Date: Wednesday, March 10

Where: Hastings Round Rock

Time: 6 pm

I will also be speaking with the paranormal romance readers group later that evening. Please stop by and say hi!

I would like to thank the students of Melony Kempf’s classes for being so engaged and interested in my talk this morning at Pflugerville Middle School. I had fun and hope you all did too.

I talked about how I started writing when I was a little kid and wrote lots when I was in middle school and high school. I brought one of my typewritten short stories from when I was 15 years old, and told the kids they probably had never seen anything typewritten before. I also brought a selection of magazines with my short stories and of course copies of Red Gold Bridge and Gordath Wood.

I gave my writing “rules:” write every day. Commit, don’t give up. Keep everything. Get to the end. You have a writing brain and an editing brain. Don’t try to edit as you go, because you will only hurt your feelings.

I told them that all the entertainment that they enjoy — video games, books, and music — all start with the written word.

We talked about rejections, and they were suitably impressed by the 45-50 rejections I got for Gordath Wood.

And we talked about favorite books. They like Twilight, the Hunger Games, a new book called Unwind, which sounds absolutely fascinating and I must pick it up, so thanks to the kids who recommended it, and Uglies. One young lady is a fan of John Grisham. There were also the Alex Rider series, James Patterson, and Lightning Thief.

People say kids don’t read. Pshaw.

Thanks again, everyone, and read on!

Attention, fantasy and paranormal romance fans in the Austin area: I will be at the Hastings in Round Rock on March 10, signing books and visiting with the paranormal romance readers at their meeting later that evening.

When: Wednesday,  March 10

Where: Hastings Round Rock (2200 South IH-35)

Time: 6 pm

I am looking forward to meeting local readers and paranormal fans. If you have any questions you’d like to have answered, email on the blog or save them up for the meeting.

Early this morning I had to make a decision regarding traveling to Dallas. After checking weather sites, news, and TXDot, I decided not to go to ConDFW. Although it turned out that today’s road conditions were safe, the worry during the 3+ hour drive north was just not worth it to me. So I was not able to go.

I hope everyone who does go has a great time.

Quote of the Con:

“I have a problem with fantasy that ignores reality.” — Jayme Blaschke.

The most important thing to know about AggieCon is that I did not win the sword raffle. Man, can you imagine how cool that would have been? That was neat sword. A katana. We already know that it wouldn’t work on zombies, but hey, a girl can dream.

I was very pleased to see a high number of attendees, mostly A&M students, since it is their con, and there were plenty of people gaming in the hallways, dressed as their favorite character from game, history, or novel, and otherwise having a great time. All of the panels were fairly well attended, except for the politics panel, which was like the very first one of the con, and I could have told you that.

Otherwise my two other panels, on feminism and on religion were lively and interesting. Ellen Datlow and I had a difference of opinion about feminism, but she brought up a good point, to wit: literature with an agenda is rarely as interesting as just plain good storytelling.

Religion always brings out audience participation and we had a ton in that session. Panelists and audience alike brought their A game for a well-traveled (well-raveled?) discussion.

Got extensively caught up on the difference between Halo marines and Doom marines. But I forgot every bit of it. Sorry, guy in the well-made costume!

Martha Wells read from her novel about shapeshifters that an editor needs to buy very soon now, please? Because I can’t keep following her around from con to cons to hear the rest.

Hung out with various and sundry and read from Gordath Wood (The bit where Kate and Colar steal the jeep) and talked to other horse people and in general enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Next up — ConDFW.

Friday, 4 pm. The Laboratory.

“Harvey Dent for President” – How do science fiction and fantasy media comment on current political situation? Panelists discuss how these genres can be used as a powerful medium to talk about cultural issues. [Rosen, Gould, Sarath*,  Blaschke]

Uh oh. I think I’ll need to do some homework. Although I will definitely bring up “Macs.”

Saturday, 5 pm. The Laboratory

All the Sci Fi Ladies” – Our panelists discuss strong women characters and women writers in science fiction and fantasy literature. How were women portrayed in the past? Has that changed any with modern literature? [Fletcher, Sarath*, Rosen, Datlow, Bowers, Montz, Wells, Mixon]

Funny, I’m moderating something very similar in London at Eastercon.

“By the Gods!” – Religions: mythological, fictional and historical. Do your characters need to believe in a higher power? What other belief systems have writers come up with or how have they done without. [L. Donahue*, Bas, White, Sarath, Leicht, Wells]

This should be fun and it dovetails nicely with the new work in progress.

I’m looking forward to my very first AggieCon.

This is where I’ll be so far this year. I will update my schedules as soon as I get the final programming info. I usually have a reading and book signing as well as panels, and I love to talk to people who have read Gordath Wood or Red Gold Bridge or my short stories, so please come by if you are at the con and say hi. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone.

And hey, if you can meet me in London, even better!

• AggieCon, February 5-7, 2010: College Station, Texas.

Schedule: TBD

• ConDFW: February 12-14, 2010: Dallas, Texas.

Schedule: TBD

• Odyssey 2010/Eastercon: April 2-5, London, England.

Schedule:

Saturday, 10 am:-11 am: What Makes a Feminist Heroine?

Does a feminist heroine have to be unflawed? Can a feminist heroine have a love interest (or be one) without detracting from her character and plot development? Can a historical heroine be feminist without becoming an anachronism?

Saturday, 1 pm: – 2pm: Autographing at the mass autographing event

Saturday, 2 pm on: Writer’s Workshop.

So if you go out to SCARE for the CURE Haunted House tonight, come by and say hi. I am going to be there signing books. I will have copies of Gordath Wood and Red Gold Bridge, and ALL proceeds are going toward SCARE.

I’m also selling copies at a special discounted price for Haunted House goers. Just $5 per book to support a great cause.

So buy a fun fantasy adventure — get your Christmas and holiday shopping done for the reader in your life (or hey, for yourself, I’m not here to judge) — and help contribute toward a cure for breast cancer.

That’s right. ALL sales of Gordath Wood and Red Gold Bridge are going toward SCARE for the CURE. Finding a cure for breast cancer is near to my heart, as my close family members are all survivors and it is largely due to advances in medicine that I still have my mom and sisters.

Words: 1,000

Music: KGSR Broadcast Vol. 16

The new project was up to about 79,000 words until I cut it back down to 59,000. Now it’s about 60,000. It’s okay. That section is the core of another novel and it is waiting its turn in the queue. But it didn’t work in this novel, though it is related.  So I cut yesterday, and tonight, after the booksigning at BookPeople, which was sparsely attended but fun, began the drafting process all over again. It’s going better though. That’s because I’ve pruned the deadwood and now the green shoots are showing. (How’s that for a gardening metaphor?)

I still think I can get this done by the end of the month and send it out to my first readers.

At the reading, I decided to read from Gordath Wood, the scene where Kate and Colar steal the Jeep out from under Bahard’s nose and drive it back to camp. It’s one of my favorite scenes, partly because it’s funny and partly because it practically wrote itself.

After the booksigning Ben and A and I went to Austin Java for a late lunch/early dinner. I got the Thai salad and was disappointed. I left most of it and ate some of Ben’s crawfish pasta, which was amazing. A devoured his bacon cheeseburger and I snagged some of his chips. So I didn’t go hungry.

Oh my goodness, just finished listening to Sam Baker and Gurf Morlix’s Slots.  What a gorgeous song.

From my friend, David:

Red Gold Bridge is an airplane read!