Friday, May 28th, 2010 It’s nearly midnight and I’m finally able to sit down and write a few words about what’s been going on.
Things got hopping in the late afternoon, but really kicked off around 8 p.m. with the Opening Ceremonies. I ignored them in order to chat up some writer friends and spent much time in the company of fellow MWA writer, Carl Rauscher.
(Take a gander at his (as yet unpublished) novel Reboot. It took second place in the 2010 Writing Contest, which is a crime, because it really is fabulous. He should have gotten first. You can read some of Reboot here.)
At 10 p.m., the Broad Universe panel was fairly well attended and included reads from Roxanne Bland, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Elaine Corvidae, Heather Kantz, Gail Martin, Roberta Rogow, Jean Marie Ward and myself.
I read from Blood Soup.
Afterward, I’d planned to do some editing on my WIP, but I’ve been too busy making friends and chatting about writing, blogging and knitting. (Yes, knitting…don’t you? I’m working on a lovely little table doily with the pattern name of “skulls and crossbones.” I’m omitting the crossbones…because I want to.)
I’ve nothing planned for the early morning, but I’m contemplating getting up at 4:20 a.m. to catch the 4:30 showing of “Blood and Chocolate” in the video salon. The plot sounds a little weak, but I love the title. What would you do?
I have to rise at a fairly decent hour anyway in order to catch breakfast in the hotel. Thanks to a room mix-up, I’ve been comped four breakfast passes… I could use one each morning, but why do that when I could have a party? Are you free tomorrow?
(Also due to the room mix-up, I’m in a handicapped room: lots of things are low to the ground and the door has two peepholes…one for if you’re standing, and one for sitting…which seems pointless to me, since gazing through it only reveals the size your visitor’s belt buckle. They really need to angle that one up.)
My schedule is light tomorrow: In the late afternoon I’m teaching a seminar on how to submit short fiction for publication. So, maybe I’ll get some of that editing done.
More tomorrow, and perhaps…photos.
Thursday, March 4th, 2010 Yesterday, after the reading at the Library of Congress, Colleen treated us to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. (I got “Happy Family,” btw, one of my favorites.) And, of course, at the end, we were treated to fortune cookies.
I’ve talked before on my blog about fortune cookies. I’m certain it won’t be the last time. [Because Chinese, like cheese and chocolate, is one of the four major food groups. (The fourth is salt.)]
Here’s a photo of my cookie…and for the record, there were seven fortunes inside, although some were duplicated.
(Yes, dear Broads, I smuggled that cookie into my purse and managed not to crush it during the LC tour, the crushing metro ride, or eventual drive home. And I was hungry on the drive home…very hungry.)
And, poor thing, after surviving the humiliating and cramped confines of my purse, I made it pose on a red background like some harlot, for your viewing pleasure.
Then I ate it.
(And it wasn’t stale it all…which is kind of scary, really, if you think about it, considering it had been nearly nine hours from lunch until photo shoot. Fortune cookies must have the same half-life as Twinkies™.)
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 “…never explain. Let the work speak for itself.”
These words are etched in my brain. Spoken by Ellen Kushner today when I asked her if I should warn the audience at today’s reading at the Library of Congress that what I’d planned to read was a bit graphic.
What fantastic wisdom.
The funny thing is, I’ve read the exact same thing (the bloody birth scene from my book, Blood Soup) at other venues and never thought twice about it. So…what is it about the Library of Congress (or LC, as it is fondly known in library circles) that made me want to tone it down?
Hallowed Halls? Who knows…? I’m too tired to think about it tonight…but it’s something I’m going to ponder for a while….and probably revisit here later.
Here’s a photo of the Broads involved.
In a nutshell: we met at LC and proceeded to a very nice venue within the Jefferson Building where we each read for 10-15 minutes, did some autographing, chatted with very interesting people, went to lunch and then returned to the library for a private tour.
- I read from Blood Soup, of course.
- Ellen read from Swordspoint (one of my favorites!) and the “not quite a sequel,” The Privilege of the Sword –Fabulous!
- Catherine read from The Ruby Dice (scroll down after the jump) – I was riveted.
- And Sue read a piece that she wrote specifically for reading aloud, collected in the book, Uncategorized. She had folks rolling in the aisles.
Fellow Broad Jean Marie Ward showed up to support us. It was great fun.
I snapped a lot of photos during the tour. I’m certain I’ll be sharing them here over the next couple of weeks. (Unfortunately, some of the best parts of the library I wasn’t allowed to take photos of.) I’ve linked below to the LC exhibits on line, but to get the full affect, you’ve really got to see them in person.
We got to see:
- a Gutenberg Bible
- Some fascinating Mesoamerican Art from 600-900 AD with paintings depicting Cortes’ meeting with Moctezuma, a large clay statue of a jaguar, a vase depicting the Teoihuacan-Maya War with nifty human sacrifice themes and more. (Missing from the online exhibition is my favorite: a choker necklace of 19 skulls carved from conch shells. I’d wear that.)
- The only surviving copy of the 1507 world map by Martin Waldseemüller. This map is widely referred to as America’s birth certificate, since it’s the first map bearing the name America.
I should point out that all of this is open to the public…we were just treated to Colleen Cahill’s expertise for an extended afternoon tour. Having a personal tour guide who can answer just about any question you pose is an awesome way to explore a library.
I think my favorite part of the tour was seeing Thomas Jefferson’s Library. I could have sat on the mosaic floor of the room and absorbed the enormity of his collection: (IIRC) over 60,000 volumes, which he sold to the Library of Congress for $23,000 when he was without means to support himself. Apparently, he bought too many books. But when he got his settlement from the LC, he started a second library. My kind of man.
Engraved on the wall of the exhibit are the words of Thomas Jefferson:
I cannot live without books.
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I swear, I know exactly how he feels.
Sunday, February 14th, 2010  How would you like a little romance with your science fiction, fantasy and horror?
The Broads over at Broad Universe are launching their “Rapid Fire Readings” into the PodVerse for your listening pleasure. A “rapid fire reading” or “RFR” is a session of five-to-seven authors each reading a five-minute section of a story they’ve written…just a little “taste” of what they’re up to.
The Broads have a full line-up of podcasts they’ll be doing this year, starting off with this one. Of course, the theme is romance.
Here’s the link to BroadProd.
[BTW: I stole this cupid graphic from CollegeCandy.com. I don’t read the site: I found the graphic via Google Images. Just wanted to give credit where credit is due…]
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Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
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