News from Marcon

I returned this evening from Marcon, a popular sci fi/fantasy convention in Columbus, Ohio. Even though I live in town, we got a hotel room for a couple of reasons. First, this was my first year participating as a panelist, and I didn't want to have to worry about driving back forth; second, I decided to host a room party this year to honor the achievements of everyone in the Ohio Writers Network, in addition to my friend Chuck Ebert who also published a story this year.

The party, while moderately successful, was more effort than I expected. Between that, the panels, my reading, and an interview with NRR Radio, I felt like I had very little time to myself this weekend. I can't even imagine how I would have handled it if I hadn't had a room to retreat back to! I did learn several valuable lessons:

--If your party coincides with a much-more-popular party, you will get "party blocked"; a glut of inebriated geeks will clog the hallway, blocking passage to your room;

--Marcon staff members are possibly the most helpful, considerate and nurturing folks on the planet (along with the other members of Ohio Writers Network, of course); and

If you have short hair, black plastic-rimmed glasses and wear a suit with tennis shoes, sci fi geeks WILL think you are dressed as the Doctor, even if that is not your intent.

My favorite panel was Writing and the Rest of Life, which I got to share with Charlie Finlay, another Columbus author who I greatly admire. Plus, I got a chance to share my work with a geek crowd. Thankfully, I have tomorrow off from my day job, so I have a chance to decon-press.

Take care.

Beyond Centauri now available

Last week I received my contributor's copy of Issue 23 of Beyond Centauri. Click the link if you'd like to purchase a copy. Also, if you're of the writing bent, be sure to check out Expressions Newsletter, also by Samsdot Publishing.

Doing Nanowrimo, albeit sluggishly

I entered Nanowrimo on November 9th at the urging of a fellow friend and writer. My word count is abysmal, and the choice is insane, since I've just started a new job that requires a huge time commitment. But I shall soldier on until the end.

Exciting new ideas

I came up with an entirely new direction for the middle portion of my novel, and it also gives my antagonist something more interesting to do. Actually, it's based on a concept I've been wanting to work into a story for some time, but couldn't find the appropriate venue for it. Well, now I have it. My current draft will require a fair amount of rewriting; the change will, in fact, affect the whole tone and direction of the book. But it will make it far stronger as well. Now I've got that rush of excitement that comes with a new idea. So much to do!

Slogging away

As the summer chugs along in its lazy way, so does my writing. After a couple of unplanned mini-writing vacations, I've launched myself back into Slideways Jalousie full steam. I keyed in the first words of Chapter Ten this evening, and they're good ones. This is the first project I've worked on where I felt just as excited at Chapter Ten as I did starting Chapter One. I'm taking that as a good sign.

Milestone

I passed the 10,000 word mark on my current draft of "The Slideways Jalousie" this evening. I'm also revising my short story "Think of the Children"; thanks to Karen, Laura and Rachel for taking the time to critique it.

Plugging away

I'm almost finished with Chapter three of the second draft of my current novel, tentatively titled "The Slideways Jalousie". Actually, I only wrote about 20,000 words of the first draft before I decided the story needed major revisions and started over at the beginning, keeping some portions intact. So maybe draft 1.5 would be more accurate. Also, I'm pulling out an older story I wrote and working on a second draft of that. That one's titled "Think of the Children". Back to work.