The cats are frantic with loneliness and Marlowe is doing a great deal of chasing invisible demons to prove his affection for me.  Rob is still away at IPNC so I’m just going to go to bed and let the cats hog his side.

Dave Klecha gave me a ride to the airport and my flight is currently on time. I suspect that it will leave without problems because the alternative would be staying here another day and that would be very pleasant.

I’m torn between going back to Merrie Haskell’s lake house to spend the night and getting on this plane to see if maybe I can get home.

Part of my dilemma is that the Oregon Regency Society is having a picnic tomorrow. I have managed to be out of town for every single event and was so excited that I’d finally get to go to one. I suspect that I will opt for staying here because that removes any uncertainty and the lake house is very nice.

Edited to add: Yes. I’m staying overnight here and flying home tomorrow.

In other news, it has been suggested that as a service to humanity I should post my flight itinerary so other people know what flights to avoid.

I had a lavender-vanilla bean creme soda that was really lovely. We started with the local cheese plate, moved on to a beet carpacio salad that flirted with perfect, and I had their gnocchi with spinach. For dessert a true key lime pie.

Highly recommend the restaurant, if you are in the area.

Today we finished recording An Artificial Night around four-thirty. This pleases me because they had scheduled three and a half days and it only took three.  It really is funny how I can read smoothly for three pages and then hit a sentence that I can’t seem to get out.

After work C– drove me into Grand Rapids on his way home and dropped me at a coffee shop. Merrie Haskell came to fetch me and take me back to her lake cottage for a little bit of relaxation before heading back to Portland tomorrow.

All in all, it’s been a very good trip.

I had a red eye out of Portland at 12:50 AM.  One of the benefits to all the ridiculous travel I’ve been doing lately is that I’m now a Gold Medallion member at Delta, which means that if there’s an upgrade available, I move up to first class. It is a different world up there.

It makes waiting much more tolerable. Waiting for things like, say, when the captain announces that the engine is leaking fuel and that we might need to sit on the ground for awhile.

Or when, oh, I dunno, he says that it might be a four hour wait and they might not be able to let us off the plane for security reasons. That’s easier to face with plenty of legroom.

Fortunately, they let us off the plane after only a half-hour and were able to get a new plane and us onto it pretty fast. We left an hour and a half late which, all things considered wasn’t bad.

And really, if they are going to notice fuel leaking from the engine, I’d rather have them spot it before take-off.

This trip is a little jarring because the weather is so nice. I’m not used to seeing green while here. It’s pretty.

Anyway, as I mentioned, I had been talking about it last winter and would love to pretend that I planned ahead. But the truth is that as I was getting ready to leave last night we realized that I had no idea where my driver’s license was. In all likelihood it dropped out of my pocket while travelling and I didn’t notice it because I don’t drive.

A passport got me through security but would not allow me to rent a car. Fortunately, I remembered the bicycle conversation and arranged to rent one. After that it was just a matter of getting to Grand Haven. Lucky for me, David Klecha foolishly suggested that he might drive out to have lunch with me. Mwhahahaha! I offered to buy him lunch if he’d actually drive me out there.

He’s a lovely guy so I got the better end of the bargain by a long shot. He’s full of hilarious stories and it was good to catch up with him.

I now have a bicycle, a helmet, and am ready for the week.

Speaking of this week… If you are inclined to join me for writing, I’ll be at Jumpin Java Coffee tomorrow evening after I finish recording. Probably around 6:00 or 7:00.

Meanwhile, I’ve been thinking that I’ll get home Saturday night and get to see Rob. Only I forgot that he’s going to IPNC this week and it will be Monday night, at the earliest, that I get to see him. Given how much I’ve been gone recently, this shouldn’t see like an unbearable separation but I am surprisingly melancholy right now.

Otherwise, all is well. I’m looking forward to sleeping on the plane.

