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J. T. Glover

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That'll Show Me [May. 13th, 2008|09:31 am]
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[Current Mood | sore]

Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.

There I was, warning [info]brassratgirl to be careful of her back, because back injuries are serious business, and I know whereof I speak, and I go and hurt my back. Wasn't lifting any cars or saving baby kittens from refrigerators about to collapse on them. Just reaching for the shampoo while in the shower and suddenly an electric guitar was playing in my back.

I've had a moderately severe back injury in the past, and this is not like that was, but it's more than just an "ooh, twinge in the back." I'll try to keep up with LJ a little from work, but no more recreational sitting/computer for a while, writing (back willing) excepted.
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What I Learned at the Con, Part 5: Con Truth and Fiction [May. 12th, 2008|10:36 pm]
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Stinky people go to cons.
Possibly true? I was there for three days, and I encountered not one hygiene-deficient person. The con ran on different tracks, admittedly, and I didn't spend any time among the gamers. Not to say gamers are inherently stinky, but the gaming room was a 24hr affair, so I could imagine it getting a little foul. I heard jokes about the fabled 5-3-1 rule, but encountered no evidence.

Cons are for geeks, nerds, and dorks.
Semi-true. Plenty of geeks, both in the old-school sense and the more current "people who are deeply into their thing" sense. Some nerdiness was in evidence, which I feel moderately well-qualified to judge, being both an academic and a librarian. There were some bona fide dorks on hand, but what of it? I'll take a goofy love of SF any day over a goofy love of, say, football. It's worthy pointing out that a substantial proportion of people there looked like Joe Schmoe from the street who just happens to like SF.

Flesh on Parade.
Hmmm. I counted a grand total of two women wearing anything substantially more revealing than what you see at the mall, not counting a couple of the costumes that displayed period-appropriate amounts of cleavage. A few corsets, but some of those were relatively modest as well. What I liked most about the clothes was the vast variety, from faux-Celtical folks to yer irony-via-Hot Topic t-shirts people.

Rampant, horrid sexism holds sway at cons!
Nope. Maybe there are problems at some cons, or in specific situations, but I had my eye peeled and noticed little. Yes, there were some socially awkward attempts to impress women, and yes, occasional skeeviness. I defy you to go to a baseball, basketball, or football game and find less sexism there or at the after-parties. Ain't saying creepy shit doesn't happen, but dammit, it was better than society in general tends to be. I asked a couple women I met their opinion about the whole thing, and both opined that they thought it wasn't a factor these days, and that the SF community was generally very friendly and welcoming. No, maybe conversation with a random strange guy asking about sexism wasn't the most comfortable grounds for discussion, but they seemed straightforward.

The dealers will part you from your money.
True. I went planning to buy little, and there was just a lot of cool stuff. Things that you have to locate from individual suppliers online and pay $8 s/h, just there for the buying. Next time I'll bring more $$$.

The parties are the best part of it.
Maybe. I enjoyed the party I went to, but it wasn't the be-all, end-all of the con for me. I'm not an extrovert, and I got a lot more out of talking with people in small groups or one-on-one. My experience would have been different if I'd stayed at the hotel, I think, but that will have to wait for more money or a con where I have to travel in order to attend. Likewise, I don't have a host of con-cronies I'm used to seeing, nor was I meeting up with people from LJ, either of which would have made a difference.

You'll learn a lot about [X].
Yes and no. While I got many useful bits and pieces and made some contacts, what I learned by going was a fraction of what I learn from following blogs and online discussions. There's a real difference between meeting people online and in person, no doubt, but when it actually comes to learning things, well, if you can't go to a con, don't worry too much.

What I found useful was the depth of answers, from individuals and panels. I asked a question, for instance, about what the most useful worldbuilding tools were for writers, and the four members of the panel all said it came down to finding knowledgeable people or doing personal research -- riding horses yourself, v. reading a description. I'd expected something about Wikipedia or Google, but it ultimately came down to human resources.

And finally…
I had a good time, which I think is the most important part. One writer there observed that you don't have to attend cons if you don't want to go. They're enjoyable in their way, but not critical to success as a writer. I enjoyed RavenCon, and I'll be going to more cons in the future, but that's because I enjoyed it, not because I think they're essential to succeed (at least at this point in my nascent career). It's just nice to be able to spend time with people who share your interests.


