August 2009

GenCon Report
When last we met, I had just sold my short story collection "In a Gilded Light: 105 Tales of the Macabre" to Dark Quest Books and been hired to do a short writing stint at NCsoft, working on the new hotness in MMORPGs named Aion. Having worked there for three weeks, I can agree, it is some seriously good stuff.

Really, that didn't give me much time to do anything other than continue to get the house ready for sale and prepare (as much as one can) for GenCon Indy 2009. Life was not dull but the reading would have been. Now, it is hard to sum up a 4 day convention in one or even many posts. So, I'll hit just a couple of the highlights.

Authors Avenue
Despite not having Grants Pass in the flesh, my booth in Authors Avenue was a serious success. Really. There were problems – location and lack of advertisement were the worst ones – but everything worked out. I pre-sold more Grants Pass books than I had planned to bring. My chapbook, Mastication, and my audio CD, Tasty, both sold modestly in comparison but they did sell. I got to hang out with Dylan Birtolo and got to meet some folks behind WereGeek, Alina and Layne. Our row supported each other – don't like fantasy, next door is Sci-fi. Don't like post-apocalyptic, next door is pre-apocalyptic. We watched each others' booths when breaks were needed and had a good time. I will totally do this again next year when I have 2 or 3 books out.

The Writer's Symposium
I had nine panels this year and most of them were well attended. Even the "Pick My Brain" panel which was the "me" show. People I didn't know brought me tickets with my name on them because they had signed up just to listen to me before GenCon started. I was thrilled. The panels were provocative and interesting. We had some great questions and some fun disagreements. I had a lot of fun discussing a torture scene I wrote into one of my fantasy books in the panel "Blood, Sweat and Fears." I loved making people shiver. Yes, I've already volunteered to be on the Symposium again next year.

A Confetti of Fan Girl
I had one of those moments. I really did. Saturday morning, I was wandering around the Dealers Room, doing the grips and grins thing with my current and future editors/publishers while doing a bit of browsing. I wandered up to the Cubicle 7 booth to say hello to an editor friend and was completely derailed by seeing the indie RPG "Cat" laying out on the table for sale. I've been looking for this RPG for ages and there it was.

"Cat! I must have that. A friend of mine ran it for me and I loved it. This is a great game. I want to buy it!"

A man at the booth standing next to my editor friend smiled and said, "I'd be happy to sell it to you."

I looked at his face. I didn't recognize him. I looked down at his badge and my brain vapor-locked. "Oh my God, you're John Wick! Jesus Christ!" I just blurted it out. I couldn't help myself. I really couldn't. There was a bit of verbal gushing on my part and gracious acceptance on his – including a booty dance of happiness – I bought the book and left thinking, OMG, you completely blew that one, didn't you? Fortunately, as I explained on a future panel, it is possible to recover from such a complete breakdown of business etiquette.

Shmoozing with the Best of Them
A lot of being a good freelancer involves going out and getting the writing/editing jobs. This means as much face time as possible when the opportunity like a convention comes around. You say hello at dealer tables, pass out and collect business cards and go to the industry events – both work and play.

I met Matt Forbeck several times during the convention and was impressed with his professionalism and good nature. I ran into John Wick again at a party and he remembered me (go fig). We sat down and had a good conversation on both a personal and professional level. I got to see Richard of Colonial Gothic for business dealings and to gush over the new book, Matt and Monica of Flames Rising for fun and unexpected business dealings, Heather and Randall of Catalyst Game Labs, Eddy Webb and Jess Hartley from White Wolf for conversation and many introductions, Cam Banks of Margaret Weis Production, more hellos to Jeff of Hollow Earth Expedition… and the list goes on. You press the flesh, talk the talk and then walk the walk. Through it all, I try to suppress a giddy glee that I am here, working and being a part of this industry.

Upcoming Work
I have no lack of upcoming freelance work for at least the rest of the year. Nothing can be said until the contracts are looked at, agreed upon and signed but I'm really looking forward to all that I've verbally agreed to do. Life is good. It really is. There should be a series of announcements throughout the rest of the year about some of the cool projects I will be working on and the stuff I am currently working on. GenCon was very successful for me on a number of levels and that is why I will always try to make it there. It's a working convention but man, is it ever a fun convention.

Thank Goodness for Husbands
Last but not least, thank goodness for my husband, Jeff. He was my rock, my Sherpa, my handler, my guide and my sanity throughout the convention. I arrived at the convention in frail health and things got bad quick. For two days of the convention I had almost no sleep due to coughing and no voice in which to speak. Jeff took care of me, got me throat stuff, made sure I ate at least a little something, got me to my early morning panels and late night parties and generally kept me going. He sat at my booth and advertised my book, chapbook and CD. He was patient when I was not. Basically, he is the mellow to my harsh and I am grateful. Love you honey. Really do.