I zipped through security and then ran into some puppeteer friends who were on their way to the SE Regional Puppetry Festival. That did give me a bit of a pang because I’d like to be on my way there too. Still it was nice to catch up and chat with them and I know I’ll have fun at Readercon.

No problems with the flight until we landed.

This wasn’t a problem so much as just funny.  We’re sitting there waiting to deplane and the attendent makes this announcement. “Folks, we apparently landed one minute before Queen Elizabeth and now they’ve locked down the airport.”

The delay getting off the plane was so negligible that I’m not sure there really was one.

I came into the city, hung out at the Puppet Kitchen for a bit then wandered over to NYRSF to hear Saladin Ahmed (one of the Campbell finalists this year) and Paolo Bacigalupi (up for a Hugo) read.  Both did really nice readings.

I’m now ensconced at Jodi and Sam’s and feeling the travel day catching up with me. Well, that and the humidity. Ugh. I do NOT miss that.

I wonder how the Queen is handling it?

So tonight, even though I had stuff to do, Rob and I went on a date. We went up to Ohana Hawaiian restaurant where my husband ordered spam musabi as an appetizer. I do not understand this snack.

After that we biked to the Roseway theater to watch Toy Story 3. The warnings that it was a) really a horror film and b) would make me cry were both accurate. Once again, Pixar proves that they understand character and story.  Also, as Rob points out, their films are beautifully edited and paced.

I’m going to go through my checklist again and then crawl into bed with my sweetie. It’ll be a week before I see him again.

Saturday I arrived in Seattle about a half hour before the Locus Awards banquet was due to start. I’d changed clothes on the train and was wearing an seasonally inappropriate Hawaiian print sundress and cute strappy heels.  I say this because Seattle was cold.

Normally there’s a line of taxis waiting at the train station and my plan was to catch on to the hotel. I’d waffled between that and taking the bike but didn’t want to arrive sweaty and have to change at the hotel. A cab would be faster.

If there were cabs.

Unfortunately, Saturday was a marathon and all the cabs were taken.  The Amtrak representative said that the people in line in front of me had been waiting for half an hour and he’d called four places already. I headed for the bus, figuring that could get me there faster.

If the bus line I needed weren’t on the marathon route.

At this point, I began calling every cab company I could. None of them had cars. I started walking back to the bus route, figuring I could follow it  while calling and eventually we’d get out of the marathon route.

Then my phone died.

About this point a pedi-cab came down the hill and I flagged him down. I asked if he could take me out to the hotel. He hesitated and said, “I gotta tell you that’d be $30 or $40.”

I was standing in downtown Seattle in a sundress, strappy sandals and now had fifteen minutes to get to the hotel. I was also cold. $40 sounded like a bargain. He thought it would be a twenty minute ride and I said, “Done! Let’s go.”

And a cab pulled up.

The pedicab driver actually flagged it down, apologizing as he did so. “Sorry. I didn’t want to climb that hill.”

I was totally fine with that. So, into the cab and away to the hotel where I arrived moments before the festivities started.

And let me tell you, Locus knows how to throw a party.  Everyone was in Hawaiian shirts or dresses for the Memorial Hawaiian shirt competition. Connie Willis is a hillarious M.C. and roundly harassed everyone who wasn’t in Aloha-wear. It was great fun.

By this point, the Locus winners list has been propagated through the internet, so I’ll just link to it.  My hearty congratulations to the winners, but in particular to Peter S. Beagle who won the novelette category for “By Moonlight.”  I was pretty sure that he was going to win and am glad to see him honored for such a lovely story.

After the awards we went over to the SF Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony for Octavia E. Butler, Richard Matheson, Douglas Trumbull and Roger Zelazny was really lovely and quite moving.

I got to meet Mr. Trumbull who has been a huge influence on my puppetry life because he’s the one who pioneered the real-time cgi backgrounds for Book of Pooh. That technology’s existence led to the cgi world we worked in for Lazytown.   Plus he created so many other fantastic developments in the world of FX.  He was also totally charming.

