Conbust Schedule!

Three months into the year, and it’s a FOURTH convention schedule I’m posting! Woohoo!

(At some point my personal blog posts will be more than convention schedules; I promise! I have thoughts on a variety of things and some health updates, too...)

Anyway, I know it sounds redundant, but this is another beloved convention of mine! Conbust!

Conbust is a student-run feminist SF/F convention held at Smith College every spring.  I found out about Conbust through Broad Universe, not realizing that such a gem was basically in my back yard. 

(I grew up in Springfield, about 15-20 minutes from Northampton.)

I have a pretty ambitious schedule this year at Conbust, so if you’re looking to follow me to all my panels (and they are pretty awesome panels, so you might want to), make sure you are loaded up on your favorite coffee or energy product! I’m scheduled in the very first panel slot, the very last—with eight panels in between!

Also, I’ll be traveling to and from the convention with my friend and editing colleague, Suzanne Lahna, who has their first novella out.  They’ll be on a bunch of excellent panels, too. Find out more on their blog!

Since Conbust is on a college campus, I won’t be hosting a party here, and we don’t have either a Broad Universe or New England Horror Writers table here, so it’s all panels and catching up with some of the great people I only get to see at this convention. I’m excited!

Oh—quick note, these aren’t the official convention descriptions. They’re mine—and subject to change depending on the audience / panelists.  I’m also not listing the panelists here because there were some last minute changes that I don’t know got finalized... but just check the guest list!  I’m on panels with almost all of these spectacular people!

Without further ado, here’s where I’ll be:

Friday, March 23; 5:00 PM; Room 101 – Fandom and Criticism

Can you criticize what you love? Should you? Why is it important?

Friday, March 23; 6:00 PM; Room 201 – Hero, Protagonist

Discussing writing the protagonist hero, or analyzing them.

Saturday, March 24; 9:00 AM; Room TBA – Believable Fight Scenes

This was my favorite panel of last year’s Conbust. Actual reenactment fighters play out writer battle scenes! Of course, now I need to figure out which gods’ awful fight scene of mine needs the most work / will provide the most entertainment to the audience...

Saturday, March 24; 10:00 AM; Room 101 – Suspension of Disbelief

What throws a reader out of a story? How can writers avoid these pitfalls? What’s the term “Flying Snowman” (coined by John Scalzi) and what does it mean to writers and readers?

Saturday, March 24; 11:00 AM; Room 109 – Freelancing: More Ways to Make Money Writing

This panel will discuss the ways people can make a living working with words. No, it’s not easy, but it’s also not impossible. See if this career works for you or if you want to stick to the day job.

Saturday, March 24; 2:00 PM; Room 204 – Everything but the Writing

Note above panel on making money while writing? That’s Making Money Writing 101.  This is Making Money Writing 102 and talks about the business decisions you’ll have to make if you decide you want to make money while writing.

Saturday, March 24; 4:00 PM; Room 109 – Children’s Fairy Tales

Fairy tales is my jam. So is writing for kids. This is a thing that far predates my efforts, though, so I love studying and talking about it. Come discover all the nerdy, geeky goodness children’s fairy tales have to offer!

Saturday, March 24; 5:00 PM; Room 109 – Fairies

Rather apropos that this is in the same room immediately following Children’s Fairy Tales. Except the fey are NOT just for children. In fact, they can be kind of predatory on children—or humans in general. And they go waaaay beyond “fairy tales.”

Sunday, March 25; 9:00 AM; Room 106 – Female Protagonists / Female Villains

Because, yes, we still really need to talk about women characters, how they’re included in stories, and how authentic they are.

Sunday, March 25; 1:00 PM; Room 102 – A Monster Manual Beyond Dragons

There’s already a panel about how awesome dragons are, but other fantastical creatures need and deserve our love, too! Find out about other magical beasts and their proper care and feeding.

Sunday, March 25; 2:00 PM; Room 204 – Tarot and Writing

Two great tastes that taste great together! I love giving this workshop at convention. Come learn a little about the Tarot and how you can use it in your life and writing.

There it is! It is SUPER crazy, and I am SUPER excited because it’s my last convention until probably July. I am so excited to return, and SUPER excited to catch up with a lot of amazing people.

Coffee Shop Office Hours; #WriterWednesday, #coffee, #amwriting, #wheretowrite, #writinglife, #NaNoWriMo, #WW

Today, I had a coupon for an oil change at one particular place, but as they were being difficult to schedule, I spent $5 more to hit the Monroe I normally go to. I was perfectly fine with that, as it’s closer to my local Starbucks.