It's a Book!
The Grants Pass release party and Jay Lake hosted dinner was this last Saturday, August 22. It was a smashing success. It was. Oh, small things went wrong here or there – I forgot to get diet Dr. Pepper for Seanan. I also forgot that I had to speak and introduce the Grants Pass book signing party and totally had to wing it. But, it all worked out. If you missed the party, there was some live streaming from the book store of Shannon Page doing a reading of her story in the book called By the Sea.

There were so many people there. Some for each of the authors. Some for all of us. Social circles overlapped and mixed. It was awesome. We had two readings: one by Seanan McGuire and one by Shannon Page. Jay Lake and James M. Sullivan hung out and signed many books while talking with friends. My husband, Jeff, ran around being the time keeper, cake cutter, host and general all-around excellent man.

The dinner afterwards at Canyons saw 32 of us descend upon them in hunger and good cheer. I did have reservations for us and everyone was well-fed. We ate, drank and were merry while we hung out and talked. Though, I have to admit, I was exhausted. Seriously. So, when Shannon and Jay suggested a quick nap after dinner, I was all for it. It allowed us to get up and chat coherently later in the evening.

Saturday was a spectacular day and one that I will remember in the future for a long time to come. We 80+% of the books, allowing me to grab some for local authors for their author copies and signed until our hands cramped. Seattle Geekly was there to record and interview us all while it was going on. Very cool people, Matt and Shannon.

Morrigan Books has ordered the pre-order books, more author copies and books for upcoming convention appearances. Now comes the hard part – all of the paperwork and sending out of books and general book/editor/records upkeep.

Speaking of convention appearances… remember how I said GenCon was the last one for the year? I was wrong. It looks like I have two more convention appearances for 2009: Foolscap and OryCon.

Foolscap is a small local convention that is so local I can just drive there and back, saving on hotel costs. It goes on September 25-27. I don't plan to sell books there but I suspect that I'll have a few on hand just in case. I'll be doing panels for it.

OryCon is in Portland OR and I will be there as part of the Apex Book Company dealers table. I will be working with Maggie and Deb, selling Grants Pass and doing panels. November 27-29.

I am a busy and tired person but a very happy one.

August 27, 2009
Not My House
Today, my house is neither my house nor my home. It is a bright, white, shiny thing that will make some new homeowner very happy. It shows off the bamboo floors and stainless steel kitchen put in less than two years ago. There are new floors in the bathroom, utility room and kitchen. Two of the three toilets are new. There is fresh paint all over the house – inside and out. All of my wall hangings and pictures are packed away. As are all my books and bookcases and 90% of those things that make a house yours.

It is the perfect blank canvas for a new family to move into.

As of today, this house is on the market. Jeff and I have a very good real estate professional who talked with us about everything from how to open the house up (put away our 1000+ books and corresponding bookcases), where to put the furniture, what needed to be fixed up, what kind of marketing plan would be used and all that jazz. We've enjoyed this house while we've had it. Jeff bought it 6 years ago from the original owner and I moved in after we were engaged. Now, our housing desires have changed and we're looking to make a go of what we really want out of life.

I watched the man who put the sign in the front yard from my second story office window. I didn't want to go down and say hello. Not sure why. But the sign in the front yard makes me feel both giddy with anticipation and crazy nervous. We're really doing this. We've spent weeks improving the house for the next owners and preparing ourselves for the move. The sign in the yard announces to the neighborhood that we're leaving. It's a big deal to them. It's a quiet suburban neighborhood with a lot of kids.

Now that all of the hard work of making sure the house is ready for sale, the even harder part of showing the house is next. We've worked out what to do with the cats when this happens but haven't figured out what to do with me (since I work at home). I suspect I will be hanging out at local coffee shops a lot.

Despite the fact that I loathe such transition times—I like having my privacy sanctuary—I am looking forward to what's next for Jeff and me. We'll be moving to Bellevue to within walking distance of his work and a whole lot of other things. It's a big deal. He and I got together because we could meet up at lunchtime and take a walk together. We both miss it. It will be near the library, the transit center and a whole lot of cool stuff. Not to mention a 10 minute walk to the beach. I'm looking forward to that.

We've hit the quiet before the storm. The real estate agents will come (by appointment only). Someone will fall in love with the house. The real estate agents will dicker with each other while inspections go on. Eventually, there will be an offer and then Jeff and I will be off on our own search, dickering, inspection and such. Then, there will be moving. LOTS of moving.

We know where we want to move to. However, Jeff mentioned last night that we should look around in neighboring places just to do some comparison shopping. I agree. But only because I know the standard by which I will compare all other high-rise condos and their amenities. We've set the bar very high. We know what we want. We know what we're willing to pay for it. We know where we are willing to live. We are one more step along that path.