nonionay | Viable Paradise

plunderpuss and I are all going to Viable Paradise in October! That's three for three of the Bellingham applicants. None shall be left behind! Many thanks to the VP team for giving us all a chance.

I took a celebratory bath (which would have been a comfort bath if I'd been turned down for VP) with candles and whiskey and a gothic novel*. Teisel the cat came in and sat on the edge of the tub the whole time. He licked my leg whenever it came within reach. Mind you, he refused to lick the same spot twice, even when it meant contorting his head to lick the underside of my knee. Then he jumped off the tub and started to gnaw the candle lighter. That got him kicked right out.

*I got another good one. The prose isn't as purple as I'd like, but the heroine is strong and sensible and though she does need some protection now and then, she's not helpless, and she helps the hero help her. There's an excellent scene where there's a guy with a gun pointed at her, and she keeps her cool and keeps the guy talking while moving him around so the hero can make a surprise attack from behind. Thus we get the best of both worlds--strong and vulnerable. If she was alone, she'd have been shot, but the hero would have been in the same position. Her being a woman is independent of her helplessness.