Mind you, hands down, I prefer and go out of my way to patronize local coffee shops and small businesses. (Hello, Sturbridge Coffee Roasters!) That said, there is a lot of good to be said about Starbucks – particularly my local one, which has excellent customer service and baristas who know my name.

But, back to my oil change and why that inspired my #WriterWednesday post...

I have yet to get an oil change anywhere that is done in the 15-20 minutes they promise. That’s why I prefer the one by Starbucks; I pack my computer and I know I can get work done in a fairly comfortable setting with readily available caffeine and at least semi-healthy snacks – depending on my resistance level to not-in-the-least-bit-healthy for you snacks. (Salted caramel fudge block and s’mores squares, I’m looking at you!)

When I’ve interviewed writers for my non-fiction articles, or when I get interviewed as a writer, there is almost always a question about rituals and what one does to “get in the zone” to write. I laugh at that. My requirements: somewhere to sit semi-comfortably and either a functioning machine with a word-processing program or just plain paper with pen or pencil.

And that’s all you should need, too.

Life is hectic. Writing time needs to be fought for and protected fiercely. That’s why writers should get into the habit of writing anywhere, anytime. Always have pen and paper, and whenever possible, bring a netbook, tablet, or something like that (because it’s way easier to transfer work via email or thumbdrive than actual transcription, IMHO).

Now, when it comes to coffee shops in particular, if you haven’t ever explored that old cliché of a writer in a coffeehouse, you’re missing out.

(There’s also the cliché of writers in bars; I have tried it with varying success. But that will be another post.)

The coffee-shop-as-office is becoming a ubiquitous trend. I see people with their laptops all the time – and not just writers. There’s a unique vibe to the indie and Starbucks-esque coffee shops that I haven’t found elsewhere. These havens work as both a place to be alone in a crowd or part of a community – sometimes both in the same visit.

When someone’s looking at their computer intently, usually, they don’t get bothered. (Usually: YMMV). But if you’re stuck and looking around, sometimes you’ll meet eyes with someone and strike up a short conversation. Or, someone you know might be eating, relaxing, reading,.. or staring into space rather than their computer screen (especially if you frequent this spot a lot). Sometimes just that brief conversation will reinvigorate you about your topic; sometimes that person might have useful information for you.

Today, for example, I was pushing through email when two local police officers walked in and were chatting at the table next to me. My current short WIP includes some things that police officers would be uniquely qualified to advise me on.  I kept smiling and trying to catch their eye during lulls in conversation, and finally, one of them addressed me.

With a shy smile, I started, “This is really weird, but I’m a writer and I’m working on a piece that I want to get right in how the police might handle a situation…”

“What do you write?”

“Science fiction, fantasy…”

“My favorites! What do you need…?”

I asked about a particular plot point, got useful information, and we bid each other good days. It was great!

In my coffee shop office hours, I’ve met pastors, teachers, lawyers, other police officers, mechanics, and all sorts of folk from whom I’ve had the pleasure of learning. I’ve ended up getting speaking and book signing gigs based on our conversations. At the very least, my writing time has included delicious beverages and food.

Most importantly, having “office hours,” even if they’re at someplace public, in and of itself, can be a tool to help productivity. A change of environment, the white noise of conversation, the general “coffee shop” style music can push your brain out of a stuck mode. Or, if you are set on having rituals and practices to help you write, setting aside a place and limited time might be just enough to get you started.

Have you tried coffee shop office hours? How did it work for you?

Back in the Saddle… yet again

A long time ago (like, the beginning of January), in a galaxy far, far away (my kitchen table as opposed to my desk), I put together a handwritten business plan and a list of goals for 2013.

One of those goals was to write up those goals and post them as a blog on a particular date in January…

Ha! Hahaha! LOL!  I just kill me!

Another of those goals?  A weekly blog schedule!

Hahahahahahah!! ROTFLMAO!!  Totally dying of laughter, here!

But, as I've said in prior blog posts… (and couldn't find to link after 15 minutes, so I gave up… but believe me, they're there!) … one of the most important life lessons I've learned from riding is that you do, in fact, get do-overs.  So long as you don't give up and get back in that saddle!

And I say this having suffered cracked ribs, disjointed vertebrae, bites, sprained and strained ankles and knees… months or weeks or, pre-Calico, even years of doing next to nothing with horses.

Back into the blogging saddle I go, then.  Because I do love blogging… and I have an awful lot of amazing things to share this year!

