The voices in my head don't think they're imaginary

So it turns out that my July trip to NYC is going to be several days longer than I expected ... I will, in fact, be in NYC from July 15 - July 22. Sharp eyes will notice that there's a weekend in there. And even sharper eyes will notice that it's the weekend of Readercon.

Therefore, I am wondering ... should I get ahold of an Amtrak ticket a cheapass Chinatown bus ticket and head up to Massachusetts for the weekend? If I were to do so, is there someone who might have a floor I could sleep on? Is today REALLY the last day to register, or can I buy a registration at the door?

Or should I just stay in NYC and spend some time catching up on museums and shows and whatnot? That's kinda what I was planning to do, but so many people have told me that Readercon is THE MOST AWESOMEST PLACE TO BE IN THE WHOLE WORLD so I thought I'd ask.

... And my nose is back to the grindstone, showering sparks. Such is life.

Norwescon was fantastic as always. My daughter had a great time (I handed her a cell phone, a room key, a bit of cash and a map of the hotel -- it was set it and forget it) and then I got down to the business of serious wandering, chatting, and hanging out.

I saw lots of old friends (too numerous to namecheck) and met several fascinating folks. I met Michael Laine ("The Space Elevator Guy"), who is the CEO of LiftPort, a company that is working to deploy a working space elevator. Fascinating stuff. I also really digged talking with Michael Swanwick, who I've never met before. We were on a panel together, and we got to chat a bit afterward. His new book (which he's making the rounds promoting) is called "Dragons of Babel" and from the glimpse I got of it, it looks fantastic. I'll have to grab a copy.

The Broad Universe reading went well -- we had two brand new readers (including the lovely cscole who brought her own tiara to memorialize the milestone) and a reasonable number of attendees! The Talebones reading later was raucous, wild, and hilariously fun ... unfortunately I got there late and had to leave early for a panel, so I didn't get to hear all the readers.

At the Weird Tales party later I ended up in a corner all by myself -- not because I was feeling socially awkward, but because I'd picked up a copy of Weird Tales and was engrossed by catrambo's story "Events at Fort Plentitude." That's an *awesome* story. I can't say I was 100% in love with the illustration style they used to accompany it ... but the story was a wow.

Anyway, to sum up ... I had a great time, the panels were well-attended and the audience members had interesting and thoughtful questions. Looking forward to next year!

If you are going to be at Norwescon this coming weekend, I'd really like to encourage you to come to the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading at 6 p.m. We have two new readers (Jessica E. Price and C.S. Cole) who haven't read publicly before—and it would be awesome to have a big supportive audience for their first time out.

If you're not familiar with the Rapid Fire Readings, they're 1/2 hour slots in which every participant reads for 5-7 minutes—much like the Talebones reading that is scheduled in the same room after the Broad Universe reading. So if you're in the mood for fiction in fun-chunk format, come for the Broads, and stay for the Tales! (or ... uh ... something like that.)

We hope to see you there!

So now I'm really starting to think about going to WisCon. I have enough FF miles (on 2 different cards) to pay for a round trip flight. The con registration isn't that expensive, and it doesn't (yet) seem to be sold out.

Maybe if I could find someone who wanted to share a room with me ... heidi_lampietti can vouch that I'm house trained.

Watch this space for details as they develop.

Peace out.

(Your museage, or indeed mucilage, may vary ...)

Anyway, I'm thinking about some of the cons looming on the horizon. I'm already booked to go to the WorldCon in LA in August (and I am looking for pals to share my luxurious rooms at the Hilton, by the way) but I'm wondering if I should add World Fantasy into the mix. I would love to kick around Austin. Also, RedJack is going to launch the Medicine Show anthology at World Fantasy, and it would be fun to be there for that.

However, OryCon's about two weekends after that, and that's a whole heck of a lot of con-going for shy lil' ol' misanthropic me.

Ponder, ponder.

Back from Westercon. Reasonably interesting, though I'm not 100% sure the cost-benefit ratio was in my favor. I did get to meet Gordon Van Gelder, Claire Eddy, Gardner Dozois and Anna Genovese. None of them will remember me. That is, until the nanovirus that I brushed onto my fingertips before shaking their hands takes effect 72 hours from now.

Jesus I'm tired. And sunburned too. Even my damn lips are sunburned. The hotel had a nice pool and daughter and I spent much time in it. Daughter liked the whole convention scene. She thought staying in a hotel was the epitome of glamorosity, and she especially enjoyed watching the people parading around in exotic costumes. She met a young man about her age, and they bonded. Now she's talking about how they're going to get married when they're 13.

Bought a very nice corset from a very nice lady. Stalked Michio Kaku and just listened to physics geeks asking him questions. Rapture. Worth the price of admission.

Also finished much of a weird ghost story about a Chinese buffet restaurant. Hopefully I'll have it polished by the end of the week so I can send it out. My rotation's feeling rather thin these days. The good news is I have a couple places lined up to send the novel, so that ball is starting to roll.

Bed. Now.

Goodnight.

Getting ready to go to Westercon tomorrow. Trying to figure out what I should take. And trying to convince myself *not* to skip out on my kickboxing class tonight.

Nothing much to say, really. I just kinda liked the title I came up with.

So I'm going to my first SF convention in July—Westercon, up in Seattle. The only other convention I've ever been to was a Star Trek convention when I was 12. It was at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland, and my mom took me. This would be the absolute most stereotypical geek story ever, except that I was a 12 year old girl, not a 12 year old boy.

Looking over the programming schedule for Westercon, all my geek phobias are immediately aroused. I can't seriously attend a conference that has whole hours devoted to "Clay-o-Rama: Come Build Little Monsters out of Play-Dough" and "SF-Pictionary" and "Jedi Mind Tricks: Hypnosis Secrets for Mind Control" and "Draping an irregular-shaped fantasy gown" -- can I?

I have this horror of being a geek--it springs, ironically enough, from the fact that I *am*, inescapably, a complete and utter geek and have been since childhood. Some geeks embrace their geekiness and grow up and go to Cons and make Stormtrooper costumes. Other geeks (like me) do everything they can to deny their geekiness. They end up buying the wrong sunglasses, wearing expensive pants that are still too short, and getting excited over devil earrings. It's pathetic, really it is.

Maybe I'm just going to embrace my inner geek. Maybe I'm going because I think it's a writing career thing. However, I must say that lately, I've really been wondering if SF-F is the genre for me. I think, overall, I'd be happier writing westerns. I wonder what their conventions are like?

Yee hah!