Drowning Nor Waving

November 6, 2011 Progress Notes:

"Five Autopsies"

Words today: 300 on Friday, 450 today.
Words total: 2250.
Reason for stopping: Sleepy.

Books in progress: Charles Yu, How to Live Safely in a Science-Fictional Universe.

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Not the most active weekend here: There are things I know better than to do with my blood sugar, and yet sometimes I still do them. And then I pay for it. Moral: Eat three meals a day, kids. Don't be me.

I did get a haircut, and I did get to Caitlin Sweet's book launch at the bookstore, which was packed and a lot of fun until I ran abruptly out of blood sugar. And I did stop in at Chabichou for cheese, and found out they apparently stock a few kinds of Mariage Freres tea, which is probably the best thing that's happened since I got home. I used to have to rely on French nationals smuggling this stuff across the ocean. And now you are mine, tea. Hah-hah.

But otherwise, it is late, and I did not get the things I wanted done this weekend, and I am tired and a little grumpy, and going to bed. And I will drink my tea in the morning.

I am sickdaying today, after some hardcore food poisoning Wednesday night and a really sad aborted attempt to stick it out at work this morning (yeah. I lasted an hour). I am going to bunker a bit with some nice, bland noodle soup, get myself horizontal, and try to get over this dizziness thing before my movie plans tonight. I really want to go to that movie.

In other news, I have a Readercon schedule:

Thursday 8:00PM, Salon F
I Read This Book, So I Started a Band -- Leah Bobet, F. Brett Cox, Paul Di Fillipo, Glenn Grant, David G. Shaw (m)
… painted this picture, directed this film, made this work of art. The Normal's "Warm Leatherette" is a condensed song version of J.G. Ballard's Crash, as is Jawbox's (more oblique) "Motorist" and Gary Numan's (more genteel and derivative) "Cars." Many of the ‘80s synth-pop pioneers (The Normal's Daniel Miller, The Human League, Cabaret Voltaire, John Foxx) cite Ballard as a seminal influence, but you can find other artists influenced by Dick, Gibson, and Burroughs. How prevalent is the channeling of influence from speculative fiction into another art form? Why is it that the dystopian end of the sf spectrum seems to be more influential, and can we think of optimistic or technophilic counter-examples?

Thursday 9:00 PM, ME/CT
Speculative Poetry Workshop. Mike Allen with participation by, Leah Bobet, Gemma Files, Shira Lipkin, Ken Schneyer.
What is speculative poetry? How do you write it, why would you want to, and which editors will buy it? Come prepared to write on the fly.

Friday 4:00 PM, ME/CT
How Electrons have Changed Writing and Reading -- Cecilia Tan with discussion by Inanna Arthen, Leah Bobet, K. Tempest Bradford, Barbara Krasnoff, K. A. Laity.
Ebooks, the Internet, social media networks, Paypal -- have these really changed the writer/reader relationship forever? Not surprisingly, sf readers are early adopters of new tech and sf publishers are leading the way in new content delivery. Is it really possible with new tech for a writer to cut out the publisher and still make a living? Is the writer who wants to "just write" doomed to obscurity now? Writers, what forays into the new frontier of electronic publishing have you made and what did you find out there in the wild lands? Readers, what have you enjoyed and sought out, what would you welcome?

Saturday 11:00AM, ME/CT
The New and Improved Future of Magazines, Cont. -- John Joseph Adams, John Benson, Leah Bobet, Robert Killheffer (m), Sean Wallace
After last year's "The Future of Magazines" panels, participant K. Tempest Bradford wrote: "The magazines and anthologies that I love tend to have editors who have taken the time to examine themselves or their culture, to expend their knowledge of other people and ways of being, to open their minds. These magazines and anthologies contain far more stories I want to read by authors of many varied backgrounds. As I said, it's not fully about print vs. online, it's about better magazines and books." This time, creators and proponents of both print and online magazines collaborate on determining ways that any genre magazine can create a brighter and better-read future for itself, using Bradford's comment as a launching point.

Saturday 2:00 PM, ME/CT
Great War Geeks Unite -- Victoria Janssen with discussion by Leah Bobet, James L. Cambias, Don D'Ammassa, Debra Doyle, Walter H. Hunt, Barbara Krasnoff, Barry B. Longyear, Alison Sinclair, Howard Waldrop, Paul Witcover.
Have you written a story or novel set during World War One? Read fiction of the period, or set in the period? Do you have a love for trench warfare, poison gas, and puttees that passeth all understanding? Then this is the discussion group for you to geek out with. What is the imaginary speculative WWI novel you'd most love to read?

Saturday 3:00PM, Salon G
The Rhysling Award Poetry Slan -- Mike Allen (MC), Erik Amundsen, Kate Baker, Leah Bobet, C.S.E. Cooney, Amal El-Mohtar, Gemma Files, Francesca Forest, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Shira Lipkin, Caitlyn Paxson, Darrell Schweitzer, Sonya Taaffe, Cecilia Tan, Catherynne M. Valente
The Rhyslings are the annual awards of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and Readercon is proud to be their ongoing annual host. (A poetry "slan" — to be confused with "slam" — is a poetry reading by sf folks. If you don't get the in-joke, ask an sf fan above a certain age).

Sunday 12:00PM, VT
Reading
I'm not sure what I'm going to read: could be something new, could be something forthcoming. Most likely I'll just take requests.

