Josh Carter will be at the NYComicon with Issue 2 of Serafim, script by yours truly, art by Josh. We’re looking at bringing out Issue 3 later this year too.
Home again. I know a lot of blog posts lately have started out with that line, but it’s so true. I am not a travel person. I like being at home, writing. It’s what I’m most comfortable with. And the crippling shyness doesn’t help with smooth traveling. On the other hand, I was told several times this weekend that people wouldn’t guess I am shy, which means my Front of Bubbly Extroversion is working.
I am glad to go back to being me.
But first, before we get into Orycon proper, a little more Bollywood for you. This is where they REALLY found AC Slater from Saved By The Bell. (They had to surgically alter him a tad for YA TV, though.) Still, the cowboy boots, Hawaiian shirts, and bad leisure suits? CHECK! The “show me on your costar where the Bad Director touched you? CHECK! It is familiar and strange at the same time, just like all of Bollywood. I have often wondered if producers in LA stole the idea of MTV from Bollywood song spots.
Heh. Cool, ain’t it?
Orycon was really fun, despite the shyness and exhaustion. I enjoyed all my panels, even if the “Can ethics and scientific experimentation coexist?” panel needed order restored a few times. And the “mock trial of James T Kirk for crimes against the Federation” where I got to say “Space hoochies!” several times.
One of the most interesting thing about panels is that it takes the panelists paying attention to the moderator before the audience will. And there is always one or two (or four) people (whether in the audience or in the panel itself) who don’t want to give others equal time. These are usually the people who will not ask questions, mostly; they will give statements as if they are panelists. Not that a certain amount of heckling and/or commenting from the audience isn’t welcome; but there is a type of combative force to certain commenters that turn them into troublemakers. It’s a variant of the hard sell.
Still, that is just the nature of panels. If it bothers one, one should probably stay away from convention panels.
Just like, if one finds oneself trying to explain one’s book to one’s critique partners, well, something has gone terribly wrong. The words, “But you don’t understand my BOOOOOOOOK!” should be a clear indication that one needs to go soak one’s head. Thoroughly.
But I’m off track. The convention was a lot of fun. I saw a lot of lovely costumes, including a Darth Maul without facial tats on the “Bad SF/Fantasy Films” panel. I was approached by a few fans. And, breaking a law of conventions, Todd McCaffrey and I actually got some time to sit down and talk to each other, though our bad panel karma is still holding. For some reason, even if we are at a convention we are usually on opposite sides of the hotel, ships passing in the night.
Still, I can see the end of the curse in sight, as we actually got to see each other three whole times this convention, and even had breakfast–where I dumped bacon in coffee, forgot my wallet, and mixed up pheromones and phonemes. (So I can SMELL my pronunciation!) Much fun was had by all.
Special thanks to the UnSullen One and to Red Argyle (pseudonyms both, you know who you are) for keeping me fed, on track, and mostly on time to everything.) And special thanks to all the Readers who told me they like my books. Each time I hear it, it’s wonderful. A writer lives for that sort of thing. *grin*
I got home with my back out of joint and my brain turned to mush. A little bit of stretching and back-cracking meant I fell in bed early and had strange dreams, but it was worth it. Now that I’ve had some sleep and processing time, I can consider it a successful convention. I hope it was as grand for everyone.
Hey gang. I’m going to do a List today, since the world will only become manageable that way. Or at least, manageable for me.
* Widget mania! Want to read a little of a Valentine book before you buy it? Orbit has you covered:
And of course, you can add a Valentine widget to your blog or webpage if you like. I’m just sayin’. (end shameless self-promotion)
* The event last night at Powell’s was awesome. I got to meet and Dal Perry, just to name a few. Saint Peter Honigstock is a wonderful facilitator, and the Martian MoonCrab Bookweasel (don’t you love my attempts to keep people’s privacy intact? I’m a one-woman civil liberties crusade.) was a joy and a treasure as usual.
* Oh, and Annanda? Yes, they’re still together. I promise.
* I’m going to be at Orycon for the next three days. Further bulletins as events warrant, but you can find my panel/reading/autograph schedule here.
* Mucho thanks to the Muffin for putting together the bunk beds yesterday. I don’t care how “easy” they say self-assembled furniture is. It’s one of the few things that make me wish I was both pyrokinetic and less in control of my temper.
* Last but not least, thank you for all the concern and support. Y’all know who you are–and you all rule.
Catch you on the flip side, Readers! I’ll be back soon with Tales of the Convention…
As my Soopa-Geek Josh Carter says, sometimes life just runs amok with you in its teeth, like a terrier with a chew toy. A nasty little psychopathic terrier. On crack.
Heh. I just love a man in uniform. Thank you, Chris!
