MileHiCon schedule

So, the life craziness continues...but one thing that has done wonders for my stress is getting emails from various readers telling me how much they're enjoying The Labyrinth of Flame. (Thank you thank you thank you!!! There is no better way to cheer up an author.)  Plus soon I'll have the joy of holding the book in my hands - the files are at the printing company, and they tell me a hardcopy proof should arrive mid next week. YAY.

But I've been so busy with day job and everything that I only today realized that MileHiCon is THIS WEEKEND, holy hell, where did this month go? So now I'm scrambling to prepare for panels - I've got three this year, and they all sound fun:

Friday Oct 23, 2pm: Ten Mistakes Writers Make

A look at some common mistakes writers make, and perhaps some ways to prevent them… or at least stop making them more quickly!

(My take: I'm not sure if this panel is supposed to be about craft mistakes or business mistakes or both, but I've certainly made enough mistakes to have plenty of advice to share.)

Friday Oct 23, 4pm: Five Fantasy Worlds You Wouldn't Want to Visit

The Shire might be nice (but does Bag End have flush toilets?), but lots of fantasy worlds would be no fun to be in. Our panelists count down the five fantasy worlds they’d least like to visit … let alone set up house in.

(My take: Oh yeah, I can think of plenty of awful worlds, especially among the modern grimdark novels. I'll try and go some fun/unusual ones.)

Saturday Oct 24, 10am: SF Primer: From Isaac Asimov to Timothy Zahn

If someone is just getting into reading science fiction, what books do you recommend and why?

(My take: I LOVE recommending books! And you can bet I'll be including plenty of the awesome female authors I loved growing up - ladies who cemented my love for SF, who nobody seems to talk about anymore. The trouble will be in limiting myself so I don't try to mention 300 names at once!)

I'm only at the con on Friday and Saturday, since I promised my husband I wouldn't stick him with solo parent duty for yet another entire weekend. For anyone else attending, I hope you'll say hello! Panels are fun, but talking to fellow readers and fans is even more so.

Next up: World Fantasy!

I had a wonderful time at MileHiCon last weekend.  My panels were fun, particularly the "bad geology" one - I've got a whole new list of mockworthy movies now, thanks to my fellow panelists.  Such as Asteroid vs. Earth, which is a strong contender for Worst Geophysics Ever.  (We had a geophysicist on the panel who worked out calculations to show exactly how moronic the movie's "science" is.  His combo of dry wit and mathematical savaging of the premise had the audience rolling with laughter.)  Ring of Fire is another gem of stupidity that sounds like it deserves the MST3K treatment.  However, Pompeii got the geologist stamp of approval...sort of.  Except for the pyroclastic flow that put the brakes on to allow a melodramatic scene between lovers ("Are you done now?  Okay, I can start destroying things again!"), and the size of the tsunami.  And the terrible plot before the volcano started erupting...the panel recommends you fast-forward to the part where everybody starts dying.

My week since returning from MileHiCon has been less fun.  I threw out my back (OUCH) and my day job's workload abruptly increased to insane levels.  A temporary thing, brought on by end-of-year deadlines.  But during the next month or so it'll be more difficult than ever for me to carve out writing time, which leaves me a frustrated, unhappy, advil-chowing camper.

But!  All is not sadness.  Next week I'm off to the World Fantasy Convention in DC, a trip I'm eagerly anticipating.  I love the laid-back "family reunion" feel of WFC, and hanging out with friends is just what I need right now.  (That, and sleep, and writing time, all of which I shall have.  Yay for WFC!)

I've got a reading slot at 10am on Sunday Nov 9, so if you'll be at WFC, please come!  Otherwise, I'll have to eat all the donuts I bring myself.  Wait.  That doesn't sound so bad...except for the part where I can't exercise them off until my back is better.  Darn.

