I would be remiss in my author-ly duties if I did not point out to you that I was asked to do a Christmas post on some of my favourite things in one of my favourite book blogs, and that post is here.

I show myself to be a person of pretty low moral character, willing to commit murder for Megan Whalen Turner and everything.

I also talk about some of my favourite books of the past year and some in the year to come, and discuss the issue of reading books by people you know, which is something that happens more and more often when you do the writer thing.

You meet people! As for instance this small interlude in a cafe the summer before last.

CASSIE: Hi everyone, Sarah's turned up again, oh cupcakes. Sarah, have you met Maureen Johnson?
SARAH: ... Maureen Johnson...
CASSIE: Do you need me to open that bottle for you?
SARAH: ... Maureen Johnson...
MAUREEN: Um. Hi.
SARAH: *hearts in eyes*
MAUREEN: How're you doing?
SARAH: YOU DAZZLE ME.

I like Maureen's books a lot, okay? As you can see from this small bit of conversation, I am always super smooth when I meet awesome people. (There is one Famous and Acclaimed Author I hit in the head with a breakfast pastry. But I will never reveal which one! NEVER.)

But anyway, yes, reading books by people you know - scary, yet reassuring, sometimes like having a conversation with your friend. Sometimes like being DAZZLED by your friend! It is complicated.

Speaking of conversations with one's friends, I was having an interesting one with Justine Larbalestier yesterday.

Now we all know about fictional couples who we want to get together in books. (Mary and Colin from The Secret Garden got married when they grew up. Yes they did. It is a truth! A truth of my heart.)

But what about fictional couples who get together and who we don't believe in? Who you look at together and go 'Nah... it'll never last.' I've got to say, for me Jane Eyre and Rochester, they are going to break up. (Well, probably not given the time they were in, but I don't think they're going to be happy. Because they have a lot of chemistry, but Rochester is a crazy liar, y'all.)

ROCHESTER: Gosh, I have a crazy wife hidden in the attic who occasionally breaks out and sets fires. And I'd like to bigamously marry my governess. You know what this situation needs?
AUDIENCE: ... what?
ROCHESTER: MORE COMPLICATIONS! I think I'll have a house party and have a fake engagement to a third lady. AS WELL as the secret crazy wife. And the bigamous marriage.
AUDIENCE: ... what?
ROCHESTER: You're RIGHT! I'm not giving this a hundred per cent! What if I dress up as a gypsy woman and tell fake fortunes?

I'm just saying, Jane will come home one day and Rochester will have sold the children to pirates.

Justine believes in even fewer couples than I do. Which fictional couples do you guys think are doomed never to last?

It has been in some respects a tough year (though in other respects a truly marvellous and spiffy and amazing year) so I admit I have had a few thoughts about ringing in the changes in some sort of new and excellent way. So I have this page open which lists awesome cheap flights at all times. But, you know, I secretly knew that I was going to be home for New Year's because I hadn't made any proper plans yet.

Then yesterday I saw amazingly inexpensive flights to Boston. But I didn't really plan to go. I planned to consult with sensible friends.

PLANNED CONVERSATION!

SARAH: Should I go to Boston?
HOLLY: No, that seems unwise.
SARAH: You are right, what was I thinking? I am such a ninnyhammer.

ACTUAL CONVERSATION!

SARAH: Should I go to Boston?
HOLLY: Yes, good idea!
SARAH: Can I come see you as well?
HOLLY: Yes, I am very valiant and can put up with you! Bring a mask.
SARAH: ... Why?
HOLLY: I cannot reveal that at this time.
SARAH: WOW I SEEM TO BE ACTUALLY GOING TO BOSTON? I wonder what I will do there! Perhaps I will have an adventure?

I think I will have an adventure, you guys.

I have never been to Boston before! I am going to take notes on it for Secret Reasons. Can you, oh wise internet, tell me awesome things to do in Boston?

So my lovely people, I hope you are having an awesome run-up to Christmas! I also hope you will tell me awesome things to do in Boston, tell me about fictional couples you think are doomed, and most of all that you will like the Extra Christmas Bonus Excerpt of Demon's Covenant in my BookSmugglers post. (Oh, Nick. Of all the tall dark heroes in the world, you have the distinction of being the least charming of them all...)

Some holiday comics! The Kiss Elves return.

Oh and I am posting journal type comics on twitter sometimes. If you are on twitter I am @beatonna

You will have to excuse me, you guys. It feels weird and awesome to have a cover for The Demon's Covenant to show you all. The new book, my brain is rejoicing. I get to have more than one! (My brain can be a little slow.)

Anyway, so: this is the UK cover for The Demon's Covenant. And I love eeet.

My publishers are so good, y'all. Because they are very kind to me, and because my UK covers are drawn and not photographic, I kept emailing them and saying 'Oh, could we have - could we change - could we fix-' and now I have this cover and they did not hire ninja assassins to come kill me with poison darts even once.