Tune in next time for RavenCon vs. ALA Annual, about what the geeks have on the librarians, and vice versa.
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Mother's Day [May. 11th, 2008|08:15 am]
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[Current Mood | remembering]

Happy day to all the mothers out there! Thank you for everything you've done, everything you've sacrificed. Without you, nothing.


TO REST

The wheel has turned, my mothers
gone into the earth all tired and worn
like apples that squeezed their hearts
into empty tumblers. Each closed
eyes on afternoons warm as amber,
blasphemy in a place of mold and leaves
still dripping last night's bounty.
Sojourns ending, they slipped away
warm-faced, hand in hand with love songs
breathing in their wizened ears, those
familiar tunes to carry them home.

-- J. T. Glover
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Writing Better Stories [May. 9th, 2008|05:54 pm]
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[Current Mood | accomplished]

Today at lunch I worked on the nth draft of one of my many stories that could be accused of lacking closure. While writing, I was thinking about how to solve my problem with conclusions, and I mused over this post about what Nancy Fulda tends to see in the slush pile -- essentially good stories vs. good prose, with the coincidence of the two being a rara avis indeed. Then I thought about the following, from Douglas E. Winter's intro to the new edition of Caitlin R. Kiernan's Tales of Pain and Wonder:

The enthusiasts who scheduled the 1997 World Horror Convention in Niagra Falls failed to see past the dire locale to another painful irony: the genre that the convention was meant to celebrate had taken its own fall, into an abyss from whose depths some writers and publishers could not seem to surface. And the increasingly cheap feel of genre horror was only underscored by the venue, a Days Inn Hotel whose Lovecraftian squalor, leprous wallpaper and damp carpet were tainted with the smell of something dying.

Many of the events that took place that weekend seemed as desperate as the surroundings. At one memorable panel on short fiction, a well-meaning writer asked how he could get his work published in one of Stephen Jones's anthologies; Steve replied, without missing a beat: "Write better stories." [p. 12-13]


I loved that anecdote when I read it, for various reasons, but today X + P + Q = Pie! I'm always trying to write better fiction, and I know that I have a lot of work to do on my story elements... but it was as if a bomb went off in my head when I thought about writing better stories. I sat there and graphed the structure of the story, saw that there was no climax, outlined the new scene, and... voila. Where there was anecdote or novel lead-in before, now there's a story.

Bingo.
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Bona Fide First Draft Crap [May. 8th, 2008|10:12 pm]
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[Current Mood | amused]

Tonight, friends and neighbors, I am writing crap. Wordage so stinky it'd get you mocked for a whole grade in grammar school if anyone knew it was you who dropped that bomb in the boy's room. Leaden garbage that sits there on the screen like your friend's old chum from Pasadena who just came up for the party on the weekend and is, like, really lame. You stare at her uncomfortably bovine features, listen to the dimwitted sub-prattle that she passes off as witty banter, and wonder how in the world your awesome friend ever got to be so awesome with old friends like that. Yeah, it's that kind of night.

Still aiming for 1,000 words tonight, tho! It's making progress that counts. The alchemy of rewriting will convert this stinking pile of garbage into sterling prose. That's the ticket.
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Fear My Battle Cry! [May. 8th, 2008|07:14 pm]
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What Is Your Battle Cry?

Yea, verily: Who is that, striding over the terrain! It is Jtglover, hands clutching an oversized scalpel! He screams thunderously:

"For the love of carnage and discord, I bring darkness and mayhem until my glands are satisfied!!!"

Find out!
Enter username:
Are you a girl, or a guy ?

created by beatings : powered by monkeys

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What I Learned at the Con, Part 4: Promotion, or, Go Fic Yourself [May. 7th, 2008|08:45 am]
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[Current Mood | awake]

One of the neat things I heard about at RavenCon was some innovative marketing strategies. Mur Lafferty's promotional "street team" is a pretty cool idea, and a nice way of inducing people to promote your book. There was also discussion of a kind of promotion I hadn't heard much about before. In essence, it comes down to creating promotional materials for a book/story/show in the voice of one of the characters.

Various television shows do this right now. If you go to the website for How I Met Your Mother, for instance, you'll find blog posts ostensibly written by one of the characters on the show. How are individual authors doing it?

1) John Ringo's planning a website to coincide with the release of >The Last Centurion. The website will be presented as that of the novel's protagonist. Not a portion of the general release site, but the whole shebang, if what I heard is true. The novel is written as a series of blog posts, so the motif seems to fit. If other authors have done this, I haven't heard about it.

