I’m sitting in my hotel room in Concord (the actually important one in American history), fresh from attending a good friend’s wedding and shortly before heading off to Seattle for a couple of weeks, and wanted to take the opportunity to post a couple of updates:
1. Wellspring was, to put it mildly, an incredible experience. It was intense for sure, and difficult on occasion, but on the whole it was enormously beneficial both professionally and personally. On the professional side, I got a ton of great feedback on the novel I brought, and I’m still processing a lot of it. There’s work to be done, but it’s manageable, and I expect to have a better product in the fairly near future. Beyond that, the talent of the other authors involved was frankly staggering, and I came out of the whole business both drained from the intensity and energized by the interactions involved. I even got a fun reading out of the bargain, which you can find here and linked on my Media page.
On the personal side, I had perhaps an even better week–because, as a lot of us independently realized by about Wednesday, this was like being back in college. Lots of work (though this time it was just about all fun), surrounded by smart people, getting the chance to talk shop, hang out, play games, and build the foundation for long-term friendships…yep. One of the best times in my life was college and graduate school, and this workshop reminded me why. (It also helped that these people are all awesome.) A huge shout-out, then, to Sarah Castle, Brenda Cooper, Vincent Jorgensen, Gra Linnaea, Holly McDowell, Eden Robins, Bill Shunn, Rob Ziegler, and especially Kelly Swails and Brad Beaulieu–Kelly for being one of the full critiquers of my manuscript, and Brad, both for being the other full critiquer and for inviting me in the first place! There’s a good chance it’s going to happen again next year, and you better believe I’m buying my plane ticket the second it’s confirmed.
(Oh. And I got to play a pick-up D&D game at Lake Geneva Games with a holdover from the old games run by Gary Gygax and his son Ernie. First edition, too–strictly old-school–and partial redemption for the time years ago when I had the chance to play a game with the founder and passed because I had a wedding instead. If you don’t understand why this is a big deal, well…all I can say is I’m glad I got a second chance. The circle is complete! 🙂 )
2. My convention schedule is about to ramp up as mid-summer approaches. Readercon hits in a couple of weeks, followed by Gen Con and then Worldcon, and then I get a break for a month and a half or so before World Fantasy Con arrives in all its glory. I’ve posted my schedule for the first two on that list on (shockingly) the Schedule page; I have a draft schedule for Worldcon too (looks to be busy…five panels and a critique workshop in which we’ll be helping some aspiring authors), but I’ll wait on that until it’s finalized. Please check these out, and please stop by if you’re anywhere within reasonable traveling distance of one or more of these.
3. Finally, Speculate continues to chug along smoothly. We’re just about to start a series on the work of Aliette de Bodard, but there will also be interviews of Ed Greenwood and Pat Rothfuss after the conventions wrap up, and we’ve got some surprises planned soon thereafter…so head over, take a listen, and let us know what you think!
That’s all for now. Off to the Pacific Northwest in a few hours…enjoy yourselves while I’m dodging raindrops, drinking iced coffee and eating salmon (not necessarily in that order!), and I’ll catch you on the flip side.
Greg