The title is going to be SILVER and it's going to be even more beautiful when it is REAL but for now - look, there's my girl! And I love it. I hope you love it too!

( The Demon's Covenant UK Cover )

I saw a stage production of A Christmas Carol today. I love Dickens, I will always love A Christmas Carol. Even if they don't do smoking tricks in it.

So I worry about presents.

I used to worry about presents so much that I had to get them out of the way early. In the July sales, you would see little Sarah with her bowl haircut, solemnly shopping for Christmas presents. Had I waited for winter, I would have gone into a spiral of agony and self-doubt.

Much taller Sarah with much longer hair, i.e. me of the present day, does not have the organisational skills or the storage space to shop for Christmas presents in July. But I do generally spend November and December making anxious calls.

SARAH: Why can't you just tell me what you want! Anything! I'll buy you anything!
MY LITTLE BROTHER SAUL: Oh. Hmm. I'll have a... Well now. Okay. Give me a moment. Maybe-
SARAH: Yes? YES?
SAUL: Maybe I'll have to call you back.
MY LITTLE SISTER GENEVIEVE: But I've told you what I want. I keep telling you what I want.
SARAH: No, you haven't.
GENEVIEVE: I want a Team Jacob hoodie.
SARAH: I don't know why I keep forgetting that.
GENEVIEVE: If it's because you're Team Edward, you are NOT WELCOME HOME this Christmas.

My sister the ingrate aside, I had a much more important present to give out this year.

Obviously, all those who have read my book are my most favourite people in the world. This only makes sense. My most favourite people in the world deserve presents. Also very logical!

However I cannot find them all and ask for their addresses. So clearly a story present, then.

But! I worried to myself. When would be a good time to give them the story present? Obviously not on Christmas Day, as people would have better things to do than reading internet presents, like unwrapping their real presents and going 'A titanium suit of armour with inbuilt time-travel device! Awesome!' So I asked twitter, and they seemed to feel the thirteenth was a good day.

Today is the thirteenth.

So, this is a present for those who have already read The Demon's Lexicon: it is set eleven years before the book, but there are hints of things to come. So if someone hasn't read the book and hates spoilers, probably best to avoid. If one doesn't mind them and is minded to try the story (with a view to later reading The Demon's Lexicon and thus achieving the status of one of my most favourite people in the world) then they may go right ahead!

Should you guys like it, spread it 'round: I would like everyone who might enjoy it to read it, so my present reaches all those who want it.

And in Christmas and Demon's Lexicon news, people in the UK might be interested to know there is a Demon's Lexicon fan meet-up in London going on. I won't be there, but I will be sending presents!

For now, though, this present is for everyone.

And it comes with an illustration: the illustration is done by Entropy_Incarnate and not specifically for this story, but it does show the main characters as kids and thus I feel is appropriate!

( Tiny Baby Cuteness! With Knives )

This one's for my most favourite people in the world. I very much hope you enjoy it.

Nick's First Word: A Christmas Story.

Received my results for the first two units of my MBA, Financial Management and Management Perspectives; I passed both with Distinction grades. This was an enormous relief, especially for the Financial Management exam, which I thought was extremely difficult at the time. It also means that, assuming I complete Marketing and Information Systems, I will have a Graduate Certificate in Management (Technology Systems) by the end of next month. Then on to the Graduate Diploma. On a related angle, I have been given the necessary task of trying to make some sense of the internal wiki, external website and some of our marketing material. It doesn't make sense to pitch with generic marketing speak to scientists, for some well-known reasons, which have recently become evident at the Australian Synchrotron.

The events of Roman Polanksi's extradition for sexual assault have been long discussed. If you have the stomach for it, you can read the testimony of the young Samantha Geimer on the events themselves. When some members of the entertainment industry tried to defend Polanksi on the grounds of his international cultural reputation, most people responded to this with appropriate outrage. An unexpected angle however has come from the Sparticist League who have defended Polanski because Samantha was sexually experienced and had tried quaaludes previous. You can read the Sparticist League's position in the Communist Party of Great Britian newspaper in issue 794 and my response in 795.

Death of military personnel: my comics specialty. Anyway, I like Montcalm. He wasn't, I don't think, as talented as his young rival James Wolfe, but he was among the best they had and a well experienced, hard working man who did his job as best he could. Montcalm had a hot temper and didn't like Quebec, but he tried to save it, even though he was almost always at heads with Vaudreuil the Canadian born Governor- to whom he was supposed to defer. Vaudreuil was experienced in North America and cared passionately for Quebec, but had never really encountered modern European warfare, and didn't understand it. Montcalm hated the corruption in New France, thought the war was useless, and tried to leave but wasn't allowed. In his final letter to his wife he writes, "I think I should have given up all my honors to be back with you, but the king must be obeyed; the moment when I shall see you again will be the finest of my life. Good-bye my heart, I believe I love you more than ever." I like Montcalm.


