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Realm of the InterNutter

Thoughts, stories and ideas.

Yoiks and Away, I guess.

Before I wanted to write a draft of the very polite letter I sent to the most recent A2B, I thought I'd check in on their website to see what their responses were likely to be like in the first place.

if we are interested in discussing possible representation, we will contact you by email or phone—typically within 6 weeks.

The time limit has run out. They haven't contacted me. So...

I pick another A2B and try again. At least the next one I have lined up promises to get back to me inside of a month. So less time in torture, I guess. They're also the first agency I've seen who specifically requests that I don't send an exclusive query. The others, for the record, leave any indication of desired exclusivity out. Therefore, I'm going to have to search my little list for anyone else who states they don't mind a non-exclusive query.

If I'm plumb out of luck, I'm plumb out of luck and they have to get an exclusive query because nobody else does what they do. Bleh.

Today, after I do my Instant, I will shop for a few presents. One for Chaos' friends, who's having a birthday party next week, and one for my friendo. If I can find anything good, of course. And maybe a little something-something to help me feel better.

And sometime during the weekend, I'll get KFZ ready to fly out to possible, multiple A2B's.

Yoiks and a-firkin-way.

After some significant research, it's turned out that this A2B is the ONLY ONE that I know of who is at all interested in being competitive with another A2B. There's even one that insists on a (shudder) postal submission. That one's going to take six firkin months to get back to me (also by snail mail) plus whatever time it takes for said mail to get back to me.

You can bet that one's going out by registered post. There will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth with that particular effort. Which I will be saving for dead last because I abhor using snail mail for this shit.

There's just three agents to go on this A2B list. Three more chances to get my money's worth out of this $400 list of people. Then I shall complain to AR&E and demand a refund.

I'm getting faster on my turn-around, but the way. From acceptance of rejection to sending it out again in the same morning. No hiding under the pillow-fort, today!

I also have plans to read through Beauties so I can send it off to my Beta readers. I'm going to use the text-to-speech feature so, theoretically, I can listen to my book as I do other stuff.

That's for the afternoons. When I'm done with my work.

Challenge #01527-D066: Virtual Friend

'Sixty-two years old, and you find a kindred spirit in a block of programming,' they thought wryly, shaking their head. -- RecklessPrudence

It hadn't started that way, of course. Her grandchildren had got her into the video games. Things had gone a long way since the Space Invaders. There was no more coin in the slot or press A to start, to begin with. She could play by typing on the keyboard, and the machine code understood her and responded.

Denny

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Welp. That worked.

I scanned for news about the International Women's day and the global women's strike that was supposed to happen, yesterday. Not a sausage, as Bluebottle would say.

Hopefully, things are better in other places. Maybe some certain people will see the advantages of paying people equally for all the invisible work that gets done.

It could turn out two ways, really. The whiter percentage of the population could be just fine with a 27% pay gap, think they have enough rights already,

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Closed for Today

There once was a man in the late 50's who would come home from work to find his wife exhausted and not "in the mood". Everything else was picture perfect. The house looked like it came out of a catalogue, the kids were clean and picturesque. Dinner was a dream... it was just the little lady who was constantly out of sorts.

Every evening, he had the same complaint. "I don't know why you're so tired, you just do nothing all day.

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Challenge #01526-D065: Goods and Services

Oh fuck that noise, screw that sound, hump that harmonic, bang that bass, fornicate with that frequency and fuck me! -- RecklessPrudence

In all of Galactic Society, the most alarming feature to most human societies is the simple fact that sex work and mental therapy have homogenised into a harmonious whole. Humans have had an interesting relationship with the mechanics of their own reproduction and, despite some centuries af adjustment, are still hung up about it.

Case in point, most of the

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::William Tell Overture at 75rpm::

[AN: IDEK when this should have posted, but you can assume I was very distracted]

Okay, so today is busy and I only have myself to blame. I had scheduled an appointment for Chaos to get her shrinky paperwork in order for yesterday afternoon, but because of a sick Mayhem, I completely forgot about it.

Derp.

