cleolinda | Tuesday night, clinging to Halloween

Hmm. Got 1500 words or so of new material written, so that was good. It plays into Jack the Ripper mythology a teensy bit, but fortunately that's ridiculously well-documented, so I just need to brush up on my facts a bit. Oh, and since a few people have asked, I'm not doing NaNoWriMo proper this year, since I finally realized that it just doesn't mesh all that well with my process--if only because my "process" (the best word I can think of to describe it, even though it seems kind of pretentious) is kind of unruly. I can write a lot in a short amount of time, or I can write steadily for a long period of time, but I can't do both at the same time. So right now, I've been trying to do the latter--keep writing on one project TO THE DEATH, but that doesn't mean I'm moving at NaNo speeds. I've been writing for two months and I'm hoping to finish up in 6-8 weeks, which may be ridiculously optimistic on my part; I don't know. I might copy any new material written after October 31 into a NaNo file just to see how many words it ends up being, but I'm not gunning for 50,000 new words so much as I am a complete, semi-polished draft--which is actually the antithesis of NaNo. So what I'm saying is, I'm doing something very similar, only over a course of several months instead of one. So I'm kind of here with you in spirit, but my deadline isn't so pressing.

Re: Hard Candy: Stay safe! Wear red! And don't forget your scalpel!

Halloween cocktails from Martha Stewart. Today's and yesterday's icons come from marthastewart.com images, by the way.

Snopes discusses the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode that was too "horrifying" to be shown in the series' initial run.

Ten Tales of Terror: Super-short stories from six writers, including Neil Gaiman, with audio of the writers reading them as well. Except that I count more than six stories. Eh, it's all good. (Hee, "Zombie Cat.") Scroll down to the bottom for more audio as well.

(Writing-related: How Richard Russo wrestled an out-of-control novel into Bridge of Sighs.)

Is "Slutoween" Actually Scarier Than Halloween Ever Was? [Every Day Is Slutoween].

The Smoking Gun: "It's time again for another trip north to see what dirty DVDs are being seized by Canada's vigilant Border Services Agency."

Wired editor bans PR flacks.

Facebook's "secret" New York office is at ... "That is where we will all find adorable but nerdy and newly-rich boyfriends together. RACE YOU. GET 'EM WHILE THEY'RE (SORTA) HOT." Have you seen the founder guy? I would totally hit that.

When Pigs Fly: The Death of Oink, the Birth of Dissent, and a Brief History of Record Industry Suicide, by someone who used to work in the music industry. "[The newspaper industry's] only choice was to innovate and find ways to compete in a new marketplace. And you know what? Now I can get live, up-to-the-minute news for free, on thousands of different sources across the internet - and The New York Times still exists. Free market capitalism at its finest."

Patrick Wolf to launch own record label.

Donovan and David Lynch to open meditation-based college.

Clam is over 400 years old.

To paraphrase an icon I saw a while ago: Tonner Voldemort is bringing sexy back. I love that you can get the doll wrapped in "baby"-themed giftwrap. You know, and scare the shit out of some poor toddler.

Harry Potter Star to Play Gay Salvador Dali. Well, Robert Pattinson--"star" may be overstating it a bit. Also: Mike Newell looks back on filming GOF now that DH is out; First Dumbledore Sighting Since The Outing! (The caption on the picture made me laugh. Hee.)

The Golden Compass: Cowboys & Indians magazine features Sam Elliott.

George Clooney Offered Lead Role in 'G.I. Joe'?

Josh Lucas Up For Trek's Pike?

Winona Ryder, Robin Wright Penn and Julianne Moore Team for 'Pippa Lee.'

Little Mermaid on Broadway Pictures.

Breaking news, by the way: Robert Goulet dies at age 73.