I attended the AnimeUSA convention this weekend. This is held every autumn somewhere in Northern Virginia and this year it was in Crystal City, which meant I could take the Metro. I haven’t ridden Washington’s subway in a long time, so it was fun to see all the things that have changed and all the things which have not. The thing I missed the most was the distinctive “bing-bong” that used to herald the closing of the doors. It was always a part of the whole Metro experience for me.
At the convention I met up with writer/podcaster Tee Morris and we had lunch. Well… he had lunch while we talked, I’d already eaten. It was fun and informative as we discussed conventions, writing software, podcasting, and other good stuff. Tee is a very upbeat guy and his enthusiasm is infectious. Inspired by our conversation I’ve already taken steps towards getting back into my writing routine. Thanks, Tee!
I managed to finish the new short story. What was once called Paradox is now titled Regarding the Barry Fitzpatrick’s Navigator. I’ll probably submit this to a workshop before sending it off to any magazines, see what other writer’s have to say before I waste an editor’s time with it. In the mean time I have yet another science fiction short on the table. This one’s inspired by a recent trip to the coal mining country of West Virginia and will be based on some of my mother’s childhood recollections. No title yet, but I’ll be sure to post something about it soon.
Over the last few days I’ve blasted through a new short story. I’m not certain I really like it all that much, but at least it’s complete except for some final editing. It’s SciFi this time and right now the title is Paradox. I named it that thinking of time dilation paradox, but then I looked it up and discovered it’s called time dilation effect. I’ll either change the title later or leave it a mystery.
Last Friday I took a large step towards my goal of one day becoming a professional writer. I opened my mailbox and found a familiar envelope, one I’d addressed to myself several weeks ago. I took it well, after ripping the shirt from my breast and flagellating myself for several hours with an old typewriter ribbon I settled down into a nice quiet sulk. Actually I spent the next half hour printing out a new copy of Divine Fire, a new SASE and a mailing label with another editor’s address on it. I dropped it off at the post office on my way to the dollar store where I bought a cheap plastic frame. My form letter rejection from a major magazine now proudly adorns the wall of my office. I may not be a pro yet, but I now have something every pro in the business has: my first rejection letter.
The podcast of 7th Son: Book Three was released this weekend. On Friday evening the author and about seventy other people including yours truly attended a book drop event in the virtual world of Second Life. The affair included a question and answer session by the author J.C. Hutchins, the premiere of some set pieces from the book on Podcast Island, and a reading of the first two chapters. It was a lot of fun and many notable podiobook authors were in attendance like Tee Morris, Christiana Ellis and Phil Rossi. The event was so well attended we crashed the sim at least once. I finished off the night with a concert in a neighboring sim by one of my favorite Second Life musicians Duzzy Ryder who performs live acoustic rock from his home in Tokyo, Japan.
Balticon 41 took place over the Memorial Day weekend. For those unfamiliar with it Balticon is a science and fantasy fiction convention which has been running in the Baltimore area since before dirt was invented. With its focus more on the literary end of scifi, Balticon has long been a meeting place for writers of genre fiction. The last time I attended was many many years ago as a fan. This weekend I went back as a writer and the experience was wonderful. I met and listened to many published and unpublished authors and came away from the weekend with a better idea of what I want to do with my books once they are completed.
While on vacation in Florida this week I began a new story, but I really have no idea if it will be a novel, young adult novella or short story. I feel very strongly about this one, so I’m just writing it out and will wait and see where it leads me. Please have a look at the first page of The Empress Sword in my First Pages.
Nothing’s really happening, but it’s been a month since I last updated this page so I’ll just tell you what I’m up to. I’ve officially dropped The Jolly Rogers from my active pile and put it back in the vault. I’m no longer convinced it’s the great idea I once did and I’d rather put my efforts into something with more potential. Likewise the untitled novel will remain untitled indefinitely as it too is going back in the vault. All this is a way of saying I want to focus more on Konshin: Coming of the Soul Rider formerly titled ‘Young Heart’.
This weekend the Anime USA convention was held in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia and I went down for some much needed R&R. While there I met fellow writer and noted podcaster Tee Morris. I picked up a copy of his book The Legacy of Morevi and am finding it hard to put down. I sat in on his ‘Anime Podcasts’ panel and was really inspired. Who knows, maybe someday you’ll be able to listen to my writing in the form of a podcast?
What happened? Some of you may be wondering what happened to me and the NaNoWriMo contest. The answer is that I hit the ground running and real life reached out and tripped me up. On November 4th, 2006 my cat Shadow died after a sudden illness. She’s been my only pet for about eleven years and losing her was a big blow. Then I was hit really hard with urgent requests at work, this is always a writing killer because work tends to drain my creative reserves. So, my NaNoWriMo attempt is pretty much dead in the water for this year, but I’m not giving up on Young Heart by any means. Look for the word count to start growing again soon.
