two events

Jun. 19th, 2007 12:44 pm
ewein2412: (harriet writing (no text))
14 June 2007

Well, I threw myself a party to celebrate the "release" of The Lion Hunter. It was conceived at the last minute and in spite of 24-hour notice, everybody just seemed so delighted to be involved. I was rather stunned by the enthusiasm and excitement with which friends and neighbors responded. "A cocktail party!" We had gallons of mimosas/Bucks Fizz and Shirley Temples for the TWENTY-SEVEN CHILDREN that turned up (along with plenty of grown-ups, too). I made a bunch of castle-shaped cakes (vaguely Arthurian-themed) and Mark put together a tremendous Book Display, which he also gave tours for. He wants to do this again for The Empty Kingdom so that he can make another display!



the cakes... shades of San Marino



Mark's display

I sold and signed a bunch of books, too. It was really nice to mark the event with an Occasion, because otherwise I just sit around checking my Amazon ratings--always a really, really bad thing to do. But quite frankly, we ought to have more cocktail parties, even without an occasion to mark.

16 June 2007

The Moonwalk has come and gone! My team, The Fair City Fillies from Perth, took off at 11.45 p.m. on 16 June 2007 and finished at exactly 3.15 a.m. That's 13.1 miles in 3 and a half hours. DARNED FAST WALKING, if I do say so myself, and I did, often; I reckon as the lone American in the group, I was in charge of complaining about the pace. And also complaining about the WEATHER, which was: Raining and 50 degrees F. Not ideal weather for walking at night in your bra. But I did it. How do you like the look?



I failed to find any colored lights, but there were a lot of other people who had them. We walked all around Arthur's Seat in the dark, and when you looked back down the hill it looked just like the scene at the end of "Night on Bald Mountain" in Fantasia, when the holy people are endlessly walking along carrying their little lights. There were so many people participating that you could never see either the beginning or the end of the line.

10,000 women (and a few men) took part in this charity walk. The organizers are hoping to raise £2 million, which means that YOU, my friends and relations, have generously donated more than twice what they are expecting each individual participant to raise: currently £ 458.41, which at the moment is the equivalent of $ 908.11. Thank you so much! I am touched and humbled by your contributions.

Many thanks for your support, and love to all!

(On-line donations to The Moonwalk are still being accepted, raising money for breast cancer
projects within Scotland. My page is here)
ewein2412: (harriet writing (no text))
Moonwalk approaching... it's this Saturday. I feel ready, except I still
have to "decorate" my bra... I'm torn between leaves, candy, or colored
lights. (All three?)

You have been stupendous supporters. I am amazed at such tremendous generosity, not just from friends, but also from people who have drifted out of my immediate circle of contacts, and from people I've never met in person.

Wish me luck for Saturday!

--------------------------
For on-line donations to The Moonwalk, raising money for breast cancer
projects within Scotland, visit my page here
ewein2412: (Alderley Edge by Manon)
[livejournal.com profile] resoundingjoy got her hot copy of The Lion Hunter as an ARC off ebay even before I had mine, but now I can boast that I have actually got a copy of the REAL BOOK in my hands! It is very beautiful, including a map of the Arabian Peninsula drawn by ME. I am also very, very proud to boast that to my knowledge there is one review so far, a starred review in next month's Kirkus.

So. I know [livejournal.com profile] sdn doesn't like the "me me me" approach to blogging, and I don't either usually, but it has just been SO LONG since I had any good book news to report (I put a very positive spin on what I post here); and of course, [livejournal.com profile] sdn gets to take credit for this too, since she's the driving force behind getting the durn thing published in the first place.

The package with the book in it arrived rubber-banded together with another package, which contained my complimentary W0nderbra in which I'm supposed to do the Moonwalk. It is padded and underwired--not my kind of bra. Can I just say that I would not walk to the MAILBOX in an underwired bra, let alone 13 miles. I am kind of astonished. I know the Moonwalk is sponsored by Pl@ytex, but am I the ONLY woman in Scotland who doesn't like underwire? And it's meant to be power walking, too; aren't sports bras supposed to be comfortable?

