Thought Patterns

Still. And loving every second of it.

Let's see. Getting to Phoenix wasn't that bad. I had two great flights with an talkative man in the seat next to me. That makes time fly by. However, while outside waiting for the Super Shuttle, I got something in my eye which then led to a lot of problems. Luckily, one of the other volunteers is also an EMT and worked with me to get it fixed. We tried 3 different eye drops until we got the right one. After a night of not blinking and rubbing it, it was much better. Patty was afraid I'd cut it and we'd need to go get it taken care of. It got all gummy that day but the eye drops worked wonders.

This con was so relaxed and calming. The hotel was HUGE in terms of horizontal space but was only 5 stories tall at the highest. I made it to a lot of workshops but I also skipped a lot and hung out with people instead. I got to meet a lot of new folk and get reacquainted with a bunch more.

I went to almost all of the Coffee Chat things. They were excellent!

Saturday morning they auctioned off some cutie pie authors (which means I was NOT one of them). Nell Stark, Georgia Beers, Karin Kallmaker, Lynn Ames, KG McGregor. I think that was all of them. The auction was for the first dance after the awards ceremony. Nell went first and went for "only" $110 but her willingness to act up set the tone for the rest. I can't remember all the amounts, but Lynn Ames went for $300 and Karin Kallmaker went for $600!

Now, here's where I get all soft and mushy. The night before, a bunch of us went out to dinner and CL said she was going to bid on Lynn Ames. But Lynn said CL would have to get permission first (wimp). CL got out the cell phone and after some texting back and forth, she got her permission. Then Saturday morning, I see the CL is bidding on Lynn but as the price goes up, people keep handing her money so she can be the top bid. Finally, CL wins and I lean over (I'm across the room) and grin at her. She then says "Happy Birthday".

Yes, Saturday was my birthday. And yes, friends paid $300 for me to dance with Lynn Ames. I about had a heart attack. One, to think that people like me enough to spend that much money as a group. And two, a dance with LYNN AMES. She and I later discussed it and we decided she'd ride on my lap in the chair. Lynn is a sweetheart and was thrilled to be gifted to me for one dance. It was fun. It was embarrassing. And I'd do it again.

Then at the awards, I was getting nervous. CL made me write up a speech so that I'd not make a fool of myself if I actually won. So I did and stuffed it in my shirt pocket. Regal Crest racked up the awards! Six of 'em, not including the Director's Award to Nann Dunn. K E Lane won three awards for her book, And Playing the Role of Herself (Romance category, Debut Author, and Popular Choice). Jane Vollbrecht (my editor for BGCFA) won an award for In Broad Daylight in the Dramatic General Fiction category. Brenda Adcock won in the Mystery category for her Redress of Grievances. And then there was mine in the Debut Author category.

In each category, three people announced the finalists (split between them) then each one announced one winner each. In the Debut Author category, that was Katherine V Forrest, Karin Kallmaker, and….crap, someone else. You know, I haven't a clue who won the third Debut Author award nor who announced it! Isn't that awful?! Shit.

Anyway, Katherine V Forrest goes first and announces K E Lane. Katherine is K E's idol so that was just wonderful for her. Karin Kallmaker announced the second one. She steps up, puts the award on the podium, and opens the envelope. Then she picks the award back up, kisses it, and announces the winner. When she picked it up, I knew it was me.

The rest is a blur. They tell me I raced up the ramp so fast they thought I was going to go airborne. I am soooo glad CL made me write it down, else I'd not known what to say. Later I'll put my words here to share with everyone.

Thought I'd share the highlights. More on the various individual workshops tomorrow.

And having a blast!

I've been busy, too. I have volunteered to help with several things ranging from stuffing the registration packets to folding programs for Saturday's events to working the registration table to…. well, several things. I've also signed several books, much to my embarrassment. And, of course, I've been to several workshops which were interesting, but not as interesting as I'd hoped they would be. Could be I was not in the right frame of mind, ya know?

I had lunch with THE Lee Lynch and her Sweetie. And THE Katherine Forrest joined us, which was cool. After Katherine left (she had to prepare for her workshop), Lee and Sweetie presented me with gifts. A copy of The Swashbuckler and The Old Studebaker. Both signed, of course. And then a Waterman pen. Lee felt that every author should have a Waterman pen. I felt honored. I still feel honored.