2) Jeri Smith-Ready is also doing something cool to accompany her Wicked Game. She's planning a series of podcasts featuring the kind of music each of her vampire DJs plays, with a presenter speaking in the manner/style of the vamp in question. I don't know how long these will be, but it sounds like a neat idea. I don't know if Jeri considers these podcasts to be part of a larger artistic project (a la Jeff VanderMeer's Ambergris multimedia presentation) or simply promotional, but either way it's a cool idea.

What makes these things different from other similar promotional or ancillary materials (e.g. immersive DVD menus)? I think it's that the promotional items in question are author creations that can presumably be appreciated in their own right. Theoretically, one could listen to and appreciate Jeri's podcasts without reading the book. Ditto a cool website. In fact, I think they'll expand the experience for the reader in something of the same way that fanfic does (albeit "fanfic" created by the author), or even be engrossing enough that they'll lead fence-sitters to buy the books.
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Progress Report [May. 6th, 2008|06:56 pm]
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[Current Mood | busy]

I'm currently about 20,000 words (80 pages) into my fourth attempt at a novel. It's a post-apocalyptic epic fantasy, and my one-line concept description is usually "Thundarr with Southern culture and racial politics" or "Thundarr with cornbread and trans-dimensional beasties," depending on my mood. It's got the working tile Honor's Road and could conceivably be the first in a series of books, and that's all I want to say about it right now. If all goes well, the first draft will be finished around the end of August.

11 stories are currently in circulation, as well as one batch of poems. A 12th story is patiently awaiting the right moment for some light revisions during lunch hour. Two other stories are in rough/notebook form, but I'm unlikely to do any work on them until I've finished the first draft of Honor's Road.
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What I Learned at the Con, Part 3: Promotion, or, Meeting the People [May. 5th, 2008|08:19 am]
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["Con Truth and Fiction" has been delayed due to persistent questions about the nature of truth. -- Ed.]

Most people say it's a good idea to go to a con. These days most authors also have blogs, websites, etc. These are all useful for providing information, but I think there's something more that comes with actually meeting an author. Whether this is in person or online, I suspect extended contact with potential readers is probably some of the best publicity you can get.

Example 1: I'd seen David Coe ([info]davidbcoe) mentioned here and there online, so he was part of that vast swarm of authors whose names I've heard, but of whom I'd heard little. One day at the book store I even picked up one of his books, then put it down because I had X dollars and had come to buy Book Y and Book Z, which already were more than I could afford. Richmond Public Library doesn't have any of his books,* so I just figured "one day."

At RavenCon I met him, really enjoyed talking with him, and now I find myself significantly more inclined to buy one of his books.** Further, I'd never heard of his first series of books (the LonTobyn Chronicle), which apparently mixes tech and magic and has themes that would have drawn me in... had I ever heard of it. Another benefit of a RavenCon-sized con is that I ran into him often enough to hear a fair bit about how and what he writes, which would presumably have been less likely at a big con.

Example 2: Jeri Smith-Ready ([info]jer_bear711 was completely unknown to me before RavenCon. Never heard of her and--here comes the biggie--it's relatively unlikely I would have picked up one of her books. She wrote an epic fantasy series (the Crow books) that theoretically I might have picked up, but the cover art didn't speak to me when I saw it on the shelf the other day.

Her new book, Wicked Game, coming out May 13, is about heroine + vampire DJs fighting a corporate takeover of their radio station. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea--in fact, I would have dismissed it as Vampire Novel # 4582 in 0.27 seconds in the store--but I read a sample chapter and liked it, plus she was pleasant and articulate in conversation. Ergo, I'll give it a try. Because I met the author, I'm crossing over genre lines I don't usually cross.

Why am I more likely to read these books? An anthropologist or sociologist would have a more complicated answer to it, but my answer is that it's because I'm just more likely to remember them when I want to buy something new to read, and because it's neat to read books by authors with whom you've had some interaction.

The lesson for writers? Theoretically, that we should meet our readers, shakes hands and press the flesh. I suppose something the same could be said for just having an effective, interactive web presence. As one author said at the con, however, if you don't enjoy cons, it's going to show, and so you shouldn't necessarily make that your primary route of promotion. Speaking of promotion, I've now twice heard authors with a substantial track records say that spending substantial amounts of your advance on promotion is a waste, and that the best thing you can do to sell your work to keep writing.

Tune in next time for "Promotion, or, Go Fic Yourself," about a couple innovative strategies authors are using to promote their work.