Maybe this is meant to be part of the challenge. Maybe I can use it as an extra incentive for sponsorship--sponsor me to do this walk in an underwired bra! NO DON'T, I'm just kidding. I don't do underwire, not even for charity.

potpourri

May. 17th, 2007 03:52 pm
ewein2412: (harriet writing (no text))
1) Gramma

I didn't post about Gramma's progress for a while she wasn't making any and it was very discouraging. After what seemed like a phenomenal recovery, 6 weeks after her injury and with her pelvis mostly healed, she suddenly found herself stricken with debilitating and inexplicable pain on the other side of her body. We thought it might be sciatica. After an MRI scan, turns out she actually had two other breaks that the initial x-rays hadn't picked up, one in her hip and one in her tailbone (?) or thereabouts--so they confined her to the walker/zimmer frame and wheelchair for another 6 weeks. She improved very rapidly (again) after that, and 3 weeks later was back to saying, "I'm fine, but they're still making me use this stupid walker." (Apparently, at her last check-up with her GP, she asked permission to start driving again, and the GP accused her of coercion--that's the specialist's department!)

As far as I know she spent last weekend in Richmond with my aunt (her youngest daughter, Kate) and Kate's daughters. Her first big trip since her accident, and it is a big trip, a 5 hour drive. I will have to have a long transatlantic gossip with her soon.

2) Moonwalk Reminder

Me and my team the "Fair City Fillies" are supposed to be in training for the Moonwalk, a sponsored walk to raise money to support breast cancer projects within Scotland. The freaks that I hang out with consider that appropriate "training" for a 13 mile power walk is to go on a 14 mile hillwalk over rough terrain AT THE SAME PACE as the power walk; i.e., if you don't pass out or end up in the hospital with tendonitis you'll be fine for the half-marathon, which will be considerably less difficult than your training. So anyway, I have been training. I will just about recover in time to do the actual half-marathon; donations always gratefully appreciated here , and many thanks to those of you who have made donations in the past. I will keep you posted when the big day arrives!

Everyone's feet hurt last week. Tim has a mysterious infection in his right foot which was so swollen I finally managed to make him go to the doctor, and antibiotics seem to be improving it. Unbelievably, the day before he went, the CAT turned up limping pathetically on 3 legs with a big fat swollen paw, and SHE had to go get antibiotics as well (or whatever it is they give cats). Tim took her; apparently he asked the vet if he could get a shot in his foot, too.

Tim's ridiculous attempt to explain the strange foot maladies going around:

"Your feet are the bellwether of your soul."

3) Perth, the cultural haven at the end of the motorway system

We went to see the Waterboys at the Perth Concert Hall last night. They were fantastic--I didn't actually expect to enjoy the concert as much as I did. I am not real familiar with their recent stuff and had never heard the "Peace of Iona" song or their marvellous setting of Yeats's "The Stolen Child" (painfully topical, too). And--

ONE MAN STAR WARS TRILOGY IS COMING TO EDINBURGH!!!! WE HAVE TICKETS!!!

I love Scotland.

4) Navel Gazing

As far as I am aware The Lion Hunter is on schedule for its 14 June 2007 debut. I know that there are at least two people on my friendslist who claim to be more excited about this book than about HP7 ([livejournal.com profile] marguerlucy said I could quote her on that, so I am). Your reward is…

Somewhere, someone in the dim and distant Internet past (and they probably don't even read this blog) expressed a whimsical desire for a Medraut/Turunesh fanfic. I don't know if it counts as fanfic if the author of the fandom writes it herself, but I have produced a drabble. A DRABBLE! Moi! I wrote it a while ago and was too embarrassed to post it. But what the heck. It is here and here at [livejournal.com profile] rarelitslash. madwoman.
ewein2412: (harriet writing (no text))
I'm going on a charity walk to raise funds for breast cancer projects in Scotland. The Moonwalk takes place 16 June 2007 (Bloomsday--I love this--I will be wandering around Edinburgh all night, thinking of Stephen Dedalus). I'm going as part of a team from Perth and we're doing the half-marathon. It's 13 miles power walking--the catch is that it's in the middle of the night and with your bra prominently displayed!

I've got an on-line donation page set up, so if anyone feels able to make a contribution and support me in this, please visit the page at:

https://www.bmycharity.com/eegatland

My goal is a modest £100; small donations gratefully accepted.

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