Later, I attended the Coffee Chat with THE Lee Lynch and Jess Wells. I'd never heard of her, but that's not a rare thing. We've been out the lesfic loop for too long. But that's another story. Jess Wells seems like a cool person and I will be getting her book, Mandrake Broom, soon. I had already reached my spending quota for books.

At any rate, I'll do linkages later. It is after 10pm here, 1am at home, and my brain and body has begun to slow down for the day.

More later!

Yes, I am writing again. I average just a few hundred words a day but at least I am writing. You can see the progress in the sidebar. I upload the manuscript every other day or so and Lorna downloads it and reads it. (I can't get the two laptops to network together and I can't find my ever elusive memory key) So far, she likes it and has only a few comments. She had to suspend all her thoughts of the previous version(s) before I would let her read it.

I am working on my part of the workshop I am participating in. I am the moderator as well as panel member (sort of). I glanced at the calendar and realized how close everything is. I have to call the Phoenix wheelchair place (and hope they hold the chair and charger without a deposit until I get there) and call the shuttle that has a wheelchair van and arrange for transportation to and from the hotel. Ack! I have dinner plans now for Friday with the Thudders (long story and, after I told you, I'd have to kill you). Thursday evening is still open so that may be when I explore. Sunday after everything is over, I will be putting notes and stuff together and basically recuperating until I leave Monday morning.

Oh! Flight info. Got the ticket set. Here's the wonky thing. We are going to drive over to Johnson City TN where I will take a puddle jumper to Charlotte and get on a big plane for Phoenix. I take flight 2570 out of Tri-City Airport and flight 1505 out of Charlotte. Then I take flight 1546 from Phoenix to Charlotte and flight 2559 from there back to Tri-City Airport.

Here's where it gets weird. If I drove to Charlotte and got on flight 1505, the ticket would have cost me $452. BUT, the same flight but first coming from Johnson City, is $249. SAME FLIGHT! It is just $46 more for my entire round trip ticket. SAME FLIGHT!!

The airlines are crazy. For one, they shouldn't do the nickle and dime thing. USAirways charges $7 for in-flight meals (when available) and, starting 8/1, non-alcoholic drinks will be $2. First check through bag will be $15 and $25 for additional ones. This will drive people away. What they should have done is just raise the price of tickets by that much. People will still fly. They'll fork over the money for the ticket. But they won't eat and they will bring just one bag. So the airline won't get those nickels. Flying is still cheaper than driving, given the ghastly price of gasoline lately.

I'm going to ship several things to Phoenix rather than lug them through the airports. The chair's charger I hope to be able to rent while there. I can't ship my CPAP and laptop but I can ship meds and some other things. So I'll have the rolling duffel to check-through, then carry on will be my CPAP (which doesn't count toward my onboard bag limit of 1) and my laptop bag (note to self: find laptop bag). On my personage will be money and ID. I may recycle a previous convention's badge holder to hold ID. Sigh. It is time to get the details taken care of, ain't it?

The GLBT Fantasy Fiction Resource has reviews, news, and interviews with GLBT writers of science fiction and fantasy as well as SF/F that have GLBT main characters.

The Lesbian Science Fiction website today. The site is geared toward science fiction only, not fantasy. They do reviews and information about this genre.

From there I visited the WisCon website. WisCon is "The World's Leading Feminist Science Fiction Convention" and is held in Madison, Wisconsin. It has been an annual even since 1977!

York Lesbian Arts Festival is held each year in York, England. This year's event happens this coming weekend. I have promised myself that when I publish my 3rd book, I will go there.

The Golden Crown Literary Society's annual Literary Conference will be held in Phoenix, Arizona at the Sheraton Wild Horse Resort July 31st - August 3rd.

Wow. What a conference!

I got to schmooze more this time and was more recognized so that helped. I signed about ten books and about five more at the bookstore (to go back on the shelf). That was an ego booster!

Everyone asked when my next book was coming out. Everyone. I considered each one a kick in the muse to get back into writing mode.

I was on two panels and both were a blast. Not only was I on a panel with THE Lee Lynch, but I sat next to her! And she is a sweetheart. Totally embarrassed by my playful fan-girl moments but laughed with me each time. The complete joy, the thing that made my trip worth it, was when she recognized MY name and went all nuts about my book. THE Lee Lynch loved it! Lee (and yes, I can call her Lee now) is human, sweet, cuter than cute, and far more energetic that I am. Oh, and she can dance way better than I ever could.