Oh, and in sympathy for those of you who've been waiting ages for The Labyrinth of Flame but can't come to the con to hear me read a scene or two, before I leave I'll be posting the first chapter of the book.  Just in case you're like me and enjoy a taste of what's coming.  (I know, I know, some of you prefer to wait until the book's complete and in your hands.  I admire your self-control.  As a reader, I have none.)

              

MileHiCon 2014 Schedule

Next weekend I'll be taking a brief break from revision to attend MileHiCon in Denver.  Actually, not really a break...I'm bringing my laptop and will continue to work furiously whenever I get the chance.  (One and a half chapters left that need a full white-page rewrite! Then I will be in the homestretch - the last few chapters only need adjusting, not complete rewriting.)

This year for the first time I'm staying at the con rather than driving down every day, so I'm pretty darn excited about the chance for extra sleep and writing time.  Oh yes, and also seeing friends, meeting new people, and all the usual fun con activities.  (Haha, I think I must be one of the few people whose first thought upon contemplating a weekend at a con is "Hell yeah, I'm gonna get some SLEEP.")

Here's my panel schedule - notice how none of my panels are before noon?  This is going to be an excellent con. But seriously, if you're attending, please come and say hi! I promise I enjoy interacting just as much as I do sleeping. And if my last-minute rush print job gets shipped in time, I will have lovely Labyrinth of Flame postcards to hand out.  

Saturday, Oct 25:

2pm: Kickstarter & Beyond: Successful Crowd-Sourcing

7pm: Worst Tropes EVER: 10 We'd Like to Ban from Books & Film

Sunday, Oct 26:

2pm: Rocks In Their Heads: Stupid Geology

3pm: Writing That is Adored/Obsessed Over

Got a question you want to hear me answer "live"? Now's your chance to ask...

I'm in full-on head-down-work-on-the-book mode, which should be good news for those of you anxiously awaiting The Labyrinth of Flame.  Scene outlining is continuing to work well for me, and I'm quite happy with my progress on the draft (hooray!).  I even have little fantasies of finishing this first draft by the end of November...but I know all too well how life can throw nasty curveballs into optimistic plans, so I hesitate to say it's anything more than a fantasy.  I do think I've an excellent chance of finishing the first draft by the end of the year, which has been my goal all along.  Reeeeallly looking forward to the part where I start revising, as that's my favorite type of writing.

My Labyrinth of Flame draft even got a little test drive this past weekend, as I read a section from Chapter 2 at MileHiCon.  I thought maybe nobody would show, as my timeslot was at the very end of the convention - but nope, some die-hard souls attended.  (Including the always-awesome Ian Tregillis - who earlier in the con read from his upcoming novel Something More Than Night, which looks to be terrific.  No surprise there; if you haven't read Ian's earlier Milkweed Triptych, you are seriously missing out. His skill with plotting is incredible.)  It's always tricky to read a section of a book 3 to an audience who hasn't read any of the previous books in the series, but I think it went okay.  (I get so hugely nervous before readings that I consider it a win if a) I don't faint or throw up, and b) nobody either falls asleep or leaves the room in disgust.)

Other highlights of the con included: sharing my own NaNoWriMo experience at the NaNo panel and seeing the excitement and enthusiasm of those who hope to try NaNo for the first time; expanding my TBR list by leaps and bounds upon hearing all the intriguing books mentioned by my fellow panelists at the "Fodor's Guide to Fairyland" panel; sitting next to Paolo Bacigalupi at the group author signing and hearing him discuss everything from the evolution of Chinese science fiction to how to get boys excited about reading.  Not to mention all the lovely conversations I had with other writers and SFF fans in hallways, at dinners, and between panels.  I'd try to mention names but I just know I'd accidentally leave someone out.  Suffice it to say the con was full of wonderful people!

Last but not least, I've been invited to be a guest on the Lady Business+ podcast - and the host (Renay) is taking questions in advance.  So if you've got any questions you'd love to hear me answer "live" - about my books, or anything else - now's your chance!  Email questions to thisisladybusiness (at) gmail (dot) com.  

