A Quick Gulp of Air

Whew! Well, to say this year has been busy is an understatement! Fortunately, all the free time I can wrangle has been going towards my writing time instead of blogging, but I’ve got a free minute, so I’ll give you a quick update.

First, it’s always great to know that there are people out there who appreciate what I’ve written. Ours is a quiet sort of entertainment, where we create a world that exists in between ourselves and our readers, a bridge of sorts. And through the magic of the internets, we get the opportunity to cross over the bridge and see how our words have effected others, such as in this glowing example of a reader, well, listener in this case, responding to Our Drunken Tjeng. This happens to be the story I’m most proud to have written too, so I like his taste in stories.

Secondly, another ArmadilloCon has come and gone. Honestly, I was still a little wiped out from last year’s con, so I limited my participation to being an instructor in the writer’s workshop and doing a joint reading. The workshop was fun. Meek little me sat in the back row, cracking hushed jokes and hoping not to get called on. Hello, high school all over again! Kidding. Well, sort of. I did set a goal to say at least two things during the panel, and ended up saying three–how intelligible my comments were, well, that’s debatable, but I spoke up and that’s what matters.

I was more at ease when we broke out into smaller groups and had some great critique sessions. I was really impressed by the quality of the manuscripts there, and also in the quality of critiques that the other students gave. There was one manuscript I really wanted to pick up for Drabblecast, but alas, it was too long for us (and maybe too good for us, but hey, that’s what reprint markets are for!)

I also had a great time at our reading for Daily Science Fiction Year One anthology. I read along with K. G. Jewel, Cat Rambo, and a couple others. Nice to be in the company of such delightfully twisted minds. I have three stories in the collection, but opted to read Wrath of the Porcelain Gods because what Sunday afternoon con panel doesn’t need a little interstellar potty humor to help the mood?

Anyway, wish I had time to post a picture or two, but hopefully words will do for now!