Now that I'm here, let me hit that other goal of writing up some of my goals here. I know some people say writing and sharing one's goals is more detrimental than helpful, but honestly, I've not seen such in my life.

Goals:  Better late than never, right?

Meet all Spencer Hill Press Deadlines

I'm truly in love with my work in both writing and editing for SHP, and I have a lot of people's dreams of publication and their stories riding on my ability to hold up my end of the contract.  Thus far, I've been pretty good.  There are a few things running later than the most preferred deadline, but none that are running far into the extra-security padding that Kate, in her infinite wisdom, has built into the system.

Done in January: 1 novel proofed from galleys, 1 to galleys, 1 to closing edits, 1 through copyedits, my own to 2nd round edits, 2 submission novels read, 3 I gave the ok to offer on (one I read back in December). Also, first round of edits on half the Doorways submissions, and second round of edits on half the remaining half.

Dude… that's 8 different novels and 15 short pieces that I worked on! Yay!

Novel Goals

The Kelpie comes out this December, and I'm going through edits for this, plus working on the marketing plan.

A Silent Starsong is with Vikki to be submitted to Spencer Hill Press upon her edits.

The Earl's Childe is the sequel to The Kelpie is one of the novels I'm currently working on and needs to be finished, polished and submitted this year.

A Shooting Star is the sequel to A Silent Starsong and is actually entirely drafted! It just needs polishing.

The Banshee's Cry will be the third MacArthur book, and needs to get started.

Besides that, there are two other novel-length projects that I'm attending to but are not ready for discussion yet. ;) Stay tuned!

Other Fiction/Poetry Goals

Write three new short stories.

Submit to at least 5 different short fiction or poetry markets this year.

Write one new novella (done! And by accident, too!)

Write three new poems (one down, two to go!)

Business Goals

Make Goodreads profile and list fiction

Update Amazon profile

Update blog every week

Update website every week

Send website revamp changes ASAP

Horsey Goals

Two major trail rides

Three horse shows

Ride 2x per week on average (very difficult this winter!)

Other Goals

Lose 25 lbs

And that's what I'll be up to this year. :)  It's a lot, but more doable than other plans I've made for myself. 

I look forward to sharing the journey with you!

Corrupts Absolutely?

I'm in another anthology coming out this March!

The call came through last year, and I'd been moved to write the story for some time.  I kept re-emailing myself the call for submissions because I was so intrigued with the idea:

A superhero anthology playing with the extent of how much power would corrupt your average, real person.

I didn't get a full idea until the editor added an extra wish list:

Female writers and protagonists

Non-meta* individuals who are just super smart or technologically enhanced

Teams or siblings

And a few other things, but those three clicked a switch in my brain, and Victoria jumped into my head and started complaining about her boss at this engineering firm who treated her like crap and had grand delusions of being the next Tony Stark.  Ok… maybe the boss wasn't that delusional, he really was building a massive weapon war suit thing.

Thing is, while her a-hole boss may not have any superpowers, Victoria does: She can make technology bend to her will.

To find out what happens, you absolutely need to order this book! 

If not for me, there are some other great writers - including at least two other fabulous Broads that I know.

I also have to say, that I'm liking the editor's marketing plans for this anthology.  He's already working on promotional blog posts, we've got the cover (see the pretty picture), and we've gotten a lot of other emails with ways that we, the contributors, can help.

As I've progressed in my writing, I'm learning how much I love anthologies.  Not many pay well, but I do love having physical books - and the themes totally get my creative juices flowing.

Besides Corrupts Absolutely?  I'm working on two other stories for two other anthologies.  I'm not accepted in either yet, but I'm writing!

On top of that, Christy and I have reunited yet again. :D  Yaayy!! For those of you who are Shadow Guard Fans, keep an eye out for some Super Special Updates!!!!

Happy Writing!

*meta - a common word for "mutant" or someone with special powers.

My blogging plan…

It's not working so well. 

Well, there's a post here when it ought to be scheduled, more times than not… but I'm barely hanging on, and there's been a lot of borrowing from other sources - look, the podcast!  Look - a cute cat!

I have a lot to say; I have articles in my head.

I have no time…

Little things around the house, reworking my whole schedule, fitting in this exercise and eating protocol… total time eaters.

I may end up just posting a photo of my houseguests on Friday.

Also - people near Worcester - sign up for the Writing Workshop I'm doing with two great friends this Saturday.  Today is your LAST DAY to do it. :)  Here's the info on how to register.

