is final, but when I know, I'll post it.

Still reading, reading, reading for the Vermont College MFA program.

Still dealing with spiders; there was a particularly speedy guy in the bathroom last night. He almost got away, but eventually was relocated down the hall.

Been rereading bits and pieces of David Allen's Getting Things Done in the hopes of, well, getting things done. It's a brilliant system but a little overwhelming to try and implement. Hours of internet searching, however, reveal myriad ways that other people have found to adapt the GTD system to be a little easier to swallow. I have been making lots of lists.

What else...? Saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night, which was really funny. Perfect for helping me get over my frustrating afternoon of dealing with my local Rite Aid that likes to close the pharmacy randomly and without warning, especially when I've walked all the way over there to get syringes for my poor kitty. Grrr.

All right. The morning is rapidly slipping away from me. To work, to work.

Happy June, everyone.