I started this con with several rejection letters, a headache and a cold sense of failure–and I ended it in a state of exaltation and elation. Once again, spending time with about a thousand brilliant and fascinating people, talking about the thing that matters most to all of us, has had the desired effect–and so this post is a long, and highly incomplete, thank you note. Thank you to the friends I saw as soon as I walked in the door–Jennifer Brinn, Scott Andrews and Mike DeLuca–who swept me up and into a bar conversation that continued for the whole weekend, and ended spectactularly with Jennifer handing me the solution to my problem novel. Thank you to Elwin Cotman, who agreed with me about the superiority of metaphor in fantasy and also ran a fucking fantastic panel. Thank you to Gemma Files, who was awesome in Elwin’s panel and later showed me the most beautiful fan art–someone had given her careful and lovely ink drawings of all of the major characters in her Hexslinger series. Thank you to Stephen Geigen-Miller, who put up with my caffeinated ramblings for ages, and said wise and hilarious and kind things in return. Thank […]
World Fantasy
I’m not doing anything official at this con–I plan to attend panels, hang out with friends old and new, and basically go where my whimsy takes me. That said, there are a couple of things I will absolutely not miss, so if you’re looking to meet up with me, here’s where I will be: Friday, 11 a.m.: York B&C Room, panel on Defining Urban Fantasy. This panel features Tim Powers, among others. And maybe it will help me define what the hell I write. Friday, 1 p.m.: Vaughan Room, panel on Gothic Fantasy Noir. Saturday, 11 a.m.: York B&C Room, panel on The Road to Urban Fantasy. (Are you sensing a theme yet?) Saturday Night: CZP Fall Launch Party. I’ve had a couple of months of feeling off my game where writing is concerned: I’ve sent out some stuff that probably wasn’t up to my usual standard, and therefore banked a high number of rejections; I haven’t managed to put in my desired word counts; and I have a backlog of stuff that needs to be re-drafted before it goes out. I am reminded that this work is not easy work, and that I’m trying to do it on top […]