Myth, the Universe, and Everything

Over the next two weeks, interviews about the Regaining Home Kickstarter should be popping up with me around the net, which is great, since we're getting into the final half of the campaign. Things are, thus far, going quite well -- as of this writing, we're at 58% funded with 14 days to go. But the extra press will definitely help toward reaching (and exceeding???) that goal. The podcast interviews were also a great chance for me to chat with some very cool podcasters. Brian LeTendre of course is an old friend of the blog -- he and I go way back to the very first days of Into the Reach being released, and Brian was a regular in my Mythic Greece game back when those heroes were still out changing mythology. Chris Sniezak of Misdirected Mark is a friend of Shawn Merwin's (Shawn is, apparently, a regular guest on the podcast), and also a great interviewer. I had a tremendous time chatting with both of them, and I highly recommend both Secret Identity Podcast and Misdirected Mark (which I started listening to and got totally involved in after finishing my interview with Chris).

Chris also made me aware that I hadn't updated my website since Choice of Kung Fu came out, so clearly that needed to be fixed. So instead of working on obituaries tonight, I've been updating my page, playing Marvel Avengers Alliance on facebook and Fallen London in another tab, listening to podcasts, and watching cute videos of baby elephants. All in a day's work!

Well, looks like there went my resolution to blog more often! I just wanted to drop in tonight to talk about the interview I just recorded with Brian LeTendre from Secret Identity Podcast (who is also the writer for the fantastic webcomic, Mo Stache) about Into the Reach. The idea was to do sort of a director's cut on the novel and we actually chatted about the book for a whole hour. Brian had just reread the book, and to my chagrin, he remembered far more about what happens than I do! I've not reread it since 2006, the year it was published, so it was incredibly fun to get back into that story and think about those characters, who were, effectively, good friends of mine for a couple of years. During the interview two sort of unexpected things happened. One, I read some sections of the e-book while talking to Brian, just as a refresher, and thought, "Hey, this was actually pretty good!" It's always both a surprise and a pleasure when I can look back at earlier work and be pleased with how it came out. The second was that feeling of reuniting with old friends, which I really hadn't expected. I realized, I miss these guys. It'll be very nice to get my head back into the world when we eventually start in on the editorial process again for Regaining Home.

In the meantime, I'm tickled that a few more copies have sold on DriveThru since I last checked. They're not going like hotcakes, but copies are selling -- which means that somewhere out there, folks are meeting the characters for the first time. They've got lives out there beyond me, and that is also exciting.

I've been thinking about my writing process lately, and I have some overdue blog entries I meant to write earlier -- but in the meantime, you should go look at Lindsay Archer's Steampunked Mythbusters, because they'll totally make you smile.

My deadlines have reared their ugly heads. They pace back and forth, watching as I scramble, my fingers raging against the keyboard, brow dampened with sweat, stomach twisted with anxiety. Also, we had two super cloudy days, which sapped all my motivation--this only adds to the anxiety when I manage to come back to myself out of the gloom. Add to this that before I got the contract from MWP I'd planned my social life for the month (yes, lots of D&D, as that's pretty dominantly how I socialize), and you can imagine that I'm going a little nuts trying to fit it all in. So, my poor journal has gotten left behind!

To give you the quick update (if you're not already listening to Secret Identity Podcast, where I guest host the gaming segment Action Point Counter Point with evil mastermind Max Saltonstall of Anonycon and Secret Identity super star Brian LeTendre, and which just had its 100th episode--congrats, guys!), I have one week to get a draft done of my Serenity adventure. The working community over at MWP is just awesome: they have community boards that aren't quite the same as forums, where you can upload all of your progress and edit joint documents. Thus far, I've suggested art-work to be featured in the adventure and have posted my original pitch. Tomorrow I'll start inputting my actual work into the template and hope that my progress goes quickly!

The reason I haven't gotten further on that is that I've also got three assignments for reference projects due this month. One is technically due in March, but since I'll be at DDXP over the deadline, it needs to be finished before I go. Which means you're probably not going to hear much from me the rest of the month, except in short spurts.

Since I do have guest blogs ready to go, however, you may start seeing those this month as planned. Writers in the line-up include Melanie Nilles (amsaph), the founder of fantastic_realm; Mark Vecchio, faculty at Simon's Rock College and mythology expert; Lora Innes of The Dreamer, who is one of my comic buddies from over at DrunkDuck.com; and Carrie Vaughn, author of the "Kitty the Werewolf" series. So stay tuned! Good things are happening, even though I'm vaguely in absentia.

And don't forget to keep up with Cowboys and Aliens II, as exciting things are happening over there, as well. I can promise you some real action coming up--hand to hand, even! We also appreciate all the folks who vote for us on Buzz Comix and Top Web Comics, as the more attention we get, the happier we (and our publisher) are. :)

A good weekend was had here, with lunch on the beach, a trip up to Boston, and some good D&D time. I got to have Brian LeTendre from Secret Identity Podcast at one of my Living Kalamar tables, which was too fun.

The big news from this weekend, however, is that (despite its being Labor Day and therefore a day of rest), Julia Bauder, my web designer finished my page. You can visit it at http://www.virgilandbeatrice.com (although those of you who read my livejournal will find the front page remarkably similar to this blog). Information about all my projects is displayed on the links. It's been working a bit better in non-IE web browsers, but we're working on that (as well as possibly adding banners of friends somewhere on the site; not yet sure where that'll happen).

