Writing lessons and the writing life
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!
Schedule: TBD
Schedule: TBD
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.
Of course there were things I forgot, and will still forget. But Michael Moorcock showing up to give Howard Waldrop an award on the first night of the con should not have been forgotten. A much better writeup is on Jayme Blaschke’s blog.
I can’t believe I forgot Maureen McHugh’s story, a creepy Victorian horror story. I will definitely buy the anthology it’s going in when that comes out.
Armadillocon was quite fun — kudos to all the organizers! What a weekend. Scott Lynch, author of The Lies of Locke Lamora, was guest of honor, and it was just fantastic to meet him. Joan D. Vinge and James Frenkel were there — talk about the lions of the SF community. And of course all the usual suspects — er, stalwarts, of Armadillocon, including Joe Lansdale, Scott Cupp (toastmaster), Bill Crider, and the rest.
I. Am. Exhausted. I need to get this wrap up out of the way, because otherwise it will all just blur into a haze of con — I almost said, con-dom. Heh.
I was on the promotion panel, moderated by Elizabeth Moon, and we shared ideas with the audience about how we go about publicizing ourselves and our work. Then I asked the audience what makes them buy books, and they said, appearances such as ours, the cover, the back of the cover copy, and word of mouth by friends. So while we should all have websites and blogs, what makes a novel sell is what we have very little control over. Except for appearances, and we can’t be everywhere. So if you like a book, any book, help an author out and tell all your friends.
Other panels included the research panel, the worldbuilding/history panel, and villains. On the history panel, Ann Aguirre pointed out that the author’s web site has taken the place of all the maps and appendices that used to appear in the book but now are too expensive to reproduce. Whereupon Sharon Shinn said, “The website is the new Silmarillion.” Exactly. You will start seeing some changes on this website to reflect that wisdom.
The villain panel included Joan Vinge and was moderated by Mario Acevedo who is just a cool, funny person. We ranged all over the map on creating villains and protagonists, and had lots of fun.
I met fans and signed books, and let me interject to the young lady who is going to look for a gordath in New Braunfels — please be careful. I mean, have fun and all, but please be careful. But by all means, let me know if you find it!
The writer’s workshop is probably the best deal in town. If you are seriously wanting to be a writer, find a good workshop. Try to find people who are better than you are to workshop with. And if you can’t find one near you, seriously think about coming to Austin for next year’s Armadillocon. Stina Leicht and Melissa Tyler run a very good workshop. I enjoyed all the stories in my group (co-taught with Sharon Shinn). We were very impressed with the quality of the work.
I went to many readings, including those of Martha Wells, Adrian Simmons, and Matthew Bey, but missed Jessica Reisman whose story made Martha cry and therefore must be picked up by an editor ASAP. I know what is going to happen on Scott Lynch’s website before any of you do (unless you were at his reading) and I know what happens next in the third book of the series HAHAHAHAHA!!!
OMG you guys, the parties. I stayed up way past my bedtime Saturday night (making up for a shameful Friday night in which I was in bed by 10 pm because of the early start for the workshop). Space Squid, Texas 2013, and all the other party hosts, you guys did great. It was fun. And to Chris Roberson and John Picacio, Mikal Trimm (the official nemesis of Space Squid), J.K. Cheney, Nancy Hightower, Kimberly Frost (dude! Kimberly Frost is an ER doctor!) and everyone else who I am forgetting because it’s been a long weekend — thank you.
Best. Armadillocon. Ever.
Next week is Armadillocon in Austin.
Here’s what I will be doing:
Friday, 9 am to 4 pm: Writer’s workshop. Co-teaching with Sharon Shinn.
Off to ApolloCon in an hour or so. Please come up and say hi if you will be there. I hope that the dealer’s room will have copies of Red Gold Bridge–they should, as they were able to get Gordath Wood a few days early last year. I will likely just go around asking to take pictures of people with the book. I’m that goofy.
Next Sunday, July 5, I will be signing books at the Ridgefield bookstore, Books on the Common at 1 pm. See you there!
Blog will probably go dark for the next week as I am going to be out and about, but I will report back in July 7.
Talk to everyone soon.
This is where I will be this summer so far:
June 26-28: ApolloCon, Houston, TX, schedule: TBA (By the way, there will be astronauts)
July 18: Barnes & Noble Arboretum, Austin, TX, time: 2 pm
July 25: The Twig Bookstore, San Antonio TX, time: 2pm
August 14-16: Armadillocon, Austin, TX, schedule: TBA
I’m hoping to schedule a few more signings and will keep you posted on my schedule. Please stop by and say hi!
Word count: 1,275
Calling all Texas writers! ApolloCon is running its annual writer’s workshop Saturday 9 am to noon on June 27 (the con runs from June 26-28). I’ll be facilitating the workshop this year.
The deadline for submitting your short story or novel excerpt is MAY 29.
For for more information about the workshop please visit Apollocon Writer’s Workshop or e-mail me at writers_workshop.2009@apollocon.org
ApolloCon is a lot of fun. I went last year and Gordath Wood made its debut there. This year I’ll be promoting Red Gold Bridge. Hope to see you there!
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