Sunday was mostly about traveling back to Portland. Jeremy Lassen gave me a ride to the train station, which is good since Seattle was swamped for the Gay Pride parade and the bus line was again missing.

My train home was filled with girl scouts who were extremely loud.

Yesterday I napped, wrote, and then went to the recording studio to work on the Shades of Milk and Honey audio book.

—

My luggage was unrifled. I spent six hours at home. Rob made waffles and took me to the train station. I came to Seattle for where I am now.   I will report on the Seattle trip tomorrow. For now? Sleep.

Last night, after I returned from Philadelphia, I went to Henson Alternative: Stuffed and Unstrung with Jodi, Emily and Delia. It was loads of fun and some pretty impressive improv.  With Muppets.

Then this morning, I went uptown to meet with Bob Howe, who is the incoming secretary for SFWA, to do some training on his new duties.  This was fun because we spent a lot of time catching up.

From there I came back to the apartment briefly to take a nap then off to Labapalooza. Sadly, due to a train mixup I wound up missing the first piece by Serra Hirsch. Naturally, this was the one that I had gone intending to see. Annoying.  On the plus side I ran into an old friend that I haven’t seen in years who was there with someone else that I’d met during the auditions. The world is a very tiny place.

Tomorrow I’m doing an interview/reading for Hour of the Wolf with Jim Freund. The show will be this Saturday. Normally, it’s live but we’re recording it since I’m going home.  In fact, I’ll be heading straight to the airport after we are done.

I did not actually manage to see everyone I wanted to this trip so it’s lucky that I’ll be back in about two weeks.

At some point, I’ll spend more than two weeks at home with my husband. Who I miss.

The only thing I didn’t like about the visit was the humidity. So much worse than NYC. At one point last night the only intelligent thing for us to do was to take an ice cream break. I just have to ask how the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were ever drafted while the founders brains were melting.

I certainly lose my ability to make intelligent design decisions with a melting brain. Thank heavens Stephen has practice at working here. I think this issue will look good.

I thought that I was probably dreaming, because no one actually makes that sound outside of films involving fraternities.  But no, that was the sound of a small child being repeatedly motion sick as we came in for a landing. Poor kid. I was fortunately far enough away that I didn’t have the olfactory experience to go with the auditory one.

That waited for the subway. It’s the first time I’ve been back since we moved and I gotta say, I don’t miss the smell of the subway at all.

Besides that, it’s good to be here.

I’ll be out there until the 25th and am contemplating having a picnic next weekend as an easy way to try to catch up with everyone.  Any thoughts on where would make sense? My initial inclination is Riverside, simply because it’s in our old neighborhood and I know what’s around there. Plus, breeze from the river and not usually over-crowded.

Feel free to make suggestions.

My flight from Madison — which I actually boarded — was delayed taking off but not badly. When we were approaching Minneapolis however, we started circling after they told us that we were ready for final descent.  Eventually they explained that they were having problems with the hydraulics and that they’d update us when they knew more.

It became clear that I would probably miss my connection which just amused me by this point.

The captain came on to let us know that they’d had to extend the right gizmo on the landing gear manually and that we’d have a normal landing but would need to be towed to the gate.

We landed a little harder than usual but not badly.  While they were hooking up the tow truck to us I noticed that there were fire trucks standing by. It’s the first time I’ve seen those up close in this context.

I missed my flight, but Delta had already rebooked me onto the next plane out, gave me a voucher AND upgraded me to first class. Really, I can’t be too angry especially since there was a distinct lack of death on the landing.

As an ironic bonus, Tor is offering my Locus-nominated novellette, First Flight, for the Kindle. Free!  It will auto-deliver on June 8th.

Yesterday’s delay was quite pleasant. I went into town with Julianna, a flight attendant who hadn’t visited Madison before. We hung out shopping and had lunch together (Thai) and generally shot the breeze for hours.

