Two cons back to back: the life of a writer is never dull (except for the parts where it’s ass-in-chair for twelve hours straight and you’re researching population data from 1883… never mind). I’m doing lots of panels at Detcon1–come say hi!Thursday, July 177pmThe Very First Thing: Story TitlesNicolet A Friday, July 183pmCurrent Voices: LGBT Authors & ArtistsAmbassador Salon 2 6pmGender Roles in Genre FictionAmbassador Salon 1 Saturday, July 1910amThe Classics: Written SF/F/H Mackinac West 4pmDisabilities in Genre FictionAmbassador Salon 1 […]
Readercon and all things Long Hidden!
Readercon is all about Long Hidden for me this year! Wondering where to find me, editors Rose Fox and Daniel José Older, and many of the other authors? Here are a whole bunch of places you can meet us, get books signed, ask questions and celebrate: Friday, 3pm, Embrace Room: Group ReadingRose Fox (leader), Claire Humphrey, Michael Janairo, Ken Liu, Sunny Moraine, Daniel José Older, Sarah Pinsker, Sofia Samatar, Sabrina VourvouliasCome and watch me read from “The Witch of Tarup”, which begins, “Every town has its witch, or so the Midsummer Ballad says, but I had only lived in Tarup a fortnight and I did not know who the witch might be.” Saturday, 3pm, Enliven Room: Editors Rose Fox and Daniel José Older will delve into their work editing the Long Hidden anthology. Saturday, 9pm, Envision Room: Long Hidden Party! Open to everyone, and there will be food, including vegan and gluten-free snacks. Where else you can find me: catching up with all the amazing people at this amazing con. It’s become one of the high points of my year for as many reasons as there are attendees. […]
World Fantasy: The Afterglow
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 […]
Literary Community Bulletins
First: Ideomancer, where I have been on staff for several years now, is looking for new junior fiction editors. Deadline for applications is this Wednesday. If you’ve been thinking about joining us, now is the time to apply! Next: Strange Horizons, where I have been published several times, is having their annual fund drive. If you’re wondering why you should donate, take a look through their archive for a selection of stellar, diverse, compelling fiction. And finally: I am looking forward to World Fantasy at the beginning of November! If you’re attending and want to hang out, drop me a line! […]
My People
The reading last night went off without a hitch. I got to go first, thank God Sandra actually, so there was no time to sit around getting breathless. I remembered not to rush, I think. And I had my personal cheering section in the back row to tell me that the volume was good (the venue is a bit difficult that way, as often happens with readings–industrial fans for background noise plus a mike that wasn’t very loud). I was fully prepared to pretend the audience was made up of cats, but I didn’t have to–instead it was made up of members of all my various tribes. Friends, colleagues, fellow writers, readers and editors. I forget, sometimes, that all of these people want me to succeed–and I’m so grateful to have days like this one to help me remember. Now: off to Readercon! […]
Public Appearances!
I’ll be reading next week with the winners and other finalists of the Friends of the Merril contest! It’s at Augusta House, 8pm, July 11, as part of the Chiaroscuro Reading Series. Full details are here. My first hometown reading! I may have to get drunk employ responsible coping strategies to deal with my nerves. I shall pretend the audience is made up of cats. Someone told me that at Readercon before my first reading there, and I wish I could remember who it was, because it was grand advice. Speaking of Readercon: I shall be there too! I am participating in the Ideomancer reading of Kenneth Schneyer’s hypertext story “Neural Net”. From the program: “Group Reading: Ideomancer Speculative Fiction. Mike Allen, Leah Bobet, C.S.E. Cooney, Amanda Downum, George Galuschak, Claire Humphrey, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Kenneth Schneyer, Sonya Taaffe. Authors and poets read work from Ideomancer Speculative Fiction, one of the longest-running speculative fiction webzines still publishing.” 3pm on Saturday June 14th, folks–see you there. That’s my only programmed appearance at Readercon, as I am not important enough to be a panelist yet–I will spend the rest of my time there attending other people’s panels and readings, meeting people from Outer […]
In which I will appear
Readercon: booked! And the night before I leave, it looks like I’ll be reading right here in Toronto along with the other winners and finalists of the Friends of the Merril Contest. Before either of those things will be the annual trip to BEA. I attend that show not as a writer, but as a buyer, and my business tends to keep me, well, busy. But even though I don’t usually get to meet other writers or agents or anything, it’s quite a gift to be involved in this business in so many different ways. Early summer has become the busy season for me–the season where I’ll interact with the most people over the shortest time, and take in the widest variety of new perspectives. I’ll also be doing the Wild Ride again this year. It’s a bit stressful to have a race in the middle of travel season, but then again, I always say that I think with my feet… regular workouts make travel much more comfortable and keep my brain from derailing. Fortunately for me, I also really like to write in airports. […]
Public Appearance
I’m going to Readercon. And I’m reading! Along with 6 of my fellow Viable Paradise attendees, I will be reading at 11 a.m. on Sunday the 11th. I’ve chosen an excerpt from my recently-completed novel The Russian Witch (formerly Cossack’s Witch, formerly the Not-a-Werewolf Book). While this will not be my first reading, it will be my first in many years, and my first since I started selling my work again. I am petrified, of course; especially since I am not at all used to reading to an audience of sober people. I used to read a fair bit in university, and I got laughs and cheers, but those people were all hammered. If you’re going to be in Boston next weekend, please come–sober or not; see me blush, sputter and quaver my way through a bit of my work; and know that as I do, I’ll be picturing you naked. […]