Radcon was fantastic. My panel went well and talked to a lot of people that I had previously been known to uncomfortably smile and nod at. I'm finally starting to get used to the con atmosphere, I think, and I feel a lot more comfortable than I did for the first handful.

The Small Press Room was a hit and the party was huge fun. More on this over at tbclone47's journal, including pictures, can be found here and here. There are also a ton of pictures featured over at Red Rocket Station.


But wait, there's more!

TONIGHT, for all of you in the Seattle area, Ken Scholes will be in the U-district, reading and signing for his new book, Lamentation, so head down to the University bookstore if you can. More on that from kenscholes here.

Just got my Radcon schedule:

Sat Feb 14 3-4pm
Sage- Self Editing
Bluejack Jackson, Stacey Janssen, Maureen McQuerry, Danielle Parker, Vicki Mitchel

Sat Feb 14 5-6pm
Cobalt- E-Books
Jim Fiscus, Sheri Gormley, Jeff Ayers, Stacey Janssen, Bobbie Hull

Sun Feb 15 1-2pm
Ruby- Because I Can
There are many motivations for villany. Sometimes simple is best. Are we tired of the misunderstood villan and just ready for evil?
Alma Alexander, Patricia Briggs, Steven York, Stacey Janssen, Lori White


This will be my first time on a panel, so I'm a little concerned. Blunt's on the first one with me, though, so I'll be with at least one person that I know. Should be a good time. I've been looking forward to Radcon and the small press room. Last year was pretty much fantastic. I expect more of the same.

I think something was floating around Orycon, because it seems that many people who attended either are sick or were sick shortly afterward, including Geb and me. Stupid Geb is already feeling better, though. Jerk.

Happy Thanksgiving and such. Had a pretty great day with the future in-laws.

Also, this is amazing:

Got a contract for a story last week and then this past weekend was Orycon. It was definitely a successful weekend for me, as I'm starting to fall into the rhythm of cons in general and actually start talking to people. This is a big plus considering that it's most of the point of going.

Also, Marti won two ribbons in the art show with her robots, which were bloody amazing. I almost bought one, except that some tricksy guy in the dealer's room offered to give me a discount on a handful of Whedon-written graphic novels after I made the joke that I was going to buy them all. Moral of the story: Never joke about money in the dealer's room.

So, being only too aware that I'm ridiculously behind on my SF movies, I have made use of my free Netflix trial these past two weeks. Besides wondering how I ever lived without Netflix before, I have successfully caught up on 12 movies, ranging from classic and/or serious to... well, to Mars Attacks. Including that one, I have watched these for the first time in the last two weeks:

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Journey to the Center of the Earth (original)
Superman
Superman 2
Soylent Green
Escape from New York
Metropolis
Blade Runner
Forbidden Planet
The Day the Earth Stood Still
2001: A Space Odyssey


I have a shameful amount left to go, but I think I'm catching up at a decent pace. I won't get to any this weekend, though, since I'll be in Portland, tastefully whoring IROSF around Orycon. I think my last convention was in March, so I'm really looking forward to it.

As a final note, you may or may not have heard by now, but Aeon is suspending publication. Sad.

I just realized that I haven't been to a con since Norwescon. It's a very strange feeling despite the fact that my first was last year's OryCon. That'll be coming up again in about a month, though. Gotta say that I'm looking forward to it.

If it's anything like last year, we should be easy to find. Just take a once-through of the bar.

So, it's occurred to me that if I'm going to start a semi-professional blog, it might be prudent of me to... say... update it once in a while.

Norwescon (about a month ago) was a pretty good experience. I did manage to meet with the creative director of Weird Tales, which was a big highlight for me. The fun part was that as I was talking with Patrick, the editor of Talebones, I was expressing how I needed to meet this person if only I could find someone who knew him... Patrick promptly turned and pulled the man from a conversation, announcing to me that he, in fact, knew him well. Fantastic.


In the meantime, the 50th Anniversary Issue of Fragments has officially gone to print and now we're just trying to schedule the big opening gala, where the magazine goes on sale and we party with all the food our sad, dried out, leftover budget will allow. So... cookies. Maybe some punch.

Nonetheless, it should be big fun if we can ever get it scheduled.

I have discovered that Weird Tales will be at Norwescon celebrating their 85th anniversary.

You may need to know me to understand how exciting this is.

Weird Tales is like my Holy Grail. All the best authors got started in Weird Tales. When I finally get accepted into Weird Tales, I am going to throw an I-Got-Into-Weird-Tales party. I am so not joking.

They are going to be at Norwescon. Aeon will also be at Norwescon. I may only get to be there for a day or so, but I am going to make it my personal mission to locate some person who is in some way associated with Weird Tales, introduce myself, and get my business card into their hand.

This will possibly be the most exciting thing ever.

Radcon was a pretty good time. The small press party was highly entertaining, as were the others that we ended up visiting. Spoke to a few other editors of small press, developed a bit of a rapport, I scored a few free copies of a small press magazine that I was looking at.

Essentially, a good time was had by all.


Also, this past weekend was Fragments selection weekend for me. There weren't as many really good pieces as I was hoping for. Last year there were a ton. We did manage to pick a contest winner, though, so all in all I mark it as a win. I am definitely looking forward to getting the 50th Anniversary Issue printed up. I suspect it will be a large pile of unadulterated awesome.