Peregrine

I saw a Peregrine Falcon today at Neary Lagoon in Santa Cruz.

I've never seen a Peregrine before. I've seen silhouettes with tapered wings high in the sky, flashes of grey flying past, dark shapes chasing small birds in mid-air, and a nearly black falcon at Wilder Ranch that was probably a Peregrine but may have been a Merlin. I've never, though, seen a Peregrine and known it for sure, and I wanted desperately to see one.

I wanted to see one like this, too. Not being unsure, getting an unclear look, thinking "maybe", finally deciding to count the bird as seen on probability. I also didn't want to have the bird pointed out to me by someone on a guided trip, even though the last guided trip I went on was awesome; the Peregrine was something I wanted to see for myself. I've wanted to see a Peregrine so badly that at times every crow, kestrel, redtail, or oddly large-appearing Scrub Jay made me grab for the binoculars. The Peregrine is not an uncommon bird anymore, but it remains a noble bird. The need to see one was a monkey on my back.

Deafened by the noise of tule-removing machinery, I stopped on a path and got out my binoculars on the off chance that a lump on a bare branch, seen through willow thickets, might be alive.

It was a large falcon with a dark helmet-marked head, white cheeks and collar, dark back and dark-streaked underside.

I watched it until it flew away in a graceful blur of grey, taking the weight from my shoulders as it went.

Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So ever since I was a wee gothlike thing, I've been reading this Datlow/Windling (this year it's Datlow/Link/Grant) Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. I've always thought of it as having the most cutting-edge stories out there. Plus the recaps of the previous year's books are good for finding new things to read. As I've developed as a writer, I've had fun finding my friends and acquaintances' stories published or mentioned in YBFH.

BUT THIS YEAR,

My story "The Elf Knight and Lady Isabelle" from CLOAKED IN SHADOW got an Honorable Mention.

That's one of the coolest validations of my work I've had so far. It's up there with having Picador seriously consider TRIBULATION'S WAR. But Picador eventually didn't buy TW (which remains on the market). In YBFH, though, there I am. Page 466 (I keep checking back to it to make sure it is really real. It is.).

Weeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Books This Month

These are this month's new releases of significance, to me anyway...

Jeffrey Ford has a new novel out called GIRL IN THE GLASS.

A new nature writing book called EATING STONE focuses on desert bighorns.

Robin Hobb's SHAMAN'S CROSSING puts an appealing character in terrible danger. For some reason, this one really got to me -- I'm really worried for Nevare's sake and not sure how I'm going to wait for the sequel.

LOOKING FOR JAKE collects stories by China Mieville. I haven't read it yet, but I suspect his literary style is ideally suited to short stories.

MELUSINE, by Sarah Monette, is an uneven but generally entertaining first novel that does the most important thing right: interesting characters, horrendous torments, mix and stir.

ANGELS IN THE GLOOM is the newest World War I book by Anne Perry. Unusually, Perry has gone from a formulaic author (although I always enjoyed her more or less identical Victorian mysteries) to one who takes more risks and goes more places. I don't always agree with the moral conclusions her novels take, but I enjoy reading them.

CIRCLE OF THE MOON is the upcoming new novel by Barbara Hambly. It's the sequel to SISTERS OF THE RAVEN.

WIDOW OF THE SOUTH and THE MARCH (the latter is the Doctorow, not the Brooks) are two Civil War novels I look forward to eagerly. THAT ANVIL OF OUR SOULS, fairly recent, is a predictably enjoyable Civil War steamboat novel by David Poyer.

Calling Jack Johnson

Not the boxer or the rock star, but my best friend in 1989-90, Jack L. Johnson originally of Monroe, LA, who, the last I knew, lived in New Orleans. Jack, if you happen to remember who I am and see this, drop me a line. I'm thinking of you.

Beyond that, on the recent events on the Gulf Coast, I have no words.