Given the pending U.S. holiday, The Galaxy Express will be on hiatus (docking at Jubilee Station at Epsilan Eridani b) until Sunday, November 30, 2008, when our intrepid locomotive will continue its journey into the splendiferous realms of science fiction romance. 
In the meantime, feel free to mix and mingle while listening to the festive melodies of our resident Mix Master...!
There’s plenty of links and fixin’s to last you all week.
My latest posts at Tor.com:
Enter the Eyepatch!
I Was a Fairy Tale Virgin
Dear Author presents a stellar, in-depth profile of Lois McMaster Bujold.
And speaking of the popular author, Frances Drake reviews CORDELIA’S HONOR & BARRAYAR.
Check out Michele Lang’s (NETHERWOOD) essay, Speculative Fiction: What If…., followed by her jazzy short story Fatal Error, hosted by agent Lucienne Diver on her blog.
Also at the same blog, Patti O’Shea explains how “No One Roots for the Terminator: Realisitic (and Sympathetic) Kick-Butt Characters in a Paranormal World”.
Mars: Out. In: Thirteen Extrasolar Planets, courtesy of Lisa Paitz Spindler.
Pssst…pass it on: Smugglivus is Coming!
At Genreville, Rose Fox features a smackdown (sort of): Publicity vs. Marketing.
Deborah Cooke (known to us as Claire Delacroix) blogged at Penguin last week. Hunting and Gathering is about her journey of researching for a story.
Over at Alien Romances, Linnea Sinclair explains what to do about all of those extra punctuation marks in We was happy!!!!! (writing tip #1). Then, Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Margaret Carter up the ante in Gift: Giver: Recipient and Work with Boundaries, respectively.
Finally, I’m taking up a virtual collection to support a great cause. Laurie Green of Spacefreighters’ Lounge eloquently emphasizes the importance of “Putting the Science Back in Science Fiction Romance” in I’m on a Campaign.
Happy eating—and reading!
Joyfully yours,
Heather