Then, in the evening, I connected with the Monette’s and had a lovely, lovely evening. We sat on this veranda at the university’s student center. It’s under huge arching trees and overlooks a lake with sail boats. It was very postcard.

After that we strolled down State Street to an Ethiopian restaraunt and finished the night with gelato.

Really, being in Madison an extra day is not a hardship. Not at all.

Right now I’m sitting in Michaelangelo’s coffee shop and hanging out until my flight this afternoon. If they need another volunteer will I do it? It depends on how much longer I’d be here. Yes, I could use the vouchers but I miss Rob and am coming up on my limit for being away.

Meanwhile, I have a cup of good tea and a comfortable chair.

My flight was oversold so I volunteered to be bumped. I travel enough that those credit vouchers come in veeeeerrrry handy.  My flight out isn’t until tomorrow morning so I’m hanging out, getting some writing done and just generally pretending that I’m on that thing I’ve heard people talk about before. You know… I think they call it a vacation?

Clearly, hanging out in Madison is preferable.

Tired and grungy, I took a shower when I got here and discovered that my underwear has been removed from my bag.

Let me repeat that in other words. My feminine unmentionables are no longer in my bag.

I’m quite sure I packed them because I ran a load of laundry right before leaving in order to have enough to get me through the weekend so they were the last thing in the bag. I checked with Rob and, no, I didn’t forget to pack them. There was no TSA flyer in the bag, either.

I’ve pulled everything out of the bag and shaken it to be sure. The ONLY pair that’s left was tucked in the bottom under my socks and wasn’t one of the ones that was in that load of laundry.

I’m on the hold with the airline right now. So far I’ve already been passed from customer service to baggage.

Ah. I’m now talking to a representative who is doing a missing file claim for me. She agrees that it is creepy. I have to fill out a Damage/Pilferage Form, turn in my receipts and then wait up to 10 weeks for the corporate offices to make a decision.

Have I mentioned that this is really creepy?

Saturday

Juvenilia
10:00 – 11:15AM
Caucus

Moderator: Jennifer D. B. Lackey. Carol F. Emshwiller, Mary Robinette Kowal, Kelly McCullough

Established authors are invited to read from their earliest works. It’s inspirational to discover that no one is very good when they’re 14. Come and laugh, and join in the discussion of growth and craft.

Sunday

Readings from Chicks Dig Time Lords
10:00 – 11:15AM
Michelangelos

K. Tempest Bradford, Mary Robinette Kowal, Kathryn Sullivan, Lynne M. Thomas

A reading from the anthology Chicks Dig Time Lords, which explores women’s reactions to the British TV series Doctor Who.

Is Science Fiction Keeping Up with Science?
4:00 – 5:15PM
Conference 4

Moderator: Liz L. Gorinsky, Eleanor A. Arnason, Joyce Frohn, Mary Robinette Kowal

Are we as Science Fiction writers keeping up with science or are we only following older models of science fiction? Can we have space travel without instant FTL?

Monday

The SignOut
11:30AM – 12:45PM
Capitol/Wisconsin

Come and sign your works, come and get things signed, come and hang out and wind down before you leave. I’m just there because it’s a good chance to catch everyone in one room.

John Joseph Adams, Alma Alexander, Eleanor A. Arnason, F. J. Bergmann, Kat Beyer, Terry Bisson, Alex Bledsoe, Suzy Charnas, Richard Chwedyk, Rick Dakan, Alan John DeNiro, Lori Devoti, Moondancer Drake, Timmi Duchamp, Carol F. Emshwiller, James Frenkel, Greer Gilman, Hiromi Goto, Anna Black, Eileen Gunn, Andrea D. Hairston, Karen Elizabeth Healey, N. K. Jemisin, Ellen Klages, Mary Robinette Kowal, Claire Light, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Kelly McCullough, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Sarah Monette, Nancy Jane Moore, Pat Murphy, Nnedi Okorafor, Sarah B. Prineas, Madeleine Robins, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Patrick James Rothfuss, Catherine M. Schaff-Stump, Fred Schepartz, David J. Schwartz, Nisi Shawl, Jennifer K. Stevenson, Caroline Stevermer, Cecilia Tan, Lynne M. Thomas, JoSelle Vanderhooft

