Which, of course, is the whole point of the weekend. I was able to approach Jim Minz and remind him of a favorable rejection he gave me on a previous novel and he invited me to submit my new novel to Baen, which I will do post-haste. Wish me luck, everyone!
Susan
P.S. My reading from “The Director’s Cut” from Tesseracts Fourteen at the Edge Launch went very well; we also had readings from Jemma, Rigor Amortis and Evolve. And, there was chocolate!
Of course, my plane left half an hour late from Calgary, so the hour and a half I was supposed to have to transfer planes in Toronto became only an hour, so I was running madly to get my bag, get through customs (interrupted by multiple airline agents saying, “sorry, this customer has to bump you because he has a connection”) and run several really long corridors to get to the right gate. A lady was standing there saying, “Are you on this flight?” and I called out “Yes!” and she said “Get on!” So I slip into my seat — the last empty one on the plane — as the stewardess is going over the drill, and wondering . . . will my suitcase make it?
Then, looking out the window, I see a guy driving a little electric cart over — with my red suitcase on it. But I think, “the propellors are going — how can he load it on the plane?” And then I see him trot around the wing, my suitcase on his shoulder, and hear a clunk at the back of the plane. So yes, I got here, and so did my luggage!
Met up with old friends and met new ones. Panels are interesting, parties are good. Will read a little from Tess 14 on Saturday at Edge’s launch, AND I get to wear my Aurora pin on my badge. Post more soon!
The past week has been excellent! Let me see if I can remember ALL the fantastic things that happened! First off, the writers’ workshop with David B. Coe as our guest author was amazing! I was very fortunate to be his host and billet during the workshop, and so as we drove back and forth to various workshop and social events, I was able to have some very enlightening and stimulating discussions about writing and the business with him. The workshop itself was very informative, as we discussed a number of topics as well as doing our critiques. And, I got some good ideas for further working and marketing my short story.On his Facebook page, David wrote: “Great workshop. I had a wonderful time, and was blown away by the level of work I read and the level of professionalism I encountered. Thanks!”
The workshop was followed by ConVersion, which, for all its shortcomings (such as having no idea when or where any of the panels were occurring — including absolutely no mention of the big musical production I was involved in — communication was an issue) was very profitable on a number of fronts. The Monster Mash, our musical, was a big hit in spite of its time being switched multitple times right up to the day of performance (we were lucky all the actors got there on time). I got to sing a song and I played the villain, which is always fun.
The literary programming was run by IFWA, and as such, was very successful. Panels had interesting presenters, were well attended, and took the various topics to new places for most people. I was able to do a panel, judge the Robin Herrington Short Story Contest and do three separate readings, which all went well (and I got some nice compliments!). I attended a number of entertaining functions tool, such as having the opportunity to hear wonderful stories at Bedtime Stories with IFWA, Writers’ Idol and launches for Rigor Amortis and Edge Press’s Tesseracts 14, as well as improvisation by the hilarious 404s.
One really special highlight was my opportunity to receive my Aurora Pin as a finalist for my short story, “Back” in Analog. It is a gorgeous pin, and part of a limited edition just for winners and finalists. Very special!
And naturally, I also had opportunities to buy books (and get autographs!), t-shirts and art, network with authors, editors and publishers, and make connections for future writing opportunities. Very exciting! And on top of ALL THAT, I got to spend big chunks of my weekend with my two daughters, who also took in parts of the convention (one performed in the play with me and the other attended panels with me!). AND both my daughters received publishing credits for artwork they did for the 2010 In Places Between chapbook!
My husband took care of the home front (he is to die for!) and we even got to spend a fun afternoon together today getting out of the city on his motorcycle. AND, my oldest daughter was able to skype me from England to say her interview for her application for her doctorate program went well!
All in all, I feel like about the luckiest person on the planet, right now.
Can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday evening — too dragged out from the week to write, but didn’t want to veg. Erika, Dave, Randy, Val, Kim and I were there as part of a packed house, and it was great fun. Thanks to Pages On Kensington for running stuff like this for authors — we are very lucky to have them (I bought a book, not only to support the authors, but to support Pages as well). The writers only read a little, but told stories about how the work came to be (which was relaxed and hilarious), and then a bunch of us went for drinks and late dinner after — it’s wonderful to network with other authors. Look on my blog roll for a link to Eileen’s website.
Susan
Should have posted this at the time, but thanks to Brian Hades, who took this photo of me with two Aurora Awards! Randy McCharles is the first person in history to have won in both a professional and fan category: Best Work, Short Form, and Fan Organizational. I was pleased and proud to be asked to accept the awards on his behalf.
