Good morning!  Welcome to this writer’s workspace.  Here’s what’s happening liiiiiiiiiiiiiive at Miranda’s desk:

What I’m working on:  Today is short story day.  I’ve got two drafts nearly ready to venture out into the big, wide world.  “Reversal of Fortune” tells the tale of a poker game playing out across the landscape of post-apocalyptic NYC.  “Ark in a Sea of Stars” recounts the adventures of a revolutionary group who steal the next generation of babies and flee to the stars.  This morning I’ll massage them both with bath oils and braid their hair.  They’ll be so lovely and fragrant no one will possibly be able to refuse them.  Alternatively, they’ll turn out to be those weird kids no one wants to sit next to on the bus.

Snippet from the screen: [From Ark in a Sea of Stars] “Alton pulled into the parking lot, their little biodiesel trailing French-fry smell among the ubiquitous hybrid SUV’s.  Brenda felt a swell of excitement.  She’d been dating Alton three months now, but only last week had he finally told her about his radical group.  Brenda had imagined their meetings taking place in a dark basement somewhere, unfiltered cigarette smoke drifting among their whispered plans like stardust.  Instead, the first meeting she’d attended was in a Starbucks.”

In my mug: Irish breakfast tea, or the dregs thereof.

Keeping me company: Mr. Ramses is falling down on his job of overseeing my progress.  He seems far more interested in snoozing on the sofa, begging for friskies, and generally making an adorable nuisance of himself.  Shameless, isn’t he?

Out the window: Rain and thunder, hail, wrath of the gods.

A little procrastination never hurt anyone: Here’s Juliette Wade from TalkToYoUniverse on how and when to begin a story, Julia Rios breaks down Hop in terms of race and class over on livejournal, and some silly from Wired Magazine on Skynet’s impending self-awareness.

That’s all from here, folks!  What are you working on today?