While in Japan, we visited many beautiful temples and shrines, especially while we were in Kyoto. The temple pictured above is the Kinkakuji (Gold Pavilion) Temple, and the outside of the building is coated with real gold. Temples like this one that are popular with tourists often charged an entry fee (generally around $5), and then had signs directing tourists on a specific route through the temple grounds.
After a month-and-a-half break from sending out submissions:
Sub58 – to Lone Star Stories (my 6th sub there)
Sub59 – to Analog (my 2nd sub there)
This gets me back up to 8 stories in circulation. I’ve also outlined all but the last scene for a brand new story, which I’m feeling pretty good about, and am hoping to have written by the end of the week. It’s nice to get back to writing after the six week moving/traveling break.
While in Japan, we had the opportunity to ride several forms of public transportation, all without being able to read Japanese. Many of the signs were written in both Japanese and English, and most of the time individual stops were broadcast over loudspeaker as well, and so we listened to the stops to keep track of where we were, and know when to get off. We spent a lot of time on trains ( wrote a lovely post here with step-by-step advice on taking the trains), but at various points of our trip we rode on subways, buses, and …
Now that I’m back, and recovered from jet lag (and the flu I picked up on the way home), I figured I’d do a few blog posts on the highlights from the trip my husband and I recently took (to Japan). First up is the Tsukiji fish market, a bustling market where it is possible to buy almost anything that lives in the sea in the early hours of the morning. Well, most mornings. We thought that it would be a great idea to visit the market the first day in Tokyo, seeing as how we’d likely be awake anyway …
Pictures from my trip to Japan are up on flickr. I took lots of pictures early in the trip, but didn’t take as many pictures as I expected at Worldcon — the few that I did take at the convention are in the ‘Yokohama’ set.
Rejections 48 and 49:
R48 – A few weeks ago, a 68-day rejection from Tin House.
R49 – A 167-day rejection from Writers of the Future, after having made the finals for quarter 2.
I’m still feeling pretty confident about both stories, and I should be able to get them subbed again by tomorrow.
After a very long day of traveling yesterday, I’m now back in Austin. I’ll be making several posts about the trip as soon as I’ve had a chance to sort through some of the accompanying pictures.
I’m massively jet-lagged. I woke up about an hour ago (after having slept 12 hours) and I really want to go back to bed and sleep. Hopefully I’ll be able to distract myself by unpacking the last of the boxes (Peter did lots of unpacking before I got back, mostly only the kitchen boxes are left) and sorting out the photos I took in …
I’ve been in Texas for a week, and am still only partially unpacked, but tomorrow I’m off to Japan for Worldcon. My husband and I are sightseeing in Tokyo and Kyoto beforehand, which I’m quite excited about. I’ve never been to Japan before (or anywhere in Asia, for that matter).
Added to my list of things I’ve learned this week:
– lifting heavy things is not good for people with wrist problems
– crickets, in addition to being icky, are noisy
– brand new mattresses are really really comfy
We’re still not unpacked enough for the apartment to …
Well, after several long days of driving, I arrived in Austin on Monday night. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
– Texas is HOT.
– The speed limit from El Paso to Austin is mostly 80 mph. You can make pretty good time driving across Texas.
– If you’re trying to get somewhere in Austin, go in the opposite direction, then make a U-turn. It is impossible to go somewhere by moving toward your destination.
– Tacos here are cheap and tasty.
– Airconditioning is good.
– Giant swarms of crickets are icky.
– …
I’ve finished my write-a-thon goal of six chapters in six weeks. Yay! When I was setting my goal, a chapter a week felt like it might be too easy, almost like cheating. BUT I knew the end would be crazy with moving, and that this year was not the time for aggressive write-a-thon goals. Next year, I’ll set myself a bigger goal. Under the circumstances, a chapter per week (especially this last week), was plenty for this time around.
Chapter six: 3,300 words
Total words: 18,500 words
A big thank-you to all of my sponsors!! Clarion West definitely appreciates …