Highlights include: learning that Scalzi is creeped out by my cat puppet; looking across the table and realizing that I’m having breakfast with Mary Turzillo and Geoffrey Landis; talking shop with Tobias Buckell and Patrick Rothfuss; staying up waaaaaaaaaaaaay too late talking to Merrie Haskell; and hanging at the airport with Cherie Priest. There was other fun stuff, too but that gives you a brief overview.

My flight doesn’t go until 7:45 but it’s a direct flight, so that’s nice.  I got here really early because there was an easy ride to the airport and I happily took advantage of it.

My plane was flown by Captain Kirk.

Is there a better transportation to an SF convention? I think not.

Friday

Author Reading – 6pm

Three authors for the price of one! Cherie Priest, Mary Robinette Kowal, and The Ferrett

Saturday

Puppetry 101 – 10am

The history of puppetry, the different types, and the basic elements of manipulation

Aliens: Form and Function – 12pm

How do aliens in written and media SF influence the kinds of story that one tells about them? How do the demands of the story influence the aliens’ natures?

The Timeshredder, Mary Robinette Kowal, Michael Z. Williamson (m)

The Intersection of Puppetry and Science Fiction – 2pm

Much like science fiction and fantasy, puppetry is often seen as a childhood interest. Mary Robinette Kowal, professional puppeteer and Campbell award-winning author, talks about the what the speculative fiction community can learn from the world of puppetry.

Don’t Be Evil: The Google Books Settlement – 5pm

It’s well-known that Google’s slogan once was “Don’t be evil.” Did Google crossed the line with the Google Book Settlement? How does it impact authors and readers?

Jim C. Hines, Tobias S. Buckell (m), Steve Piziks, Mary Robinette Kowal

Mass Autograph session – 6pm

All our authors at the Con are pen-ready to sign your books!

Mary Turzillo, Cherie Priest, Karl Schroeder, Tobias S. Buckell, Doselle Young, Patrick Rothfuss, Michael Z. Williamson, Sarah Monette, Mary Robinette Kowal

Sunday

Adapting a Novel to a Podcast – 9am

With our constantly-on-the-go culture, why not make your work even more available (and safe!) for our commuter-based society! Two veterans of aural performance help you get started.

Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel J. Hogan

Short Story Markets – 10am

Finding markets for your short stories in a rapidly-changing world.

Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary A. Turzillo, Michael Z. Williamson (m)

I got about 1000 words done on a novella I’m working on, read part of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn (which I’m loving) AND got in a brief nap.  I love trains.

The bike ride home from the station only took about a half hour, which I felt pretty good about considering that my bags were heavy with books from the con.

In the apartment itself, Rob had two beakers of irises waiting for me. These are the flowers that we had at our wedding so very sweet. The cats were indifferent and needy in the way that only cats can pull off. Rob had also baked some of his famous chocolate tart cherry bran muffins. So tasty. And what had he baked them in?

This.

I’ve been gone longer than this before, but we usually know that I’ll be gone for months and you can prep for that, emotionally. This time, we thought it would be a week and a half. We do manage to talk almost every night, but a month is still a long time.

So the fact that I will see Rob, tonight, makes me a very, very happy girl.

Some of it also is that I feel like my life is not terribly interesting at the moment. For instance today, I spent in a coffee shop doing some writing and some Nebula stuff. Granted, I’m in Nashville visiting family but there’s not much to say about that besides the fact that I’m here. I like my family and we get along so there’s no drama to report.

In other news, Mom is doing really well. She drove yesterday and has permission to not wear the leg brace all the time.

Tomorrow I head to Grand Rapids to record more audio fiction. That will be fun.