MileHiCon Schedule

This coming weekend I'll be at MileHiCon, which is a terrific local SF con here in Denver.  Seriously, it's loads of fun: if you're in the Denver area, you should come.  One of the things I like best about it is the engagement of the fans - seems like panels are not only packed, but people are eager to interact and ask questions of the panelists.  The guests of honor are always great, too: this year they've got Catherynne Valente and Seanan McGuire (a.k.a. Mira Grant), plus Ian Tregillis as toastmaster.

I'm doing a signing, two panels, and a reading:

Fri Oct 18, 8pm: "Autograph Alley" signing

Sat Oct 19, 4pm: The What, When, How, and Why of NaNoWriMo, Wind River B

Sun Oct 20, 2pm: Fodor's Guide to Fairyland, Mesa Verde B

Sun Oct 20, 4pm-5pm: Reading (shared slot with Dana Bell)

I'm thinking I may read a short section from my draft of The Labyrinth of Flame at the reading.  Haha, I'm not sure if I'm sad that the reading is in the very last time slot of the convention or not.  On the one hand, always awkward to read to an empty room.  On the other hand, that way there's no reason to be nervous!

Oh yes, and while I'm at it, The Tainted City got two new lovely reviews:

• Fellow author Anne Lyle reviews the book as part of her "Friday Reads" series.  Always extra wonderful to get a good review from someone whose work you've enjoyed!  (If you haven't tried Anne's Night's Masque series (starts with The Alchemist of Souls), you should.  Great alternate-history fantasy with some great characters & an interesting alien/magical race.)
• A review from Shadowhawk at The Founding Fields: "A brilliant sequel to what was a brilliant debut." Sweet!

And last but not least, I just have to say I was ridiculously thrilled to see both Sheri S. Tepper's Grass and Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale on John Scalzi's list of 10 SFF books that meant the most to him.  Both are ciminally under-read by SFF fans (though Winter's Tale at least got huge mainstream sales and acclaim, as Helprin is considered a mainstream literary writer).  What Scalzi says about both books is pretty close to how I feel (except on the subject of Winter's Tale, I could go on for PAGES about how stunning Helprin's prose is).  If you haven't read them, you should.  

Winter is coming...so get your skis on

I'm buried in day job tasks while trying to get ready for MileHiCon this weekend, so no full-on Thursday Adventure post today.  Instead, I'll first give you links to two guest posts I did this week:

• Broaden Your Horizons, in which I share six of my favorite fantasy novels set in non-European locales (they are all awesome books and you should read them!).

• Building Fantasy Worlds One Name at a Time, in which I talk about how I chose names for characters and places in The Whitefire Crossing and The Tainted City.  This is part of a whole series on names in fantasy that Abhinav Jain is running at his blog - make sure and check out the other posts in the series, as some really great authors have weighed in over the past weeks.

And then I'll leave you with a few pictures from my favorite winter activity: skiing.  Every year when that first storm kisses the high peaks with white, I start to dream of deep powder.  (Powder skiing is practically a religion in the west, and for good reason.  Skis float in deep snow, letting you turn and bank like an airplane.  Between the speed of descent and the sheer freedom of movement, it's the closest most people ever get to flying.  The rush is incredible.)  Right now as I drive to work, I eye the newly white peaks and salivate...soon, soon my husband and I will spend more days like this:

Me enjoying a powder day at Alta, Utah.  (They really do have the greatest snow on Earth.  Every skier should make a pilgrimage to Alta at least once in their lifetime.)

Or if we're really lucky, like this...

Our friend Jim needs a snorkel 

If it's been a few days since a storm, we can still amuse ourselves by cornice jumping:

Robert jumps a cornice at Aspen

Or if we're really brave, couloir skiing:

Who's got enough guts to take the leap?  Our friends Jeanne, Khurrum, and Gary scope out the infamous Corbet's Couloir at Jackson Hole.   

No matter what, I'll have a grin this big on my face:

Skiing rules.