First of all, my apologies. I promised to post a “what’s new” type post on the first of every month; problem is, I’ve been down so sick for the past three weeks that several priorities have rearranged themselves in my head, with “sleep” at the top of the new list. But that’s not an excuse. It is an apology. So, moving right along….
Last month
I did some really cool stuff, like attending MarsCon 2011 and sitting on panels with author Jim Butcher, Baen editor Laura Haywood-Cory, and author Allen Wold; not to mention chatting with awesome folks like Danny Birt, Chuck Gannon, Lord Montague, and Lord Ramirez. (If you don’t know who those last few people are, you really need to come to MarsCon 2012 and meet them; they’re regulars and they’re all terrifically interesting.) After MarsCon…well, I was ill. I actually had to cancel a book signing at the College of William and Mary Bookstore, which upset me no end; I did manage to drag myself out to Virginia Beach the following weekend for a presentation on writing a novel, hosted by Cozy Corner Books, a recent arrival on the Virginia Beach bookstore scene (editing note: Cozy Corner is now out of business). That wiped me out for three days, during which I slept for twelve to fifteen hours and wrote while in bed as often as I could make myself function. Illness is terrible for business appearances but great for writing…the novel I’m working on is now over 110K words and I’ve blown through about three significant “stuck” points in the past week.
This month
Looking forward, I’d better start taking that Emergen-C, because as soon as I can get on my feet I’ll be running full tilt again. This weekend I’m scheduled to start teaching a writing class at Cozy Corner Books. Next Saturday afternoon is the rescheduled book signing at the College of William and Mary Bookstore, from 2-6 pm (latest I’ve ever done a book signing; I hope lots of people come out to say hello! I’d love to chat with friends I haven’t seen for a while). The weekend after that, I’ll be driving up to New Jersey with a carful of supportive minions to run my first vendor table at the Wicked Winter Renaissance Faire, under the Mercury Retrograde Press banner. Which means I’ll be selling books for all the Mercury Retrograde Press authors, not just mine; which I’m doing because I honestly think they’re all terrific. And no, I don’t get a kickback for saying that…
The following month, March, starts out with me heading out to play at SheVA Con; they’re the first con to ever contact me with an unsolicited invitation, which still tickles me no end. I’m looking forward to seeing what this convention is like; I’ve heard a lot about it!
After SheVA, I’m headdownfullspeed into preparations for not one, but THREE book launches in a row–the Official Launch Party is at Coco Chocolatier of Newtown (editing note: Coco Chocolatier is now out of business–this is becoming a pattern…) in Williamsburg on April 2, but the good folks at RavenCon have offered me a spot to hold a mini book launch on the following weekend. And then Cozy Corner wanted in on the action, so I’m running a Virginia Beach book launch there on the third weekend of April. Naturally they all require different flyers. Naturally they all require different advertising. And naturally I’ll be losing my mind and having a blast doing it….
And finally, to close April out, I will be celebrating ten unbelievably weird and complicated and wonderful years of being married. This is quite possibly the most exciting thing coming up on my calendar, and the most incredible. Ten years is a huge milestone for both of us! We’re very proud of ourselves and of each other; we’ve helped each other grow and mature, loosened up and learned to laugh, become more disciplined and organized, all at the same time. And we couldn’t have done it without the support of a boatload of fantastic, loyal, creative, innovative, and flat out peculiar friends and family members–so to all of you out there who fit that description, thank you.
Oh, I almost forgot–I have a guest blog post over on Jhada Addams’s blog coming up at some point soon, and Steven Savage, author of the Fan To Pro blog, Seventh Sanctum, and two books, has signed on as a regular blogger. His posts will be appearing on the 5th and the 20th of every month, so be sure to stop by and check those out! Better yet, subscribe to this blog through Facebook or email, and never miss a post.