So this evening I’ll be in Beaverton, at the Cedar Hills Crossing Powell’s, for the Local/NW Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authorfest. I believe Jay Lake will be there as well, which is all kinds of cool. Oh, and Ru Emerson, who I kind of sort of know through the Martian MoonCrab. It will be lovely to meet her.
Later this week I will be on some Orycon panels (eek!) which will be a whole new level of fun and daring. I’ve done a few panels before, but I’ve never been to an Orycon. I’m also reading (I’ll be reading from a Jill Kismet book) and signing on Saturday afternoon, and doing the Writer’s Workshop.
If I don’t collapse from exhaustion it will be a miracle. This is my brain…this is my brain turned to convention oatmeal.
Then after Orycon I’m saying goodbye to friends and family in order to turn the third Kismet book in under deadline. The deadline that was just dropped on me. *grin* Say what you will, it is certainly never boring being me. And I like that.
On a slightly more serious note, I am a big fan of Steven Brust. (Like, HUGE fan.) And he’s having some troubles lately (as in, losing his house kind of troubles, through no fault of his own.) If you can see sparing a few pennies, there’s a donate page up on his website (over his objections, I might add.) If you’d prefer to contribute by buying a CD of politically incorrect folk music (as only Brust could deliver), here it is. He’s a wonderful writer (I am green with envy, actually) and a gem of a human being, and if you’d like to help out, well, that would be mighty swell.
On another serious note, my own living situation is calming down a bit. Change sucks sometimes, especially changes to a long-term relationship. Everything is kosher for the moment, and I thank you–all of you–who have sent cards and letters and emails and all sorts of wonderful support. It’s not quite the end of the world, but I can see it from here–and the supportive missives help so much, you would not believe. Maybe someday in the future I’ll do a blog post about everything that’s happening. Until then, I’ll just say things are generally sucking but have achieved a holding pattern of suck.
Hello everyone! Not only did I survive WFC, but I also made it through my first visit to New York unscathed. (Relatively.) It was fun to go but it’s ever so nice to be home, in my papasan, clicking on the laptop.
World Fantasy was a blast. I met so many people I’d only talked to on the phone or through email before–Tim, George, and Alex from Orbit (a lovely trio), my editor Devi, my agent Miriam, the incomparable Jeff Somers (and his lovely wife), Jennifer Rardin, Jenna Black, and Rachel Vincent, who were all absolutely darling. I unfortunately missed Bear, but I did get a couple hardbacks signed by Sarah Monette. Who ROCKS.
THINGS I LEARNED AT WFC
* There is a cocktail called “the Painkiller” that makes it all right again after spending about twelve hours on a plane.
* Guy Gavriel Kay is a very sweet and wonderful guy.
* Ninety percent of “working” convention business is conducted in a bar.
* Monkslash is the wave of the future.
* Being nervous and shaky before a reading translates into a great desire to find a loo afterward.
Saratoga Springs is a beautiful town. I highly recommend the silver-shop.
Let’s see. The train ride to New York was a lot of fun, mostly because of the cross between Mr. Miyagi and Tom Cruise in Cocktail hanging out in the snack bar. And New York itself was just…wow.
Wow.
Thanks to Josh Carter and his lovely wife Jennie, we didn’t have to stay in a hotel. But we had our first subway rides (we being me and the Sullen One) and got to stay in Brooklyn. We packed forty days’ worth of experience into just two days. We visited the Strand (biggest used bookstore in the world) and the Met, particularly the Arms & Armor and the sculpture garden. A whole day at the Met certainly whets one’s appetite; we had dinner deeper in Brooklyn–pizza and calzone.
The worst part of the trip was air travel, which is certainly the way it is everywhere. (More about that later.) But still, it was completely awesome, and I’m completely exhausted even after a night’s worth of sleep. (There are so many stairs in New York!) I figure it will take me a couple days to get back into the swing.
So. I’m back. I survived New York and saw the Met.
Hello everyone. Just a quick note, since I am here at World Fantasy and having a lovely time.
I have a reading in about two hours–I’ll be reading the first two chapters of the first book in the Kismet series. I am already feeling butterflies.
The highlight of my day yesterday was getting not one but TWO lovely hardbacks signed by Sarah Monette, who was very kind to my squeeing fangirl self. The night before, my personal highlight was being able to approach Guy Gavriel Kay and tell him how much his work means to me.
This sort of stuff is awesome.
I have not sighted Bear yet, but I have hope.
I’m adjusting to East Coast time, I think, and I just set everything back for Daylight Savings except the hotel clock. I’m not touching that thing.
All in all, it’s amazing. And I will write more about it later. Until then, good morning and I hope you’re having a wonderful time too, dear Readers.
All right, my ducks, here’s what’s happening in the month of November.
