Bits & Ends

August was insane. Worldcon Anticipation had me with four or so blog posts… but that was just the first weekend!

[Edited for time lapse between writing and actual posting.]

As my Husband of Awesome is [was] attempting to negotiate a traffic jam on 95/128 S (big surprise there), he, I & our friend Laura are [were] trying to get to her house for her birthday party. I'm [was] comfy in the back seat and happy to type up a few brief updates.

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I had a brief rest for a weekend, then it was off to 4Pi-Con. I had 9 panels and a reading – it was an awesome little convention. I even got to see Genetic Imperfection do their Repo! Shadowcast to a full house. While there was a few family incidents that detracted from my personal experience, the care and concern of the hotel & convention staff – as well as many fellow Northeast con-goes who I've come to call friends – made all the difference. Of course, my friends & roomies, Morven & Inanna were also wonderfully supportive and caring; I can't thank them enough for their patience. I also made a few new friends who I shared a fab IHOP pancake dinner with on the way home.

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The weekend immediately following 4Pi-Con was Mary Shelley's birthday. Several of the New England Broads & I had been planning a party to celebrate this. I prepared a few notes on themes from Frankenstein, Phoebe put together a bio, and we all took turns reading from our work to match the themes I discussed. We hit two libraries and three bookstores. It was awesome! We'll be doing a similar party for Women's History Month in March of 2010. Stay tuned. :D

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And then there was Dragon*Con. Briefest of the brief: This was my first year on panels since my first Dragon*Con in 2002. It was also the first Dragon*Con with a Broad Universe presence – something I am happy to have instigated. Both of the feminist panels I & my friend Sunder ran on the Lit Track were standing room only. The pirate panel I was on was also standing room only. Wicked cool on all counts. Then, we had the Rapid Fire Readings. Now, D*C is more a media convention than a literary convention, so new or midlist authors struggle to get even a few people to their readings. Our RFRs actually had close to half the room full. All of the readings were excellent! Other fab highlights were hanging out with Lois McMaster Bujold after the "What Women Want" panel, the annual DragonWriters meet-up (alumni/survivors of A.C.Crispin's 2002 writing workshop), and of course, the Crüxshadows concert. The biggest drawback: Voltaires concert was scheduled opposite the Crüxshadows. L As much as I adore Voltaire, CXS will always have a special place in my heart and will take precedence. I'll explain my adoration for CXS in another e-mail, though.

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As much as I love conventioning and events, I am so glad that I haven't got much planned for the rest of the year. I need a break, and I've got stuff to write & edit. I'm intent on getting Starbard OFF the back burner, and Christy & I have a new novel in the works! In fact, I've been on quite a writing high of late. I wrote a flash piece called "Manipulation," which was a somewhat response to my family incident at Pi-Con, and then "Cemetery Angels," which was partly a response to needing something to read for the Toadstool Graveyard Book party and encompassed more of the emotion about the one year anniversary of my father's death. Then, today [Friday], while waiting two and a half hours during my annual physical, I composed a proper sonnet, "Hero's Heart" that I'm rather pleased with. (Thanks Kathryn H. for mentioning you like metered poetry – my mind felt challenged to do more after hearing that!)

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Oh, and happy [belated] birthday, Laura!