Wow, a long time between posts!

Hey everyone-
I've been busy with BPD the last week or so. There's a great interview up on BPD with John Jos. Miller, S.L. Farrell and Kevin Andrew Murphy about Wild Cards--they're writing in character as John Fortune, Drummer Boy and Swash (who doesn't appear in INSIDE STRAIGHT but does show up in BUSTED FLUSH)-- and it rocks. Go read it! I'll still be here when you get back.

Other news: Kat and I are off to Philly this weekend for her cousin's birthday party. I'm gonna need a disco nap beforehand-- at 43, I'm just not the late-night party animal I never was before.

Gotta schedule a week's vacation sometime soon. Kat and I are thinking of an England trip but are dismayed at the exchange rate. Honest, could the dollar fall much further? But I'm thinking of taking a week by myself to write the book I've been tinkering on for much too long. Ya never know.

Got some reviews to wrap up too-- LOST ONES by Chris Golden, KISS BEFORE THE APOCALYPSE by Tom Sniegoski, and a few others. SFRevu will be rich with my writing this month coming up.

That's about all from here. Hope you had a great Easter!

More Pictures: Beth's birthday party

Another set of pix...

Beth had her 40th birthday party last month (she held it a few days before MY birthday and hasn't even sent me a present, though I sent her a bunch of stuff AND drove from DC to NJ for the party!). UPDATE: she called to thank me and left a voicemail on our house phone (which we sadly do not check very often-- best bet: call the cell!) See the above post; man, I guess I do sound angry! Sorry, Beth!!

Anyway.

Here are some shots of her birthday party. I'm the fat guy in the green T-shirt, if you didn't know.





To give a little context, it's Beth and Rob (my sister and brother) up top, then a shot of the volleyball net, then Kat and my in-laws, then Rob, me, Pop and Beth, then Glenn (not sure why he was barbecuing sideways that day), then Jeff Freeman (Class of '82!) and Rob.

Great day all around.

Kittens!

Kat and I are getting kittens tonight. They are adorable, two van calico females, 11 weeks old. Their current names are Janet and Chrissy ("Three's Company"-- our shelter is kind of wacky that way). I'll post pictures as soon as we have them in the house and settled down.

Kat's a little nervous about having pets. It'll work out.

Oh, and I'm 43 today.

later, all!
Drew

Gulf Coast Adventure

Hey everyone!
Kat and I just got back from a terrific four-day weekend trip to Gulfport. We went to see my mom, who celebrated her 77th birthday on Saturday.
While we were there, we:

• had Mom's fried chicken, which is absolutely delicious;
• toured the Coast from "bridge to bridge" (that is, from the Ocean Springs bridge in Biloxi, currently being rebuilt, to the Bay St. Louis bridge in Pass Christian, which has two lanes open but is still being rebuilt) and saw... lots and lots and lots of empty lots;
• had lunch at Harbour View (which is a cute name but entirely inappropriate--it's at least a full mile inland);
• got together with Mom's closest friends and my Uncle Dick, Aunt Mary and cousin Debra to have a birthday party for Mom;
• went out on a yacht all day Saturday (courtesy of Ruth, Renee and Drew A.) to Ship Island--saw manta rays (or maybe stingrays), swimming crabs, jellyfish... and a large pod (or two) of porpoises, two of whom "surfed" in our bow wave halfway back to Gulfport;
• effected a rescue at sea for a boat that had broken down a few miles out;
• had dinner with Dick, Mary and Debra (Kat absolutely LOVED all the Southern cooking!);
• attended church with Mom (I sang a duet with her-- On Eagle's Wings);
• dropped by Dad's grave, as well as Jerry, Maman and Papaw's;
• went to Wal-Mart and got CFLs, which we used to replace all of Mom's lightbulbs; and
• said farewell before hopping a (delayed) flight to Atlanta for a harrowing run to make our connection and then getting home around 12:40.

Whew!

We took a LOT of pictures, including Mom's wacky pets (Barney, Henery and Tess), and Kat will be putting them online. As soon as we have a URL, it'll be posted here.

Hope you're all doing great and that you'll stop back to see some pictures!