Now I have one this morning, but with squeaking room to actually get to the shrink on time. AND I have paperwork to hand in to

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Challenge #01525-D064: A Powerful Talisman

Call it what you will, Linus, Blankie, Comfort Rug. A square or rectangle of worked fibre, knitted, crocheted out of bits of yarn something soft and warm to hang on to in times of stress. -- Knitnan

"Honestly, Farraq, this is the slowest evacuation in the known universe."

"Sorry, boss," the human had something colourful bundled under one arm. "Can't leave anywhere without my Snoog."

P'treth boggled at the human merc as they writhed their way through an airlock made for a

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Urgh...

So we finally edited Adapting, yesterday. And it was a slog. One of my dear Betas did not like the way I introduced all the concepts in the first chapter. I'm halfway compelled to start every single one of the first five Amalgam books in the exact same way.

I mean, sir Pterry started all of his earliest books by yatting on about A'Tuin for about three pages and nobody complained. It's setting the scene. It's a small amount of showing exactly

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Challenge #01524-D063: Invisible Rebellion

They are the people who keep Organisations going, they step in, step up, or just help out how they can. A vast Army of ordinary people, old, young, able bodied or doing what they can when they can. If they are lucky, they get 'petrol money'. -- Knitnan

It was a nondescript interrogation room, but something about it told Lorraine that this particular interview room was underground. The taste of the air. The way the air conditioning sounded. The way the room

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Statistics Sunday, exercise, and other impediments

We're still not exercising regularly. Alas, alack. It's just not going to happen, what with Beloved going to work at Sparrow Fart in the morning. Morning was our best window for working out. And when Beloved comes home, tired from all the nonse they had to do during the day, they're hard pressed to have a conversation.

But we're both making sure we at least walk every day. I remember the old tricks I used when I was suffering under the high-carb

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Challenge #01523-D062: A Grievous Mistake

Matters have left "pear-shaped" and have escalated to the eldritch topographies of a taco warped through a tesseract. -- RecklessPrudence

"I regret to inform Her Majestrix that matters have gone... er... pear-shaped."

The seneschal glared down hir nose at Brekkis. " Adjudant Brekkis... Matters have left "pear-shaped" and have escalated to the eldritch topographies of a taco warped through a tesseract. Matters are so beyond "pear-shaped" that we've had to hire human mercenaries, Brekkis. And further... the human mercenaries have captured some of

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Happy anniversary, babe

It's almost been twenty years of togetherness for Beloved and I. Twenty years of them putting up with my crap. Plus all the time we had as mere cuddle-buddies, which doesn't count apparently. Otherwise, it'd be twenty-two.

We have plans to go see Logan in a Gold Class cinema, which means I pretty much have to hurry up and do this thing as fast as I can.

No sign of rejection from A2B.

Chaos is officially critter-free, and I owe the school

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Challenge #01522-D061: With a Knack for Mimicry

http://marlynnofmany.tumblr.com/post/156605690661

Aliens that do not understand how well humans can mimic some noises. -- Gallifreya

When headed into uncharted, or barely charted territory, when facing danger, it is best to have at least one human aboard your ship. Yes, they are frightening deathworlders, but they also understand this and endeavour to be less frightening so they can pack-bond with you. They are also, and the K'veth are discovering, prone to annoying pranks.

Bob could impersonate any noise

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F-O-C-U-S

Today's my last day for writing Beauties and the Beastly so of course I'm procrastinating harder than ever. With all good luck, Beloved and I will be editing Adapting and then I'll be sending out Beauties to my lovely beta readers.

All of whom, I sincerely hope, will get back to me promptly about the contents of said novel. Instead of taking most of this novel's writing to do so.

Yes, I am still salty about that.

When I am of a

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Challenge #01521-D060: Perspective Post Peril

(Couldn't make this entirely gender-neutral. I suspect the terms do not exist in English. Although I know half a dozen ways to say one of them in various fictional universes, one of them might be the correct English form of address. As for a gender-neutral term for the person in charge of a Duchy (apart from the major-domo or seneschal or whatever who's actually running it all... idk)

[Person #1]: (VERY full of themselves, has been nothing but irritating, has no training,

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