Part of the blog-eater is this workshop - so I'm sacrificing for you!

:)  Happy mid-week.

Broadly Speaking Traverses Through Time!

Broadly Speaking Travels Through Time!

Welcome to the January 2012 edition of Broadly Speaking. According to the Mayan Calender, this year is the year that we run out of time. (Or, more probably, a new cycle begins quite uneventfully.)  But if we can't go Back to the Future in our own version of The Time Machine, we can at least talk about it.

 

Join your host, Tracy S. Morris, for a timely discussion about the adventures of women writing science fiction, fantasy, horror -- and everything in between.

 

Up first, Tracy and Melanie Fletcher discuss the rules that one must decide on before writing about time travel. 

 

Then, listen to a round-table discussion on the various conflicts that are inherent in time travel fiction with Pauline Baird Jones, author of Steamrolled, Kathryn Sullivan, author of Talking to Trees,  S.A. Bolich, author of Firedancer and Lynda Williams, author of the Okal Rei Saga.     

 

We hope that you can make time to listen to this podcast. If not, save it in your player for sometime when you have time on your hands.

Tis the Season for Year End Self-Evaluation and Business Records

Wow!  It's freaking December already!

This week, I must:

Complete most of my Broad Universe Actionable Items.

Submit a Pub review

Meet with weight consultant

Meet with Worcester Writers Collective

Meet with Promotions & Advertising Coordinator for Broad Universe

Exercise at YMCA on Wednesday and Friday

Exchange Calico's Blanket

Review the Spencer Hill Press Slush Pile

Before Christmas, I must:

Finish tutoring evaluations

Bake cookies

Finish Calico's present (wood burnt name plaque)

By year end, I must:

Write yearly letter for Broad Universe & finish rest of Actionable Items.

Review & evaluate my 2011 plans

Create a Novel Friend business plan for 2012

Sit down with Scott to discuss a household business plan for 2012

Basically, aside from a few hours I might be able to use at Annie's Book Stop and at the coffee shop before my riding lessons, creative writing endeavors are on the back burner.

Sometimes you have to run triage as a freelancer and really focus on what needs to be done the most and leave other important things, or the pretty, shiny things you want to work on, by the wayside with promises of coming back and picking them up later.

An important part of freelancing is continually reevaluating, prioritizing, and reorganizing projects.  I do a big, formal thing of it every year-end/year-beginning, but I'm re-doing it every month, every week.  What needs my attention now because it's due?  What needs my attention now because the story won't leave me alone?  What needs my attention now based on where I physically am?  (For example, if I'm at an artsy coffee shop, I should make the most of the free-flow of creative juices; if I'm somewhere without WiFi, write stuff that doesn't require research.)

Being a fiction and poetry writer also influences these things.  First of all, we are always, always, always getting new ideas.  And sometimes these new idea are things that need to addressed immediately because they will make current work easier, are a limited time opportunity, or are so shiny that ignoring them will drive you mad.  Actually, if we don't get creative releases on a regular basis, most writers, poets, artists, etc. get pretty damned cranky and certainly less productive.  Sometimes ignoring the creative muse has a negative impact on the business end of work, so a balance has to be struck.  "Look, I'll write a synopsis or a scene right now, but then you gotta leave me alone so I can get this stuff done that helps me stay housed, alive, and in good enough shape to continue your fabulous story, ok?"

Figments of imagination can be just as demanding and aggravating as bill collectors—really!

Scheduled for next week, though, I'm having a sit down with my friend Vikki, with whom I'm sharing a few projects, and I'll make a fiction/poetry list of priorities and potential deadlines.  I also need to touch base with Christy on our novel, and I need to catch up with other people I'm working with on other projects.

It's no surprise though, and I'm hardly alone in the insanity that is December.  Who else is rearranging their life and priorities with the end of the year and holiday season?  What are your favorite ways to get it all done?

Happy Halloween & November… And End-of-The-Year Resolutions

I'm going to save my sanity and not promise more than one blog post a week for the rest of 2011. 

Life continues to be crazy-busy.  (Should I "TM" that term, at this point?)  The bathroom has been redone and is great… no further blood sacrifices needed. 

xx

Rock & Shock was lot of fun.  I didn't sell any books, but I did have some good Tarot Readings, from which I donated a part to New England Horror Writers.