-----------------------------------------------------------------
* Yet. Do you order books at the library that you want to read? I never did before being a librarian, but now that I know just how useful it is to have input, I suggest things on at least a monthly basis.

** For most of my life I've been blessed with ready access to 70-80% of books I wanted from the library. When I started grad school, suddenly I had access to consortial borrowing groups (multiple libraries in a state) and that number rose to 90%+. When I was actually living in Seattle proper, I could get 90-95% of what I wanted from the university or public library. When that didn't suffice, there were used bookstores. Realistically, I had access to all books I wanted in some form or another. Richmond has various virtues, but cheap/free access to all desired books is not one of them.
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Stupid Writing Tricks, Episode 369 [May. 4th, 2008|08:15 pm]
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[Current Mood | busy]

Had trouble getting started this evening. Nothing came, even though I knew what the scene was about, the emotions of the viewpoint characters... everything. Our Hero's father is about to receive a grievous wound, but before that, they're getting their first glimpse of the Horrible Monster From Beyond Time and Space.

So! I changed the document background to black, set the text to black, and suddenly the block melted away. I'm clicking back and forth between "outline" and "normal" view once in a while (in Word) to make sure it's all working the way its supposed to, but going great guns so far.

Black to work...
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A Very Nice Weekend [May. 4th, 2008|02:42 pm]
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[Current Mood | mellow]

This has been a very pleasant, uneventful weekend, filled largely with the sort of things one hopes for in a relaxed weekend.

Food
Deviled! eggs
tacos
tasty Kalamata olives
tasty Saturday morning scramble

Reading
Soon I Will Be Invincible, by Austin Grossman
An enjoyable mainstream novel whose characters are essentially standard-issue Marvel or DC heroes. It's a fun read, slightly ridiculous in certain ways, but not so ironic as Third Class Superhero.

Watching
Night of the Living Dead (Savini remake, which I hadn't seen)
The Mist
Dr. Who and Numb3rs.
The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, eps. 1 & 2

All this, and writing too.
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Barbara Bauer Sues Wikimedia Foundation [May. 2nd, 2008|05:50 pm]
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[Current Mood | RAGE]

SF WRITERS, LISTEN UP.

A friend of mine who's very active in the Wiki-world tells me that Barbara Bauer is suing the Wikimedia Foundation. This is the same Barbara Bauer about whom the SFWA has a rather negative opinion.


For more information, see:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/legal/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207500346
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/05/02

In brief, she's doing what she's been doing for a long time -- trying to get people to stop saying bad things about her. Whatever. People have a right to try to sue for defamation, slander, libel, etc., so whatever. Here's the thing:

If she wins this case, it could mean the end of Wikipedia. Just think about that for a moment. Put the snark aside. Put the jokes about bad sources aside. Think about how many times a day or week you use Wikipedia, even if it's just to find a more reputably scholarly site to visit.

SPREAD THE WORD.


ETA: as the general tenor of comments here indicates, and from what I've heard elsewhere, perhaps I got a little overly excited in my concern for Wikipedia's health.
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What I Learned at the Con, Part 2: A Rainbow of Authors [May. 1st, 2008|08:18 am]
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RavenCon 2008 featured authors writing everything from dark fantasy to paranormal romance to science fantasy to epic fantasy to space opera. They ranged from the unpublished to the underpublished to the self-published to the POD-published to the midlist to genuine big names. You know what? All the authors I met were willing to chat, and some were extremely generous with their time.

My experience online has been that authors are generally pleasant. I won't name names, but my friendslist is filled with chatty, sociable authors who don't think too highly of themselves to talk with readers. Still, I went into the con with trepidation, largely because of the bad authors. You know the ones: mean, grabby, drunk, disdainful, misanthropic. To my great pleasure, I encountered none of that. If there were any verbal daggers, none of them were waved around while I was present.

Now, this isn't to say I didn't see friction between authors! On that score, I saw snide comments and brief spats, as well as a few authors who were visibly irritated when others talked too long on panels, or said things with which they didn't agree.

Starting at a small con had advantages, though it had some strange effects as well. As in any pond, the little were made bigger and the big became... not what you might expect. C. S. Friedman was the Writer Guest of Honor, and yet she seemed pleasant and approachable. Katherine Kurtz, a genuine living legend of fantasy, shared stories about the joys and frustrations of her long career as an author.