So, come visit!

It is the day after a convention, and my brain is still in what I'm now calling ConSpace. This is a state of existence that is not coherent, and creates such good ideas as having beans on toast for lunch, getting out the lunch supplies, and making myself a cup of tea instead, then forgetting about lunch for an hour.

If this writing is as incoherent as I feel, I apologize in advance.

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United Fan Con was my first venture into the world of regional, non-gaming cons. It was, I believe I can safely say, nothing at all like GenCon, and only a very little bit like Origins. The highlights of the week were hanging out with the guys from Secret Identity Podcast, who were my convention hosts, and the guys from Hero Envy, getting to meet a handful of the New England Browncoats I've been on a mailing list with for a year or more and have never before met in person, and getting to hear parts of Jewel Staite's Q&A session.

My favorite part of the conventions is always talking to new people about books--sometimes my books in particular, but also whatever people happen to be reading. I had a lovely chat with some young women about the wondefulness of Terry Pratchett. I had great fun spending time with sarahtdl talking about libraries, being a libra, anime conventions, and a host of other topics. I also had a chance to speak with some other authors and comic book designers/writers/artists about their work. I had doughnuts with the guys from Radbu Productions. I sat next to Sean Wang (pronounced Wong) (who has a most excellent print available of the characters of the Fellowship of the Ring and a great space adventure comic that I did not get a chance to read at the con but am putting on my Christmas list). I had a great chat about designing booth space with Mark Tarrant, the author of an upcoming Vampire Western called The Blood Rider. And I talked about small publishers with Clifford B. Bowyer, author of The Imperium Saga, a trilogy of adult novels that runs alongside a series of children's middle-grade fiction that tells another part of the story. (His books are available through Silver Leaf Books.)

I also gave Jewel Staite a copy of Into the Reach, because it seemed like a good idea at the time. If she likes it (which, of course, I hope), then it will have been a good idea, and I'll be very glad. But I imagine being given a book by a little-known-author at a convention is probably a bit odd, so who knows what will happen.

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It does, however, lead to something that has been tickling at the back of my brain. Early on when he was writing the first novel of the Dreaming Dark saga, Keith Baker mentioned that if he were casting actors to play his characters, he'd almost certainly cast Nathan Fillion, but the rest were up for grabs. Since then, Keith has run a poll on his Web site asking readers to cast the other characters. I don't often cast my characters as actors until after I've already got them solidly in my head, and sometimes not even then. I've been told by my first reader, Arielle, the actor who must be cast as Kennerly (not listed here as when I eventually have my own Web site, I may copy Keith and do polls). I've also discussed casting the characters once with my husband, but never really landed on anything positive.

After this weekend, though, hearing Jewel speak about how much she enjoys kicking butt in her upcoming movie The Tribe, a thought that had been floating in my brain clicked into place. If it were up to me to cast actors as the heroes from Into the Reach, I'd cast Jewel as Lydia, so long as the "auburn hair" look works for her.

So, if this manages to float around the ether of the internet so that some Browncoat notices and it eventually gets back to Jewel Staite, that was the subconscious reason that I gave her a copy of the book--which, of course, I didn't explain because it wasn't formulated in my head, and I (being one of those people who doesn't like to be in the way) didn't want to bother her with actual conversation while she was busy doing her photo shoot. (In fact, I would have been just as happy to let her guest liaison give it to her, but he insisted...)

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A final note, and then I'm actually going to get back to making lunch (which I've been neglecting now for about an hour and a half). I did get filmed for a Secret Identity promo, and Brian LeTendre interviewed me for the next issue of their podcast, which they recorded at the show. (I'm sure there are probably bits of my extremely loud trumpet of a laugh that filter through while they're doing bits of the show I'm not intentionally in, for which I apologize.) When I have the link for both the new episode and the promo, I'll post them here.

Just finished reading Scrib, a YA novel by playwright David Ives, which would had me in stitches this morning between drifting in and out of ConSpace fog.

I've discovered that I get the best writing done when my computer is disconnected from the internet. I've also discovered that it takes me quite some time to catch up on all the author blogs and industry newsletters I read when I do this. Someday, I will find an ideal balance. I hope.

**

On the actual news front, GenCon and my book release are only six days away. I think I am in denial, as it just doesn't seem possible that it's coming up so soon.

As the release date has crept closer, I have gotten interview requests, which astonishes me. One came from the Secret Identity podcast, and the other, from my ninth grade English teacher, who has volunteered to write an article about me for the hometown paper in Charles City, Iowa, where I grew up. I'm extremely excited about both opportunities, and was amazed at the paranoia I experienced while sending an e-mail back to my high school English teacher. Was my grammar correct? Were there typos? Tell me there weren't typos!

The podcast interview will, obviously, take place live, over the telephone. The newspaper interview will be via e-mail, which is of great relief to me. I like being able to consider my answers and then respond in the most intelligent fashion possible. Though I'll acknowledge that I've occasionally written something remarkably silly in a print interview, it gives me nowhere near as much cause for anxiety as a live phone interview. I am and have always been a remarkably chatty person, which sometimes leads to my going right ahead and talking before I fully think through what I'm going to say.

If any of you reading this have tricks for being eloquent in a live interview, I'd love to hear them! Otherwise, general wishes of good luck would be much appreciated.