Book review: Wolf Hunting

Today's book review is Wolf Hunting by Jane Linskold.

Looking back at my journal, you might think I've given up on writing these, but really, it's a matter of not putting in any reading time, and reading so slowly when I do.  A long book, even one I enjoy reading, takes me approximately forever to finish when I only read for 15 minutes a day.

Anyway, this is the fifth book in Linskold's ongoing Wolf series.  I wouldn't recommend trying to pick up the series in the middle; go back and find Through Wolf's Eyes and read them in order.  This volume is a reasonably complete episode in the lives of the ongoing characters, but it refers a fair bit to things from the previous books.  Even though I have read the previous books, I had a little trouble with a few of the references since my memory is poor.

Linskold continues to do a surprising job in these books of finding new things to show us in the world rather than just going over old stuff again, so even though it's the fifth in the series, it's still fresh.  Our ongoing characters and their relationships develop new depths.  Actual magic takes a larger role in this story than in the past without changing the character of the world too much.  In the end, magical problems still come down to people solutions (I wrote "human solutions", but not all of the people involved are human, which is much of the attraction).

Overall, maybe a tiny bit less good than the previous couple, but still solid; if you've enjoyed the series, keep reading (and if you haven't tried it, go find Through Wolf's Eyes).  9 out of 10.

( plot summary (massive spoilers) )

Looking for possibilities

I don't want to go into details in a public entry, but after a tragedy, I've been forced to give up my dog and I no longer feel at home in my house.

I am not sanguine about my chances of finding a job that would let me move to a happier place, but I have a much better chance of finding something if I actually look than if I just whimper.  So, with this note, I am officially extending tentative feelers toward finding a job closer to EFRC.  (Actually working at EFRC isn't realistic, but if I were closer I could spend more time there.)  Closer in this instance would be Terre Haute, Bloomington (IN), Indianapolis, or somewhere in that general area.  If you have any connections to a good job in west central Indiana, or good useful advice on getting a job in the area, let me know.  For me, what makes a job good is a flexible schedule and a lot of vacation time much more than a high salary.  Of course, work that I am able to do and can stand doing would be important.  I've never held any paying job other than software development, but I'd be willing, even eager, to move to another line of work if I could find the right sort of opportunity.  Creative suggestions are welcome, as long as they'd come with real health benefits and a professional salary.

It's scary even thinking about this, but I don't see a happy future if I just sit here.

Preparing for Duck... Gah!

So I've spent a big chunk of the day supposedly trying to find and prepare new images, and nothing has clicked.  At least I got one new one printed, and made another copy of the one that sold at Cap.  (That Cap never paid me for.  I missed getting my check in person, and it never showed up in the mail.  Unless my evil twin collected my mail that day and ate it, or I put it somewhere extra clever and then the brain spiders ate all memory of it.  But I've actually cleared through a fair bit of the mess in my office in the past few days and it didn't appear.)

So I've been flailing around trying to get the images I have into frames that aren't cracked.  These Format document frames are cheap and simple, but they suck.  You put them in your satchel and take them to a con and by the time you get there the plastic is cracked and the glass wants to fall out.  Which Melissa told me was bad at Cap, so I checked them, and out of 10 existing frames I think 5 were bad.  I don't have enough frames for 12 pieces, so screw it, you're going to get eight tigers in the show and nothing else.  And then I finally get around to opening the art show forms Melissa emailed me, so I could actually have my control sheet filled out ahead of time like I was competent or something.  Only it's a .DOC file.  I do not open .DOC files I get through email with Word.  I only open them with WordPad, for security reasons.  And when I try to open these with WordPad, it crashes.

So I give up.

I hope everyone else's prep is going better.  I hope nothing explodes tomorrow so I can get there in time to get the stuff in the show, eat, and maybe get to opening ceremonies.  Definitely the concert.  I'm sure it will be a great weekend.  It always is.  But right now I'm pretty burned out and frustrated and pissy about getting ready.

ETA: Oh, and I forgot to grouse that I haven't done anything about camera cases for my new kit. The 20D body with the battery grip does not fit in the small camera case. I haven't redone the foam in the big case, and I don't want to carry it to a con where I have no intention of using the big lens or the other body. So my camera isn't in a proper case for the weekend. Blrg.

InCon

(mild apologies for being Posty McPostalot this evening)

Speaking of cons, who is going to be at InCon this year?  I know there's a million things happening that weekend, but I really don't want to try to go far away like Kansas City or Minneapolis.  I'm toying with the idea of hitting InCon Friday and Saturday-not-terribly-late, sneaking off to EFRC on Sunday.  If the con is worth going to at all, it'll suck to leave early on Saturday night, and if I'm not there on Sunday, it creates a logistical problem with trying to put art in the art show.  But I'm not willing to give up an EFRC day for this con yet.

So -- if you're coming to InCon, and you'd like to encourage me to be there, sing out.  If you'd be willing to act as my agent and pick up my art on Sunday (assuming I can come up with something to show the art in, since I've had it with the cheap ass frames I've been using), it would be worth a heaping helping of gratitude and I'd buy you dinner when I can get back to Indy and pick it up.  Which might even be the evening of the con.