Sirens11 Wrap-Up

I had an amazing time at Sirens last weekend. I knew going in that I was going to have long talks about beloved books with fun and passionate people. I was so excited and grateful to be on the staff; Sirens is run by a group of smart, organized, and funny women and I love them all to pieces.

There was glitter hair spray and fantastically monstrous costumes made by wickedly creative people. There was a lot of talking and thinking and re-evaluating the ideas and experiences we bring to the books we read. I bought bags of books, including all of Marie Brennan's Onyx Court books and Laini Taylor's shiny new Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which i am not starting until I know i can stay up all night reading it. I know the moment I open it I will be lost until I've finished it.

Each of the last two years, I have come away from this conference with a full and happy brain, ready to return to work and already looking forward to the next event. I think I'm not alone in that- read through #sirens11 on twitter to see what others had to say.

I promised those who attended my workshop on creating and writing critique groups that I would post my handouts online. (I made a writers' group guidelines mad lib. I hope they have as much fun filling it out as I did writing it.) It's going to take me a little while to get new pages formatted, but if you'd like to download an rtf file, you may do so here. (If you need a different file type, email me!) Thank you so much for being there!

Next year, Sirens will be October 11-14, just outside of Portland, OR. I am already tracking airfare and coordinating childcare...

Off to Sirens 2011

On Wednesday I'm heading up the mountain for Sirens, where I'll be leading a workshop on creating and running your own writers' group. I am SO EXCITED about this (all of it!) that any mention of it leads to me running around flailing like the world's happiest muppet. Also, stage fright. I has it. I'm doing it anyway.

In other news, Harbinger is somewhere around halfway done. I've had so many false starts and partial drafts and tossed chapters that I am not sure I trust the word count, but it's ~55k words, and I think I can get to the end in another 45k, maybe 50k.

It's not the same book I thought I was writing, and I see a lot more room for a sequel than I did before, but I think I will write something completely different when it's done. I'm on track to finish before the holidays... but seeing as the last few years have been one endless lesson in rolling with unexpected changes to the grand plan, I'm focusing more on making progress than hitting the deadline.

But I think I know what's next in line, and that's never really happened before. Maybe I'll do a NaNo-type drafting in February or March next year...

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I'm most easily found on Twitter, these days- lots of news on the way, but nothing quite ready for public consumption yet.

Still working on Harbinger, intending to finish by the end of summer. Still running a writers' group, which should get its own website, really, but hasn't yet because all of my attention has gone to Harbinger and the freelance editing and writing work that comes my way.

There's no veggie garden this year. Someday the story of that will be a long and funny rant, but right now it's just a bummer. (The roses are growing at a fantastic rate... I can't get basil or tomatoes to survive a week, but my roses are lovely! That's something, right?) Plans for next year include ripping out the entire backyard and starting over, this time adding a dog run and a patch of wild flowers for cutting. And an irrigation system the dog won't eat.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the summer with family and friends and the goofball dog.

Test Post from IPad App

My trusty and beloved MacBookPro died sometime during the night, and after much discussion I decided to try moving to an IPad for the bulk of my computing for the time being. (It was the option that cost least, fit most closely with the long-term tech plan-yes, I have one, everyone should- and allowed for the most flexibility.)

I'm delighted with it so far, most especially the Squarespace app. Now let's just hope I can get the fiction files over to a word processor-- they're all in Scrivener, currently. Wish me luck.

The Last Several Months in One Quick List

1. Cast came off. Did physical therapy like a good girl. Behaved myself, took it easy, still limp home after anything more than an easy 30min walk with the dog. I AM LEARNING PATIENCE, UNIVERSE, but it would be easier if I could run some.

2. I went to Sirens and it was awesome and I am so far behind writing back to people from there but I promise I'm working on it. Also I would like to go back, right now, and maybe just stay there, even though I bet I'd hate Vail in the winter. The company would make it worth it.

3. We had a lovely Thanksgiving week at home with lots and lots of friends stopping in. (I stopped counting at 30ish, there were too many children moving fast to get a real headcount.) It was a wonderful reminder of the community we have here.

4. I did Nanowrimo! And won! The WIP formerly known as Auctioneer and now known as Harbinger now has a real live zero draft. There are some seriously holey bits in the plot, especially the late middle, but I think it's patchable. It just might hold together. It also just might be a series, which I had not really intended, but, well, you do what you can.

5. I'm researching and editing in preparation for a sprint through the next draft. This method is working for me, with this book at least. I just need to keep going.

6. M had her first ballet recital last weekend. She was beautiful and focused and my favorite part was the way she stuck her tongue out while on stage. That has been the "thinking hard" face since she was about six months old, and I will cry if she ever grows out of it.

7. I is in that super-helpful toddler stage, where all day we make messes so we can then clean them up. This means I only stop moving at nap time. Which he seems to be growing out of. Send coffee and chocolate, please.

8. This does not bode well for the yearly photo books or the holiday knitting. I am considering declaring defeat in advance on those fronts.

9. I hear a rumor that we will reach 60` and sunshine tomorrow. This is my kind of winter.

10. I realize that means we'll probably have a blizzard and deep freeze next week, but I like that part too.