Another Good Day at Lunacon

[dr_pretentious]

And I'm utterly exhausted.

Many useful panels, some leads on short fiction markets, an amorphous emerging clue about the current state of the field.

Sore feet.

For the second time in two days, Shannon Butcher introduced me to an editor and nudged the conversation now and then to make room for me to pick the editor's brain. She's really adroit at that. Jim Butcher told me, "Just keep writing. You're almost there." I wonder if he would still say that if he actually read my work. I would like to feel as certain that I'm almost there as he sounded. It was instructive to see how he handled it when a kid, maybe 18 years old, came to him to say, "While my grandmother was dying, reading your books got me through the week." Kindness is part of the job. Jim's kindness is the real thing.

All the way home on the Turnpike, I composed various possible thank-you notes in my head. Putting one together and into the mail to the Butchers is one of my most important writing tasks for tomorrow.

I ended up spending about an hour keeping Anne Sowards (of Roc and Ace) company while she waited for her ride home, during which time she very graciously allowed me to pick her brain about the industry. Mostly she confirmed things I had inklings of from other sources, but she filled in some details and gave me more of a sense of the two particular lines she works with. If the kinds of stories I write were the kinds of stories she grooves on, I would query her in a heartbeat. The thank-you note to her is another of the most important writing tasks for tomorrow.

anghara was fabulous and insightful on various panels, and I wish there had been enough breathing room in the schedule for me to tell her so. I can thank her here for her good company, but she's still in danger of getting a thank-you note from me, too. Why not? I'm on a roll.

All those years of classroom teaching taught me a bunch of useful stuff. One of the most important things I learned was this: Never Withhold Heartfelt Praise.

The economics of the publishing industry may be ruthless, and the process of publication may be brutal, but as far as I can tell, most of the people involved are exceedingly generous of spirit. It's easy to get discouraged, but hard to stay that way.

I wish I could make it to the last day of the con, but Clover Coven's celebrating Ostara tomorrow, and I desperately need to get my daily writing rhythm back.

Sorry about the heavy posting traffic of late. Usually you guys can count on me to keep it down to one or two posts a week, and here I've been all prolific at you. Just as soon as I can get back to being prolific about Beltresa, your friends lists will be a little more manageable.

Comments

[oakleaves.livejournal.com]

Ooo ooo cons ooo!

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I'm way out of practice at going to them. I didn't go to any while I was in grad school. So far, though, they've been good fun.

[oakleaves.livejournal.com]

I miss the days, before we met, when I used to staff them with a pewter sculpture company I was working for. Gaming and Star Trek cons mostly, but a few sci-fi literature cons as well. They are so much fun. (And such fertile ground for flirting with attractive and intelligent women!)

[writersweekend.livejournal.com]

::turns green::

Happy Ostara!

My heartfelt is this: I am so glad I know you. Thank you for being my friend.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

It's been a delight from the first day.

I brought WW fliers and Butchercon fliers. So did the Butchers. When I headed home on Saturday night, about half of the fliers had gone. Here's hoping you get some registrations out of Lunacon. Not least because I wouldn't mind meeting there some more writers from around here.

Oh, and I praised you and the conference to Anne Sowards, who asked. She'd heard of WW but didn't have a clear picture of the conference's focus or collective mood. I think I said pretty much what you would have said.

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Of course he would feel the same way if he read your work - it is so wonderful.

I'm so glad you've had such a positive experience at the con. It's good to know that People In High Places are basically sound, decent, and generous. It makes me smile.

[calene.livejournal.com]

Glad to hear you had such a great time! Sounds like some wonderful people were there.

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

I like it when you post a lot.

[skyefyr.livejournal.com]

What on earth makes you think any of us aren't truly enjoying your prolific journal entries these days?

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Livejournal is a wonderful thing, but it can be a real time sink. As much as I love being able to keep up with news in so many of my friends' lives, and as valuable as posts by professional writers have been to my efforts to educate myself about the publishing industry, I sometimes find I'm drowning in the backlog, and I wish everybody else would just take a week off while I catch up. I've been assuming everybody else felt the same way sometimes. Maybe not.

taking a week

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

Done.

Re: taking a week

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Oops! I didn't mean to imply that anybody ought actually to grant my wish. I wish people would take a break from posting on lj the same way I wish there could be a moratorium on book publication (by anyone other than myself), so that I personally could have a few years to catch up on my reading. The same way I wish all the chairs in cafes, restaurants, and schools could be built for the convenience of a five-foot-tall body rather than a six-foot-tall body. (Never mind that the default assumption that all chairs must be built for six-footers is a manifestation of sexism. My desire for all the chairs in the world to be built for me is a manifestation of narcissism.)

Go forth and post. Sorry.

Re: taking a week

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

Hey, what? I thought it was a good idea. For me!
So what am I doing wasting time reading it and repeating to myself "I must not post, I must not post".
I'm making sure I get all the good stuff. Humans are such social creatures.