I’m flying to Chattanooga on Saturday to help my folks out for a couple of weeks. I am, I think, going to try to teach my dad to cook.

I know.

But he’s clever and it’s just like mixing emulsion for silk screening, but not poisonous. Usually. We haven’t decided how long I’m going to stay yet, but I wanted to keep you up to date on which time zone I’m in.

There was nothing obviously wrong. So the awesome mechanic at Bike Gallery lubed it, tightened a couple of things and didn’t charge me, since he “didn’t really do anything.” It’s riding like a dream now, so I disagree.

While it was there, and in the stand, I noticed that my saddle was crooked. At first I thought it had just spun on the mount, but no. No, the rails were actually bent and probably had been since we moved back from NYC. I know the bike fell at least twice while it was in the back of the moving truck. So, I invested in a new saddle.

Today, my toes went numb during the last ten minutes of the ride both to and from work.

So, back to the shop today and I have a new, different saddle. Another awesome mechanic took the time to check the fit to make certain that there wasn’t anything else going on.

Let’s hope the new saddle does the trick. It’s funny though, how when you change one thing a cascade of little changes begins.

I’d decided to get a lower level seat because they tend to be a little quieter than the upper level seats and I was hoping to sleep. The first thing I noticed walking into the car was a certain pungent aroma. My immediate thought was that I’d made an error in judgment and hadn’t accounted for how close the bathrooms were to the lower level car.

Then I heard the conversation that was going on.

This woman said, “Yeah, I was in pain all the time and thought it was West Nile Disease, because that was all the rage. It turned out that I was possessed. All that pain and it was a spirit possessing me.”

Whoa, thought I, crazy.

Woman #2 said, “Oh, I know what you mean. With me, they diagnosed it as fibromyalgia.”

Woman #1 “What’s fibromyalgia?”

Woman #2 stumbled, clearly totally stumped about what her disease is. “Well… it’s where you have these 18 energy points in your body and they get inflamed. And then they don’t share the energy and it gets trapped there. That’s what hurts.”

“Oh,” said woman #1, “The only thing that takes me out of the pain is eating. Eating makes the pain go away.”

Meanwhile, I was wondering if either of them are currently possessed or if I should find another seat. Around this point, the train pulled out of the station and woman #1 began to groan interspersed with whimpers. Did she have to pay extra for her demon to travel with her? I mean really.

Normally, this isn’t an issue on the train.

This will let Chris and Laurel, who are staying with us, have the apartment to themselves for the evening. I’m pleasantly surprised by how well the apartment is working for having house guests.

On arrival, I discovered that I had not booked the hotel I thought I had. The one that I was in set off alarm bells in my touring brain when I walked into the lobby.  At the same time, I was like, where else will I stay. The receptionist said she needed to reserve the amount of the stay PLUS a security deposit.

The hotel fee, sure. A security deposit?  More alarms, so I asked if I could see the room.  When I walked in it smelled like a blend of listerine and sweat, but it was also 9:00 and really, where else was I going to find a room. I expressed my dismay on Twitter and then I checked in.  Hoping that someone would be able to take a roommate, I asked for just one night instead of the six I’d planned.

Went back to the room — which, to be fair, was worn and ratty but clean.  But it smelled bad and I found myself not wanting to touch the bed.

Then I got a direct message from Pablo Defendi saying that I could stay in his room if need be.  Grabbed my untouched suitcase, and checked out.  And yes, the hotel charged me for the full night.

Anyway, it looks like I’ll be able to stay with another friend through the length of the con, but I’m deeply, deeply grateful to Pablo for rescuing me.

We hung in the bar with the usual suspects and now I’m going to sleep.  Looking forward to tomorrow.

We got on the motorcycle and went to upstate NY where some friends of ours had generously offered a corner of their backyard. We were both braced for this to be a really hard trip, but it wasn’t. I think the whole burial ritual, or funeral ritual in whatever context, evolved because you really need that sort of closure to get on with things. Even if the creature you are mourning is a small fuzzy gray cat.