* I am leaving this Friday to put in an appearance at World Fantasy Convention, in Saratoga Springs, NY. I may be on a few panels, but I’m not sure yet. What I do know for sure is that I’m going to be reading a little bit from the first Jill Kismet book, Night Shift, on Sunday, November 4, at about 10AM. If you’re at the convention, come nurse your hangover with me. I promise to be gentle.
* I am confirmed at the Beaverton Powell’s Local Sci-Fi/Fantasy Authorfest, on Wednesday, November 14th, 7:00pm. That’s Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing. I look forward to seeing maybe one or two of you there?
* Last but not least, I’m going to Orycon this year! Again, I don’t know if I’ll be on any panels and I haven’t been told about any readings. Once I know something more definite I shall definitely let you know.
Between all this and Thanksgiving too, I shall probably be a nervous wreck come December 1. But it’s a good thing–I will (hopefully) meet a few Readers and (definitely) see a few old friends. Travel during the holiday season is going to be a total utter bloody disaster, but well, one bears with what one has to. At least I’m going to be safely home before the real scramble between Thanksgiving and Christmas begins. Though from the Christmas decorations I saw hanging up in a Major Big Chain Store yesterday, I’m beginning to think the marketing peeps want us stressed over Christmas all year long.
My blogging is going to be spotty or nonexistent for a while, since I’m packing and preparing to head out on Friday. I shall try, however, to stay in touch.
So…all the plans are jelling for WFC. I leave on Friday. I don’t like planes and I’m not ultra-fond of travel, so it’s going to be (wait for it) an ADVENTURE. And we have pumpkin-carving to do before I go. Quel marvelous!
I prefer no adventures, as I have many adventures going on inside my head. But I’ve already committed to this and bought the plane tickies, and I know I’ll enjoy it once I’m there. I’m just nervous about travel. I am really a homeloving little soul. It is no help at all that I have no sense of direction at all and can’t navigate my way out of a wet paper bag. (To make up for this, the Sullen One has a fine sense of direction and is unflappable while navigating.)
So I guess we’ll see how it turns out…
All right, so there are a couple of questions I’ve gotten in the mail lately.
There seems to be some confusion with the timeline in The Devil’s Right Hand. What is the exact timeline?
Well, it goes like this. The original timeline was supposed to be:
Working For The Devil
(5 years)
Dead Man Rising
(2 years)
Devil’s Right Hand
Saint City Sinners
To Hell and Back
However, in reworking the drafts, my editor pointed out that Jace carrying a torch for Danny and Danny carrying a torch for Japh for five years was Just Too Much, and after much thought I agreed. (Thankfully Danny didn’t care.) So, here’s the timeline we ended up with:
WFTD
(10 months-1 year)
DMR
(3-5 yrs)
DRH
SCS
THB
You’ll notice it’s unclear between Dead Man Rising and Devil’s Right Hand because Dante loses track of time in a big way–partly because she doesn’t have a real good grasp on it to begin with, being a psion (you’ll notice how Trina the scheduler runs her life in the first two books) and partly because Japh deliberately removed all traces of time passing. Whether he did it to help her recover or for another reason is still an open question.
Unfortunately, some traces of the old timeline must remain despite the best in copyedits and continuity checks. If that’s the case, my apologies, but publishing is an imperfect business indeed.
When is the next Steelflower book coming out?
It’s in my head, I just haven’t written it yet. Getting three books out under a very, very tight deadline this year was difficult and I didn’t have room for the Incidental Novel at all. Hopefully this upcoming year will change all that.
I can tell you that the next book is tentatively titled Steelflower’s Song and deals with the troupe landing in Antai and discovering people looking for the Skaialan, Redfist. He has revenge to deal on Clan Connaight, and Kaia can do no less than help him. Hee. Hope that helps.
That’s pretty much all I have time for today. I have Halloween candy to buy and some other few items to pick up for the trip. Oh, and I need to get newspapers, because we’re carving pumpkins tonight.
I’m buying the New York Times. Somehow, for a grand punkin-carvin’, the local rag just doesn’t seem right.
It’s about to be a busy weekend, so I’m not going to get to the next round of revisions on Night Shift until Sunday. I’m not even sure I will then, because I’ll probably be exhausted. I plan on going incognito to Kumoricon, mostly because I want to be with Crab Caution. It’s been a while since the two of us hung out and made fun of things on a cosmic scale, and what better place to do so than an anime convention? I am fairly sure there will probably be no Readers there, but just in case…if you happen to spot me, I’ll be more than happy to sign a book or say hello. *wink*
In any case, it will be a busy and satisfying weekend. I plan on collapsing once it’s done, as usual. I used to know what having lots of time felt like. Then I had kids, and the world seemed to speed up exponentially.