Sunday 1:00PM, ME/CT
The Pun We Had -- Leah Bobet, Daniel P. Dern (m), Lila Garrott, Greer Gilman, Graham Sleight
John Cleese's three rules of comedy are, famously, "No puns, no puns, no puns." But some of our favorite works of speculative fiction are built around puns — think of Severian being the New Sun/New Son, or Greer Gilman taking the meanings of "clod" as both "cloud" and "hill." And if, in Kelly Link's "Flying Lessons," hell lies somewhere past the southernmost stop on London Underground's Northern Line, does that make it a post-Mordern fantasy? When does a pun stop being a bad joke and start revealing something deep and interesting about language?

Aside from that, I will also be found at an assortment of interesting panels, knitting in my friends' readings, and possibly crashing the kaffeklatches of my nearest and dearest. And as always, in the bar.

My right ankle is sprained. This is because yesterday morning, when a detachment of the Dayjobfriends went down the street to get a coffee, I stepped on a sidewalk slightly funny and nearly went down like a sack of the starch of your choice. I have been limping ever since, when the foot hasn't actually been elevated with ice on it and twinging like it's trying to crawl up my leg and bite my knees off. It is currently in a tensor bandage, supporting weight better than it did this morning, and fantastically bruise blue. Unimpressed Leah is unimpressed. And, well, will be less mobile than usual for a little while.

Once I drag a chair into the kitchen so I can make risotto while seated, I'll have four-mushroom risotto and feel better about the whole thing.

Otherwise, doing the laundry and sorting more surplus crap for donation/sale/whatever. It's starting to look really clean in here, which gives me a little hit of decluttering euphoria every time I look at it. Eventually I'll run out of things to get rid of, and then I can start running lightweight/non-essential things over to the new place (winter clothes! Wire basket pantry thing! Cookbooks!).

Eventually I'll also run out of things I can do in a given day on the moving front, and will sit down and write some fiction.

November 26, 2009 Progress Notes:

"The Closet Monster"

Words today: 100.
Words total: 2200.
Reason for stopping: Didn't really have much in me today.

Books in progress: Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow.
The glamour: Dizziness, headache, and fever. Whee.

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This is sort of the acknowledgment of a Token Effort (tm). I was out sick yesterday and had to leave work after two and a half hours today, so my only output for both is those words, a little bit of pasta, and about six inches of purple bamboo shrug. The words were so I didn't feel totally useless.

Heading to bed. This was my last full-paid sick day this year, so my ass is expected au Dayjob tomorrow morning.

August 28, 2009 Progress Notes:

"Softer, Softest" (less rank and actually kind of nice working title)

Words today: 1150.
Words total: 1150.
Reason for stopping: Draft.

Books in progress: Daniel Rabuzzi, The Choir Boats; Catherine Bush, Minus Time.
The glamour: I am the head cold, I am the snotbrain, coo coo ca choo. Although fixing a (usually forbidden) pot of Russian Caravan did wonders. I have that funny caffeine feeling in my wrists and I'll probably be too wired to sleep until god knows what hour tonight, but at least my ears aren't crackling like a bad cellphone.

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There. Check that out. That officially takes another few things off my to do list for this year.

Speaking of which:

Writing Project Honeydew, 2009

Write "Parable of the Shower"
Write "Sugar"
Revise "Parable of the Shower"
Revise "Sugar"
Write two SU DVD extras
Revise Above
Agent revision for Above
Write Falkner DVD extra
Finish Lau DVD extra

Must Do

Write Saturnalia up to about 55,000 words
Write "The Closet Monster" (for December 1, preferably)
Evaluate the Toronto Book for possible bodywork

Icing

Start "The Small Dark Movie of Your Life"
Write "The Marriage of the Harpy"
Write "Know Your Apocalypses"
Write "The Right People"
Write "Bachelorette"
Write "Indestructible"

2010

Must Do

Finish Saturnalia first draft
Write "The Small Dark Movie of Your Life"
Contribute my share to "Uniform" (with coffeeem, blackholly, matociquala, and stillsostrange)
Write at least two Shadow Unit DVD extras (so far)
Do the bodywork on Toronto Book if it's doable
Start The Enchanted Generation, maybe?



Homigod. My to do list now spans years. O.O

(Go me for having enough to do to book up eighteen months into the future. Really, this is a good problem to have.)

First Sunday of the month, and that means new Shadow Unit! This month is "Getaway", by coffeeem, and I assure you it is fabulous.

As before, Shadow Unit is an interactive online hyperfiction environment, of sorts. Or, more clearly, it's fanfiction for a TV show that doesn't exist, currently written by a cast of award-nominated-and-winning SFF authors including coffeeem, matociquala, truepenny, stillsostrange, and blackholly, licensed under creative commons, with an active fan community and a whole lot of fun.

Uncle Sam wants you to read it.

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Otherwise, I have largely nothing to report. Out most of the day -- a work date with a whole bunch of people and then ice cream in the evening -- and I am fussing enough about things that maybe don't merit that much fussing that I suspect I've had an inappropriate dose of caffeine and sugar and am being made to pay for that. The meatpuppet is ever-fickle.

I'll see how I feel about said things tomorrow. In the meantime, I'm off to treat my vengeful brain chemistry with a hot bath and a glass of wine.

Well, I have sinusitis.

'Splains why my head's been hurting for five days.

Woo.

My meatpuppet is achy and sleepy today for some undisclosed reason, but there is nonetheless good news coming down the pipe:

"Miles to Isengard", which is about a boy, a nuke, and a cross-country drive to a volcano, will appear in a future issue of Interzone.

This is a market I've been hoping to crack for a while now. So yay, little novelette! Make Mama proud!

And now I must roast a chicken for my dinner.