Writer/Songwriter Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's blog post over at Book View Cafe today is the first in a series about cover art. As it happens, the girl who showed up on one of her covers looks like she could be Allie, except her hair should be longer. (Allie actually does get to wear dresses like these, in book three.)

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But where is Maya's heroine -- and whose pseudo-Indian princess is on the cover of Kindred Rites?

If the computer gremlins have been kind, the third installment of my series "Let the Gluten Go" should be up over at Book View Cafe's blog. The subtitle of the series is, "How food, diet, and dieting affected my writing and my life. And maybe effects yours..." Because for whatever, as yet unknown reason, my brain and creativity have been out to lunch since I spiraled down into undetected third stage Lyme disease. Until I completely stopped gluten. The change has been remarkable.

I've gone from trapped in severe insomnia, fatigue, ADD and short term memory loss to thinking, and writing again. And sleeping, incidentally, for you insomniacs out there. This has happened in as little as eight weeks. So -- I decided that was too important to keep to myself, and have designed a "cliff notes" version of going gluten-free for a month.

If you'd like to check it out, the first installment is here, and the second over here. If you've wanted a change in your life, for any reason? This might be an interesting place to start!

The fourth chapter of my homage to the 1001 Arabian Nights, "Feather of the Phoenix," is now up at Book View Cafe. Today's offering also includes Part Three of Pati Nagle's story Glad Yule and Part Three of ACCIDENTAL CREATURES by Anne Harris. CHeck it out! Right now, everything is free (I think) but there will be "fee" stories and novels, and subscriptions for premium info.

At the Book View Cafe blog, I've put up my third post on macrobiotics, and Pati Nagle has put up a mulled wine recipe and a link to her 2009 Elven calendar. She'll mail the calendar to anyone who would like it -- it may be email, or may require you to send an SASE.

We're also doing a fundraiser for writer Vera Nazarian, who is having a such a bad run of luck it trumps my worries. I'm trying to decide what to put up for the fundraiser.

So...what do you know I do that I should offer for the fundraiser? Autographed first editions of my SF novels? Pull my beads out and make something? Bake something? (Although most of the awesome desserts I make are fragile -- that would be better for locals to bid on.)

Must dash out -- errands.