I feel that after the second book, if it is as good as everyone thinks the first one is, that I will have a well established fan base. And if the third is as good, there's no thinking to it. Lesbian readers are faithful and voracious readers. They give a new author two chances to impress them and if the third impresses as well…boom.

I've got some stuff to do today then when get to writing. My publisher agreed to take a look at Simple Sarah while I work on another Butch Girl book. I've got two friends (one a tough librarian) who have agreed to beta read anything I want to send them. I am going to run through Simple Sarah once then get their opinion. They've promised to tear it apart and not just say "I like it".

I'll give a longer report on the workshops later, promise.

Of course, when I get there, stuff will most likely have changed. It usually does with all the other cons I've attended. (link to the schedule)

Thursday

8am - check-in

9:00 - Creative Solutions workshop

11:15 - lunch

12:45 - Panel: First Time Authors/Famous At Last! Now What?

2:00 - break

2:30 - Author signing table

3:00 - Either Hey That's Funny! OR Feel the Heat

4:15 - break

4:30 - Stealing the Past: Historical Novels and Stories panel

5:30 - Break

7:00 - Opening Ceremony

8:00 - Meet 'n' Greet

Friday

9:00 - Plot and Plotting workshop

11:15 - 12:45 Lunch by GCLS

12:45 - Panel: Stretching the Rainbow: Do All of My Characters Have to Look Like Me?

2:00 - Author signing table

2:30 - Break

3:00 - World-Building, Utopias, Setting, and Fabulous Places panel

4:15 - Break

4:30 - Promoting Lesbian Books & Authors, and Moving GCLS Into The Future

8ish - Charis for book signing

Saturday

9:00 - Creating Dynamic Story People Workshop – Part I

11:15 - lunch

12:45 - Creating Dynamic Story People Workshop – Part II

2:00 - Author signing table

2:30 - Break

3:00 - Secrets of Successful Author Promotion panel

4:15 - break

4:30 - Autograph session in main ballroom

5:30 - break

7:00 - Pre-awards dessert

8:00 - "Goldie Awards" and dance

Sunday

8:00 - breakfast provided by GCLS

9:30 - Keynote

10:45 - Author Round-A-Bout

1:00 - break

2:00 - GLCS meeting

4:00 - Closing ceremony

italics - name of workshop/panel
underlined - panels or other activities in which I am directly involved

I've said numerous times, here and elsewhere, that the world revolves around priorities. What is more important than something else at any given moment.

Life and Limits

Friend of mine is dying. Well, technically we all are, but Lew really is. The time line from the doc is "many months to a couple of years". Narrows it down. It is frustrating that he and Elena are so many hours away. Right at the edge of the "easy day drive" limit, you know?

Lew and Elena's priorities are way different than mine. Yours are different from the person next to you. Etc etc. It is what makes the world go 'round, that difference, that constant changing.

Life and Leisure

I have critters around me, some furred, some finned, some…shelled? I have three goldfish and a bunch of snails. I have Malaysian Trumpet snails (Thiaridae Melanoides tuberculatus), Red Ramshorns (Planorbidae), and "Mystery"/Apple snails (Pomacea pomacea bridgesii and Viviparus malleatus). One of the mystery snails, Crash, has laid two clutches (egg groups). Bridgesii lay their eggs above the water line so they are easy to find, observe, and/or remove. Her first clutch should be hatching soon. The other has a while to go yet.

I have so much fun watching the snails and the fish. Their priorities are much different than mine. Theirs are simple: eat, sleep, have sex, explore, then forget what we just did so that we can do it again as if for the first time.

Leisure and Limits

My body won't do what I want it to. I want to do some things and it says "Ha." Actually, it uses more complicated verbiage than that but I can't repeat it here. Yeah, the colorful metaphors are quite rough. Lew's body is tired from the chemo and the other stuff it has had to go through. Elena's body is arguing with her, too, although I'm sure its language is a little cleaner than mine. She's more sophisticated than me so I would assume her body is too.

We are getting ready to go to Atlanta for the GCLS conference. We are also planning how to not spend the money we don't have. Meals are going to be the biggest outflow of cash. Lorna wants to take milk and cereal. Eh, I guess.

Linkage:

Elena's Blog about Lew's cancer
Elena's "About"

My aquatic website
Aquatic Photo Gallery
All about apple snails

Golden Crown Literary Society
GCLS Con - Schedule