Of course, besides that, it was a total, "This is why I LOVE my job" weekend.  For Worcester Magazine, I had interviewed the director and producer of Inkubus, which will be out in limited release this weekend.  It was a great interview, and I scored tickets to the red carpet premiere, the following Q&A… and access to the after party!

Did I mention this movie stars screen legends Robert England and William Forsythe?

Yeah… Husband-of-Awesome and I were at the red carpet premiere and after party with them!

Then someone I didn't know in the back of the party lit up a joint, so we made quick time to the door before I had to find out if that was one of the types of weed I'm allergic to.

Ah well!  Good times.

xx

OTOH, I'm back at the garage getting a wheel bearing replaced to the tune of… more $ than I really can spend.  Grrrrr…

Till I can afford another car, I'm thinking of engraving my name in this particular seat at Rick's Garage.

xx

And I'm sick with con crud from R & S…Actually, both of us are. And we spent all of yesterday dealing with most of the two cords of wood.  H-of-A chopped; both he and I stacked.  Pain medicine, vitamin C, and lots of tea are my friends.

xx

Saturday, worked on writing plans with another good friend of mine: Yay!  On the way to said friend's house, I got into a minor car accident: Waaah!

xx

This week, I need to finish evaluations of my tutoring team, an outline for my NaNoWriMo novel.  (Oh yeah: The Broad Universe panel at the Nashua New Hampshire Public Library on NaNoWriMo was most excellent!)  Also, we must clean & decorate for our Hallowe'en party Saturday… while attending a Samhain celebration on Friday.  (Sunday = SLEEP!)

TODAY: Get car fixed, five hours of tutoring & evaluating, chiropractor appointment, Broad Universe budget meeting… figure out to-dos for the rest of the week.

Affluent White Person Problems Make Me Grouchy and Unproductive

Comedian Louis CK has some great bits about "Being White" and "White Person Problems" and "Everything's Amazing & Nobody's Happy" that I cannot do justice to, so look them up.

However, they were on the forefront of my mind for most of yesterday and Monday ALL LAST WEEK as I threw my (fortunately high-impact-secure) cell phone across the room and cussed to make my Mom blush at my land line and Internet service. (At least I had the decency to not cuss directly at the people despite being walked through the hard restart of my modem and my laptop as if I were an idiot AFTER I had explained that I had already done so.)

[Addendum: I wrote this last Wednesday and have since had continued problems until (HOPEFULLY) today when my modem was replaced and reset with a whole password thingy.  Needless to say, I've lost a week's worth of tutoring wages.  Now, for the below paragraph, I'm not likely to lose my house or anything, so my point still stands  OTOH… that's a week's worth of wages!]

[Addendum 2:  Also, the Husband-of-Awesome lost a day of work (and he makes WAY more than I do) and several nights of work trying to get the Internet to work, replacing the modem--TWICE!--and still cooking me dinner so I could get other deadlines done at Panera Bread on their free WiFi.]

I just want to add to the comedian's parameters that these are not necessarily White Person Problems; there's definitely more privilege involved.  They're definitely Affluent White Person Problems.  Not to say such affected people don't stress over money problems each month--we certainly do!--but more that the stress is: "Can we make payments on all of our various debts without ruining our credit?" as opposed to, "Can we survive better without electricity, heat, or going grocery shopping this month?"

In any case, I was having a pretty sh*tty past few days WEEK because I couldn't do my job or get work done.  [Addendum3: I just barely made an article and grant deadline… while at Panera Bread.]

You know, because not having this magical connection to the rest of the world at my fingertips in an immediate fashion is such a HUGE DISASTER.

It's not like I had healthy well water on tap, [Addendum 4: Ok, my faucet IS leaking pretty badly, but still, I have the water],

gourmet coffee I could make while waiting between calls to service people,

a cushy chair or yoga ball to sit on,

a pretty decent roof over my head,

a legal husband-of-awesome who has me on his health insurance and who I can kiss in public without worrying about potential hate crimes,

food in my refrigerator and pantry,

a job that, while I will struggle to catch up, isn't something I'm likely lose at the drop of a hat,

hell—a job and career I LOVE,

and, to top it all off, an adorable, beloved, money-eating HORSE* that I own and can escape to.

Sooo, I added another whole layer of craptacular guilt for feeling sh*tty on top of the general sh*tty sentiment that you really can't rationalize away because, after all, humans are selfish beings who, once they taste a certain level of comfort, feel entitled to it.

[Addendum 5: The fact that I lost a week's worth of wages adds another dimension that doesn’t quite stack the same way.]