The final thing I was reminded of is that there are hundreds of F/SF authors out there, thousands if you include writers at all level of development, and it's difficult to know about all of them. Case in point: John Ringo. Previous to last week, I'd never heard of the man, which perhaps isn't surprising, given how little military SF I read. Then I saw OH JOHN RINGO NO. Then I got to the con and heard many people mention him. "I love his books." "I saw John Ringo just the other day." "He's a hack." "What would John Ringo do?" There's plenty to learn about authors at a con, both those present and those who aren't.

Tune in next time for "Con Truth and Fiction," about my experience with the truisms one hears about cons.
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The Reading List, Revisited [Apr. 30th, 2008|07:29 am]
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In Progress
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, by Haruki Murakami

April 2008*
Tales of Pain and Wonder, by Caitlin R. Kiernan
Caught Stealing, by Charlie Huston
The Life and Times of R. Crumb, by Monte Beauchamp, ed.
Wastelands, by John Joseph Adams, ed.
Goblin War, by Jim Hines
Half the Blood of Brooklyn, by Charlie Huston
No Dominion, by Charlie Huston
Covering, by Kenji Yoshino

Gluten-Free Girl, by Laura Ahern (DNF)**

Red Sonja/Claw: Devil's Hand, by Layman & Andy (GNC)
Captain America: Fallen Son, by Loeb, et al. (GNC)
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (GNC)

===================================

(R) = re-read
(DNF) = did not finish
(GNC) = graphic novel or comic


* Books finished this month, some of which were started previously.
** I am glad we got this book, for a number of reasons, but after reading half of it, I felt I'd gotten the point and just skimmed it for recipes.

( in previous months... )
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What I Learned at the Con, Part 1: Go to a Con [Apr. 29th, 2008|08:50 am]
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This past weekend I attended RavenCon, and it was a hell of a lot of fun. By the lights of Dragon*Con or World Fantasy, it's pretty small, a comfortable size for one's first con. I made a few connections with local new writers, spent plenty of time chatting with author guests, and even met a fellow local librarian. It was a warm, friendly experience with not an unpleasant thing about it.*

Some of what I expected to find at the con proved true; some didn't. I learned far more than I expected, and in ways I wouldn't have expected. If anyone reading this wants to write F/SF and hasn't been to one, go to a con. You won't be wasting your time or hard-earned dough. My only wish is that I'd started going ten years ago.

Why didn't I go in the past?

    Fear of not being taken seriously as a writer**
    Fear of acting like a pompous new author
    Fear that I would suddenly transmute into Comic Book Guy
    Fear I'd have a hard time talking to people
    Fear I'd be miserable


None of that happened, so far as I can tell.

The only fear with a shred of truth was this: many people at the con have known each other for decades, and they go to catch up with each other. So, yeah, I didn't have deep conversations with everyone (and made a point not to bug old friends in mid-reunion), but there were more than enough people eager to talk. Frankly I was glad to have breaks to sit in a corner and read while recharging my socializing batteries.

Tune in next time for "A Rainbow of Authors," about the pleasures and oddities of meeting authors in person.


---------------------------------------------
* Unless you count minor outlay in the dealer's room. At least I didn't spend $100 non-existent dollars on a cool Stephen Hickman print I coveted.
** For context, if you're not one of my regular readers, I'm a new author with a few publication credits who's trying to "break in" to big time markets.
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RavenCon 2008 Report [Apr. 28th, 2008|10:12 am]
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[Current Mood | tired, inspired, happy]

RavenCon, my first con ever, was a great time. I seem to have evaded the fabled con crud, though I'm going to have to watch it the next day or two with the talking or I'll lose my voice. Attended some great panels, talked to many authors, partied a little, bought some stuff... Basically I did everything that you're supposed to at a con.

Day 1

Check-in was a breeze, after which I wandered around the convention area, picking up swag and whatnot. Attended panels on alternate history, marketing online, what to look for at a con, worldbuilding, pitching to editors, and pseudonyms, as well as attending the opening ceremony. I ran into a number of authors repeatedly who seemed to be at the panels I liked most throughout the con, including David B. Coe ([info]davidbcoe), Katherine Kurtz, Jana Oliver, Phillip McCall, Edmund Schubert, and Jeri Smith-Ready. I also met fellow local librarian Anna, whom I ran into repeatedly at panels, parties, etc. It was a busy afternoon and evening, and when the last panel ended at 11:45, I was ready for bed, so I went home.

