Hard up...

Okay, so I was at the park with Ladybug, waiting for school to get out so I could pick up Chicken and Cave Troll. It was a nice day--high eighties, low nineties, with a nice breeze, and Ladybug was looking especially cute (not acting that way, but you can't get everything) and I was happy.

Then I started looking around.

There was a very odd crowd at the park this day.

There were a lot of men between twenty-five and fifty, doing calisthenics, playing ball with some SERIOUS concentration, sitting and talking together in a group.

There were a lot of very prominent, very diverse gang tattoos.

In fact, if I hadn't known for certain we were at the park by the library, I would have said it was recreation hour at Folsom Prison.

My eye fell on one determined group of exercising men wearing wife-beaters and basketball shorts and doing jump-ups by turn. (You know, those pushups that require a jump from full to half extension in the middle?) And,uhm, I've got to tell you that without the suggested violence in those tatts, the guys were pretty hot. They were built, ripped, shredded, and muscled, and there they were, exercising that muscle.

Well, what's not to look?

So, they pass me on their way to the water fountain, smiling because they know I've been looking, and one of them says, "How're you doin' today?" very politely, and I reply with a nod and a grin, "I'm fine--just enjoying the view!"

That got a bunch of laughs, and then the man speaking (one of the older of the men--and the one guy w/OUT tatts) responds, "Us too!" with some serious enthusiasm.

I laugh appreciatively, and think to myself, "Yup. DEFINITELY some sort of prison release. Any world where I'M the scenery is just NOT a target-rich environment."

But I did appreciate the view.

Anyway, in other news...

I'm not sure whether to be amused, insulted, or pissed off. My e-mail isn't working so I can't find the link, but I'm this week's special guest on a pirating site. Bitter Moon I & II are both up for free download, with a big intro and everything. On the one hand, well, thank you I guess. I'm hoping this person enjoyed the books, and I appreciate the exposure. On the other hand, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PUBLISH RAMPANT IF I'M NOT MAKING ROYALTIES? Just asking--I mean, I SERIOUSLY am depending on royalties to make this little shoestring run. I don't know if I've ever seen the profit/expansion cycle quite so up close and personal as I have this year, and, well, I'm a little dismayed!

*sigh* Either way, I guess, it's a drawback to being an indie pub, and like my un-teflon-like reaction to a reviewer's poison pen, another drawback of depending so much on the little glowing box that only PRETENDS to act under my aegis.

But I guess the least I can say is "Help! I've been abducted by pirates!"

I mean go with it right?

AARRRRRGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!