On the other hand, this level of objectiveness, as flawed as it is, is still useful in understanding character motivations.  So, at least on a writing level, things were useful.  Gotta stay positive, right?

At the very least, it makes for a comic goldmine of contradiction.  Right, Louis?

In any case, my phone is fixed, and the Internet connection seems to be working.  I can return to being a more productive relatively affluent, white member of society. (Or so I hope!)

* What, you didn't know that money is the primary diet of the domestic equine?

These are a Few of My Favorite Things (About Editing)

Today, finally, I sent back my last MAJOR set of edits to one of the UnCONventional contributors.

I may have been stressing, I may have messed up my once-dependable blogging schedule, but damnit, I am so happy and proud of this project!  Having to get back on this "dependable blogging schedule" is SO worth it.  UnCONventional is already made of awesome--and it's not even out yet.

(If you're interested, though, you can SO preorder it here and make many of us even happier!)

Anyway, as I was getting through the edits, I was reminded of why I love this part of writing so much--well, at least when working with other people.

In the long tradition of online communications, here's a

Top 5 List of Things I Love About Editing

5.  The challenge of playing in parameters.  When you edit, you want to respect the author's creation, so offering suggestions and making changes need to be in line with the author's vision.  As much as free reign over a project is fun, it's even more fun to test one's creativity and writing skill by working within boundaries.

.

4.  The thrill of teaching.  No matter how many students I teach, or how many friends I critique, or how often I post tips on my blog, there are still people who have not heard some of my favorite proofreading and writing strategies, like reading backwards, using find & replace to count word usage, and comparing word usage to overall word count.  Having someone thank me for teaching them something new sets my heart all aflutter.

3.  Discovering new worlds and being able to help them.  Haven't you ever wanted to make the world a better place?  And do you love escaping into alternate worlds?  When you edit, you get to do both.  You discover fantastic realms/realities, and you can help the author make them stronger--or at least present a clearer picture of them to readers.

2.  Amazing surprises.  In many stories, I've made suggestions for changes or even had no idea what to suggest.  In so many of those cases, the author came up with a fix that was ten to a hundred times better than anything I could have thought of.

1.  The creative sum is greater than the whole.  We selected what we felt the strongest submissions were, and then we advised ways to make them even stronger.  The end result of the author's creativity and love, plus the hard love from both Kate and me, is a piece that each of our individual parts could NEVER come up with alone.  AND, as an anthology, we increase that by 22 of us, exponentially.

So, the next step is to put all these stories into galleys and see how it fits our page count and do yet another proofread.  (And maybe 1 or 3 more after that.)  Per Kate, we're still on good schedule for our release party in January and to get Advanced Reading Copies out for some reviews before then.

Thanks to all the authors and my co-editor for making this such a great project!  I look forward to the rest of this journey with you.

(And, in earnest appeal, you really should pre-order a copy right now. :)  )

Life Before Blogging

Two conventions, a whole-engine overhaul, reuniting with my first writers group, family issues, a death, a pow-wow, ten anniversary of 9/11…

Really, I don't feel that terrible about not blogging for about two weeks.

I really can't do all that justice in one catch up blog post, so I'll move forward.

It's September!

September is my New-New Year, and this year it's particularly poignant.  Not only did Dragon*Con rejuvenate my writing spirit, as it always does, but hanging out with the Dragon*Writers, dinner with Ann Crispin, and being on some pretty fabulous panels just made it all the better.  Even before that, being Guest of Awesome and sharing a pretty fab dealer's room with friends and friends-to-be at Pi-Con had me flying with writerly joy.

The engine overhaul made us have to redo some major finances, so despite its hefty cost, we're starting September with what is likely to be a better financial grasp on things.

I have yet to sit down and re-evaluate my New Year business plans, but that's all right.  I'm working on my editing deadline for UnCONventional and remembering why we picked each of the stories we did; I can't wait for the anthology to come out so we can share it with you.

Besides my editing, I've got a bunch of local stories I'm covering for Worcester Magazine that are due in the next couple of weeks.  I also know that the Broadsheet is looking for articles, and I have to get off my but to get some of my existing writing out there.

Speaking of which, I just shared the opening my novelette, "Mirror of Hearts," on the Broad Pod this week.  I need to get on putting that out as an ebook.  :)

In any case, there is a lot to do, but at least most of this is on the computer, and it really just requires some major Butt In Chair syndrome.

And kinda being sparse online.

The lesson in all this?  It's never too late to do a little restarting, or a lotta restarting.  So long as you go and do it.