Day 2

Attended panels on book cover design, readings from the slush pile, the business of history, podcasting, and tweaking plots, as well as watching an interview with C. S. Friedman, Stephen Hickman's speech, and kaffeeklatsching with [info]davidbcoe and later with Jeri Smith-Ready. After that I spent some time chatting with DBC and Phillip McCall in the restaurant at the former's signing. Wandered up to the launch party for Jeri Smith-Ready's Wicked Game (urban fantasy, with vampire DJs) and spent a couple hours bopping around talking to a number of people. Among them was Danielle Ackley-McPhail, who was the first costumer I'd ever talked with (and an author as well), and the masquerade judge, no less. All in all, a good day. Also on Saturday, I hit the dealer's room and spent a fair while talking with CJ Henderson about pulp, Cthulhu, and the pleasures and pains of selling your own work.

Day 3

A decent day, but you could feel the energy dropping by the hour as people checked out, physically or otherwise. Attended two panels (urban fantasy & critiquing), C. S. Friedman's second interview, and kaffeeklatsched with Katherine Kurtz. Heard a number of interesting things on the critiquing panel, not least a couple good stories from Catharine Asaro about what can go wrong in a critique and about what to do when you're handed a monumental editing task and given no time to complete it.

The Verdict

I'll be conning again, I do believe. I felt that I learned a bunch, and it was absolutely worth the cost of registration, gas, food, etc. Over the next week or so I'm going to run some pieces about What I Learned at the Con covering some aspects of the experience in more detail.
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Fiction Sale [Apr. 27th, 2008|07:39 pm]
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[Current Mood | accomplished]

I'm delighted to report that Mort Castle has purchased my short story "Savage Hearts" for Doorways Magazine. It's a dark, hardboiled tale set on the coast of Washington State, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it in print. Doorways is a great market to get into, given Gary Braunbeck, Joe R. Lansdale, Yvonne Navarro, and other biggies have published there. What great news to come at the end of a con weekend.
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Batten Down Yer Egos, Matey! Cover Art Ahoy. [Apr. 27th, 2008|07:30 am]
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[Current Mood | tired]

Yesterday at day 2 of RavenCon I attended both a panel featuring and a fine talk given by Stephen Hickman, the Artist Guest of Honor. An interesting speaker, Mr. Hickman is clearly a longtime reader and appreciator of F/SF; he also looks oddly un-aged. To judge by his Wikipedia entry, he's close to 60, but I wouldn't have guessed it.

Anyway, during the panel, he said he's had many interactions with authors about cover paintings (no surprise). He also mentioned that he's occasionally asked if he could change details to improve the painting--the color of a character's hair, for instance, in order to fit the cover's color scheme. He also said that authors will occasionally, if they have room, write something into the final version of the novel based on things he tells them about the cover. All this in the name of improving in one way or another that art that will be used to sell the book.

This is completely the reverse of most everything I've ever heard authors say about covers. "They're too small!" "My artist changed important details!" "She doesn't didn't even read a page of my work!" From the perspective of the painter, it's a matter of creating the best artwork--that which will draw the reader's eye.

Obvious, maybe, but what impressed me was Mr. Hickman's demeanor when talking about changing elements of a novel in order to make a better cover. He didn't wince, apologize, or look like a man who'd been browbeaten by authors about getting things "wrong." He simply said that there are things that can be done to make a better cover, which will in turn sell a book more effectively, and that he appreciates authors' flexibility. A different perspective, and a small revelation. That moment alone was worth the price of con registration.
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Cherry No Longer [Apr. 26th, 2008|07:57 am]
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Yesterday began the undoing of my con-virginity. A very interesting day, and I'm sure it will leave me with material to post for weeks. Saw many interesting panels, met another librarian (go figure), wandered the dealers' room, saw the art show, etc.

One of the most surreal parts, for me, was sitting across the table from Famous Authors. It quickly came to seem "normal," which is probably good for me as a person & a writer... but it's still a little odd. :) People talk about, argue with "Katherine" and they're talking about the living fantasy legend sitting across the table from me, Imeancomeonpeople this is Katherine Kurtz.
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Hey Washingtonians: [Apr. 23rd, 2008|07:51 am]
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[Current Mood | chipper]

I read an article about some fancy Border Patrol hijinks in the Seattle Times and passed the link on to BoingBoing. Whaddaya know? They posted it! Now if I can only appear in an XKCD cartoon, my life will be complete.

Joshing aside, I was appalled when I read the article. I'm all for stopping terrorists, but it seems like the threat of terrorism is being used to justify worse things than whatever the bad guys could do. Random search and seizure seems like the sort of thing America has historically presented itself as being, y'know, against doing.
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