While we were back there, Mrs. L– beckoned us and said “Look! Racoons!”

Rob kept digging, but I went over to look, and sure enough there was a family of mama and two baby racoons coming out of their garage. Mama and one of the babies hightailed it across the lawn.

The other one wandered over to check out what Rob was doing.  It stood up on its hind legs, about two feet in front of him as if to say, “Hi there! What are you doing?”

This amused all of us, while at the same time, being glad that Rob had a shovel just in case Mama decided to feel protective. Rob waved at the little guy, who dropped back down to his haunches.

Then stood up again. “Whatcha working on? Huh?”

Sadly, attempts to establish a true cross-species dialog didn’t proceed past that and the little fellow trundled off to his mother, who probably said, “How many times have I told you not to talk to strangers?”

Sorry that the photo is as fuzzy as the racoon.  It was awfully cute and a nice place to leave Maggie.

We spent the night and then had a leisurely morning up there.   Rode back today, taking the scenic route.

Eventually a group of us splintered off to get dinner at the Mediterranean place next door. The hotel menu has ZERO vegetarian food on it and two fish items, both appetizers. Foodwise, the weekend looks bleak for me.

When we got back, I found out that Scalzi and my Schmoozing 101 panel had been moved to 10:00pm that night, into the slot vacated by Wil Wheaton. We had some audience members who were there to see us, but most of the session was waving people off who’d come to see Wil read. It was still fun.

I gratefully dropped into bed back at the hotel and now I’m off to my slew of panels today.

May 2, 2009
10:00 am — Ballroom 7
Making Fiction Work In Audio

What to avoid when writing a story to podcast, and what to change to adapt one. Concise language, appropriate pacing, holding attention, choosing a performer to read, and more tips from two of the leaders in podcast fiction: Steve Eley of Escape Pod and Rick Stringer of Variant Frequencies.
Steve Eley, Mary Robinette Kowal, Rick Jackson, Rick Stringer

11:00 am — Ballroom 7
Can I Be Your Friend? Bringing Authors and Readers Together

Facebook, LiveJournal, WordPress, MySpace, Twitter, website, etc. — SF/F/H authors are encouraged to engage in self-promotion on the web. Some, like John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton, make it look easy. But where’s the line on privacy and personal details for the authors? And what about fans bent on making the transition to troll or stalker? No one said this was going to be easy.
John Scalzi, Jim C. Hines, Wil Wheaton, Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel Hogan, Dr. Philip Kaldon

1:00 pm — Poolside 1
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Character Development. Bringing your imaginary friends to life. Discussion of what makes a character live on the page. Heroes, villains, supporters. Different methods and ways of making your characters real to your audience.
Elizabeth Bear, David Crampton, Mary Robinette Kowal, Sarah Hoyt, Dan Hoyt, Cherie Priest, Jeff DeLuzio, Sarah Monette

3:00 pm — Poolside 3
Johnny Can’t Read and Nobody Thinks It’s a Problem

Illiteracy is a major problem in our society, or perhaps it’s not, given the lack of attention it gets. Can children read? Are they reading? Should they read more? How can we get them to read? How can we read more as adults? Our panel of mostly experts will discuss the issue.
David Crampton, Richard Herrell, Mary Robinette Kowal

7:00 pm — Poolside 1
Lie to Me!

Authors telling lies….what will happen next?! (PS – the audience gets to lie too!)
Elizabeth Bear, John Scalzi, Mary Robinette Kowal, Sarah Hoyt

8:00 pm — Poolside 1
Schmoozing 101!