Wolfe, of course got the most famous painting in this country's history done up for him some years after the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm got one eventually. It's ok.

I call this a Christmas Cookie, but of course, it is not yet Christmas and of course it is not my present to you all!

My present to you all is a short story called Nick's First Word and I have sent it off to my web designer, so it should be up some time between now and Christmas, and I hope you will enjoy it! But this is not that story.

Since I put up the first chapter last month on this day, it has become Official Cookie Day, and thus you are due a cookie.

I chose this bit of The Demon's Covenant because it has lots of Nick in it, and chapter one cruelly deprived those who like that sort of thing. Feedback on what sort of thing you wish for in Cookies of the Future much desired.

Major, huge, world-ending spoilers for Demon's Lexicon within.

( Christmas Cookie for The Demon's Covenant )

You remember my younger self, right? It's been a while. The younger self comics aren't around much because they're so uh, different. They're odd, I write them as I go.

I spent two days working on a comic that I ended up not liking. Maybe I will fix it later and post it sometime, it happens! Expect another update soon. But for now, not wanting to wait any more days to update, I just made a comic about frustration. Poor little self, I don't always treat her well! And I felt so bad about the broken telescope, I kept it until I was in university.

I still like advent calendars, though.

Talking about recent scans about one of S_D's favorite talking points inspired me to talk about him myself: Jason Todd. There's not a lot of agreement about this character throughout fandom, but the one thing people do seem to agree on is that editorial has not handled him well at all. ( And this was my take on that--which got long. )

Friday night caseopaya and I went to the VPAC end-of-year dinner at the Rainforest Room at the Melbourne zoo. Had good conversations with the new HPC centre manager and the CEO and their respective partners on a wide-range of topics. Eventually made it home in the wee hours, "a little bit" ineberiated on the cheap red wine that was on offer. Found myself awake and at the Melbourne Convention Centre by 9am for the Parliament of the World's Religions, where I was looking after the International Council of Unitarian Universalists (ICUU) stall. I agree strongly with a local Greens MP (and a Christian) who was argued that it is "vile" religious bigotry that this conference has received $2m in funding from the State government, but next year's Atheist Conference will receive nothing. I intend to go the latter as well, of course, being that most rare of creatures, a religious atheist.

Stayed there until just after 3pm then made my way to Willsmere (the old Kew Asylum) where we are looking for a potential apartment to purchase. Made it home, had a bite to eat, and then went out to see The Church play at the corner hotel; a fairly good show, a strong performance and wide-ranging selection of material, although lacking in their very early material which I prefer. The cover of Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm" was particularly amusing. Again made it home in the wee hours, but at least this time thoroughly sober.

Following morning had to journey to the Melbourne Unitarian Church where I gave an address on 2012: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Nonsense. Afterwards chaired the Philosophy Forum discussion on The Virtual World. Following that ran a session of RuneQuest where the PCs successfully escaped an attempt of Trolls to crush a Trollkin rebellion; there is now a trollkin and dark elf community in the middle of Sun Duchy who worship the Black Sun, a very cute tangent to the standard Gloranthan mythology.

My profile's full of lovely snowflakes! I feel showered in love!:DDDDD

Thanks everybody!

How I procrastinate for finals (and essays due with finals):

- Baking: Maybe a cake would be nice. Chocolate, of course. And brownies!! With JAM!! Look at all these recipes I need to try!! Better eat that broccoli before it goes bad!! And there's always that new breadstick recipe I've been meaning to try out. And couldn't I make vegetarian lasagna?

- Cleaning: It's filthy in here!! I must wipe down all the counters and do the dishes and clean out the fridge and prune and water all my plants!! And dusting and vacuuming!! Shameful that I've put this off so long!! And look at the cat litter and bathroom!! Better get on that!!

- The Internet: Wow!! Look at all these fascinating webcomics I haven't been keeping up with!! Some of these I haven't even read before? Imagine that!! Bad Jen, better get busy reading these or you'll get behind. Oooh!! Tetris!!

- Making Christmas Decorations: Boy, could the apartment use some more decorations. I know!! I'll cut snowflakes out of coloured construction paper!! Neato. These'll be the best snowflakes ever. Oooh!! I should hang up candy-canes.

Studying? Pfft. How can I even THINK about studying when I'm this busy?

ha ha! I put a drawing there to get your attention! It's of the Food Emporium on Gottingen, so it is related geographically at least.

The details for the signing at Strange Adventures next Friday in Halifax are up! All the info is on this facebook event. See you there! (ps, dudes, don't add me on facebook, I don't add people I don't know and neither should you!)