My 2011 Pi-Con Panel Schedule

I'm not currently listed on the published schedule due to lateness on my part, but here are the panels I'll be on at Pi-Con.

What is Pi-Con? You ask...

 From the website: "Pi-Con is a diverse collection of geeks. Our members are fans of books, movies, gaming, webcomics and print comics, tech and gadgetry, costuming, anime, and music. You'll find people who are into steampunk, space opera, vampires, ren faires, superheroes, and dozens of other genres in various combinations. This year we're proud to be expanding our offerings to include a strong science track (including a science guest of honor!) . We'll still be including all the best parts of previous Pi-Cons; you can discuss your favorite topics in panels and meetups, play tabletop games from our extensive library, see a show or two, and party until you can't stay awake anymore.

The convention is held annually in August, in the Springfield, MA area.

We pride ourselves on being open and welcoming of newcomers. If you're into any of the fandoms we celebrate, or even just into hanging out with a bunch of friendly geeks, we'd like to extend a warm invitation. Hope to see you there!"

So, you can see why I fit in ;-)

Once again this year I'll have my husband and fellow scifi and science geek in tow. I'm also psyched because my fabulous writer-friend, Trish Wooldridge, is this year's Guest of Awesome! I'll also get to see some of the New England members of Broad Universe. (And on that note, I am the new coordinator for the New England chapter so if you are a woman writing genre fiction or a man who supports such--or would like to host a discussion about women writing genre fiction please feel free to contact me.)

Without further ado, the schedule:

timeslot Room panel

8/26/2011 8:00:00 PM Suffield Sex & Genre Literature (other panelists: Genevieve Iseult Eldredge (M), Trisha Wooldridge)

8/27/2011 12:00:00 PM Suffield Apocalypse: How? (George Claxton (M), Michael Whitehouse)

8/27/2011 4:00:00 PM Agawam Locally Grown Genre Works (Kate Kaynak (M), Ken Kingsgrave-Ernstein)

8/27/2011 5:00:00 PM Suffield Ask a Geek: Social Sciences (Kate Kate, Mike Whitehouse (M), Paul Estin)

8/27/2011 8:00:00 PM Main Tent Love and the Robosexual (George Claxton (M), Jennifer Pelland)


*** I may try to get on another panel or two, and should also be reading from my work if there is a Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading ***

One Door Closes, Another One Opens

I was really bummed out two weeks ago when I received the news that my short story/poem "Interview With the Faerie, Part I"--slated to be published this month--was not going to be. The magazine is closing up shop. I was particularly dismayed because they held the piece for a year (and no, that is not unheard of in this biz.) Also, I LOVE this piece of work. In many ways, it defines me as a writer and is a good representation of what I write.


But to put this piece of news in greater context, I was coming off several poetry rejections (I'm clearly not sending to the right markets) and going through the change of leaving my job and re-defining myself. And dealing with the aftermath of Ari's back surgery. And such.


And then I was pleasantly surprised to hear that my short story Essie was accepted for publication by Luna Station Quarterly, a market I really dig. Their mission is to, "... is to display the vast and varied talents of female genre fiction writers."


So, look for Essie in their September issue. This will qualify as my first published short story! It is also one of my relatively few forays into pure scifi--I tend to write more fantasy and magickal realism.


Yesterday, I did re-tool "Interview" a bit and send it off to another market. I am now going to refer to it as a short story, which it really is. Even though it's written in stanzas like a poem and has some rhyming elements. It's over 1,700 words. So, fingers crossed on that.

Adjusting to a New Life & Random Musings

New Life Musings

Today I begin my second week without full-time, "in-the-office" employment. I've been incredibly busy and this new reality hasn't really sunk in yet. I'm sill under the pressure of kids' activities, Ari not being up to speed, and leftovers for work. And painting the darn kitchen, which thankfully is coming along.

Here's a view of the finished part.

Tomorrow is Summer Solstice, which amazes me. The weather has been suck in the Northeast and it feels like it's just begun to get nice. Tomorrow is also the kids' last day of school. Hopefully we will find a way to celebrate the solstice.

I had hoping that by now we'd have more of a hang-outside area. Having a spouse out of commission has made me realize how much each person contributes to running a household/family. (Honestly, kudos to you single Moms and Dads--I don't know how you do it.) The grill is still under the house and it's too heavy for me to take out. Although I'm now an expert lawn-mower the trimmer is still packed away and if memory serves I don't have a lot of stamina holding that up and using it for extended periods. My vegetable garden didn't get planted.

In my perfect vision of this summer, I'd have lovely little vegetable plantlings, an outdoor patio area, and a firepit. I'd be able to invite my friends over to celebrate the solstice.

Instead, I have hours of work to finish, a kitchen still in need of some paint, boxes of kitchen stuff still to put away, looming writing deadlines, and kids on my hands as of tomorrow.

But I have POTENTIAL. Theoretically--when things settle down a bit--I have more and more flexible time. My kids are older, and they are funny, and amuse the heck out of me when they're not annoying me by leaving utter chaos in their collective wake. And Ari is on the mend.

Realistically, I live in paradise. I love where I live. Everyday the chipmunks put on a show, and there are beautiful bird songs all around.

Writing Update

In writing news, I received a poetry rejection recently, the novel is still "in progress" and my most active project is a short story for the upcoming unCONventional anthology. Also, my long poem "Interview With the Faerie, Part I" is supposed to be published this month in Abandoned Towers. I'm also thinking of going on a total poetry hiatus--that is not writing ANY poetry at all--for a year, and just concentrating on my other writing. I can't seem to find the markets for it (either that, or my poetry really sucks) and I'm getting discouraged.

Off to food shop--YAY I don't have to fight the crowds on Sunday any more!!

Early Summer Blessings to All!

Listen to me read from my novel-in-progress. You know you want to.

The May episode of the BroadPod--sponsored by Broad Universe--is up and I am reading some of my work. This episode is all about "mothers" and "mothering." Please have a listen, and tell me what you think!

http://broadpod.posterous.com/

Happy listening!

A Big Step Forward With My Novel!

I must be brief here, because there is a lot going on in my life now, and not all of it is positive.

Some GOOD NEWS! Today I had a great breakthrough with figuring out the Cosmology for my novel-in-progress, Ownership of the Gods. It's a complicated cosmology that figures in Gods and Goddess from across time and (Earth) culture, and must also make sense in the here and now.

I'm tweaking a chapter that I will record for the upcoming Broad Universe podcast, and I realized I really needed to have that Cosmology fixed. So I took pen to paper and did it! I love it--it accomplished everything I want it to, including:

* being multi-cultural
* being pan-religion
* challenging some commonly held assumptions about religion
* turning on their head some commonly held beliefs about where religious ideas "come from," and how they relate to us in the here-and-now

I am just super-excited! (I swear-sketching this out was seriously the most fun I've had in several weeks!) I'll add a note and link to the podcast from my blog here when it is released.

Be well, all.

:-)