Conventions offer a chance to meet some of the top names in the field. How can you take advantage of that without coming off like a weasel? Learn about the etiquette of talking to editors and how to effectively “work a room.”
John Scalzi, Mary Robinette Kowal

May 3, 2009
8:00 am — Poolside 1
National Novel Writing Month

Every November hordes of would-be writers as well as established pros unite to attempt to produce 50,000 words in one month. Good idea or waste of time? Does it help or hurt writing? What about the pressures of deadlines in general? Does slow and steady win the race, or does the pressure cooker of trying to produce so many words in the last hour really work?
David Crampton, Jim C. Hines, Mary Robinette Kowal, Daniel Hogan

9:00 am — Poolside 1
How to Give an Effective Reading

Learn to make your words sound as great out loud as they do on the page. Using both demonstration and audience participation, we will explore voicing, narration, and pacing.
Mary Robinette Kowal

11:00 am — Poolside 1
Finding Your Voice

1st Person vs 3rd Person writing. Discussion of pros and cons of different voices in writing. Benefits of the “God” point of view for an author and a reader. Benefits of the main character as narrator for the author and reader. Limitations of both.
Elizabeth Bear, Mary Robinette Kowal, Sarah Hoyt, Dan Hoyt, Sarah Monette

Yes, as you might guess, the gates were at opposite ends of the airport.  I sprinted through and made it safely on the plane.

Back in NYC I hopped on the bus home and overheard a college boy ask someone where the bus went. I told him that it stopped at 106th and Broadway and we talked about the connections he’d need to make to get to where he was going.  When the bus finally arrives, I stand up and say, “This is it. The last stop.”

Besides us, the only other person on the bus was this young college girl with ginormous bags. She looked panicky. “The last stop?”

I nodded. “Where are you trying to go?”

“LaGuardia Airport.”

Wincing, I explained that she’d gotten on the bus heading the wrong way. The driver pointed across the street and told her to run because the next bus to LaGuardia was pulling up.

By the time I got the college boy pointed in the right direction and headed across the street, it was clear that the girl had missed the bus. It was also clear that she was doing her best not to cry in public.  I stopped to explain which of the two buses she needed to get and that it would take about 45 minutes to get out there.

Her tears got a little closer to the surface.

“What time is your flight?”

“11:30. There’s no way.” She shook her head. “I was supposed to leave yesterday but they canceled it.”

“Do you have enough money for a cab?”

“How much?”

“$40 – $60.”

“There’s no way.”

“Okay.” I stepped out into the street and hailed a cab. “We’re going to put you in a cab and send you.”

“You can’t–”

By this point, there was already a cab pulled up in front of us.   I leaned down and said, “She needs to go to LaGuardia and doesn’t have enough money, so I need to pre-pay you. How much?”

He squinted, thinking. “With tolls? $35.”

I gave him the cash, plus a tip. She hugged me, asked my name and I sent her speeding off.

When people ask what “paying it forward” means, it’s this.  Someone was this nice to me when I was her age. I’ve just paid it forward and someday, she will too.

We’ve comforted him with pizza and the internet.

Tomorrow: Avenue Q, plus a backstage tour by one of the puppeteers.

Still, it was a fun con and it was nice to see the host of folks.  I particularly enjoyed stumbling onto the branch of MaltCon 09.3 surrounding Laura Anne Gilman. Next time, I will have to bring my own flask so I can share. Despite my complaints about travel, I did get to spend time in the bar with Chuck Gannon, Mike Kabonga, and Neal Clarke, of the Hugo-nominated Clarkesworld magazine, today before Rob whisked me back to the city on the bike. (By whisked, I mean, drove slowly through traffic.) I also met some lovely, lovely people including, but not limited to, Kate Baker,  Chris McMahon, Jill Friedman, Racheline Maltese and Tom Crosshill.

All in all, it was a good weekend.

The nice thing about the winery is that they’ll usually let me park at an out of the way table and write.  The danger is that I’ve recently discovered that they have free wifi.  As the evening picked up, I freed the table and came home to see the cats, who clearly did not miss us at all.

This morning we slept in sinfully late.  At least, by the clock it was late, but since Rob doesn’t get home until one or two these days, noon doesn’t sound as bad as it might. He made waffles.   Life is pretty good, you know?