5 posts tagged “myself”

Joshua and Me

and pervasive spirit of Norwescon is but a shadow of Saturdays ebullient mob. Slow and sparse is a nice reprieve from the fever pitch of the last three days, I am contented, yet tired. Many panelist were missing, perhaps, I am not the only outwore soul.

Liars Panel

The panels that I attended today were what I would call ‘fiction’ or ‘genre’ specific, instead of being ‘business’ orientated. It was gratifying to discuss topics involving our fascination with the paranormal, the creation of fictional religions, and inspiration for systems of magic.
These topics really bring out the pith of an authors
personality and thought process. Discourse regarding the business of writing is helpful, but talking about the craft itself is insightful.

This was my first Norwescon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I will definitely be there next year...counting the days until Norwescon 32 in 2009.

    Special events and Saturdays are always a dichotomy of excellence and annoyance: the best events mixed with boisterous crowds. The panels were packed, but there were some great rewards too. Speaking of dichotomy, it was enjoyable to watch charismatic and spontaneous Jay Lake in the same panel with stoic Dan Simmons. These are two very talented authors with contrary demeanors and energy. It was also enjoyable to attend a panel with Namoi Novak: It was a good discussion with pertinent advice. Jay Lake brought out the best in everyone being the panel’s moderator.

    Another author that I was previously unaware

Ehart and Me

of--Michael Ehart--made a new fan, me. His back story
as an author is interesting and he was enjoyable to listen to. What also stood out though was his current book Servant of the Manthycore, which was immediately appealing since it was set in the under-appreciated Bronze Age Mesopotamia. I love the familiar, and often cliché western cultures and mythologies, but so many fascinating, rich, and untapped cultural and mythological elements are demanding to be infused into popular fantasy fiction. Mr. Ehart has realized this potential and has brought it to publication. I wasted no time in purchasing Servant of the Manthycore due to this intrinsically undervalued setting; It also helped my decision knowing that Michael Moorcock loved it and wrote the forward in Ehart’s book. Michael will also be a participant in a 6 sided Q&A. I am extremely appreciative and excited.

Doctor Who T-Shirt

   Today was the day of the unnecessary, but oh-so-cool purchases: 2 T-shirts. Here are images of what they look like.

With the panels being so appealing and quite plentiful, I found myself hungry and in need of a restroom break for most of the day. I just had to soldier on forward...

Those about 2 roll

    Another edifying day filled with morsels of good information. Today, I was fortunate in meeting author Joshua Palmatier, author of The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne, and The Vacant Throne. I am a regular reader of his blog and looked forward to meeting him at Norwescon. He is kind, approachable, and filled with funny anecdotes and advice. He has also graciously agreed to participate in my 6-sided Q&A (along with Jay Lake): I am very excited about these nano-interviews.

    Also, in meeting Patrick Swenson, I made an unexpected discovery: Talebones magazine. It is a first-rate Sci-fi and Dark Fantasy magazine of impeccable quality—with a fantastic editor—Mr. Swenson. I happily picked up the Spring 2008 edition at the convention and have been pondering some of the back issues (and a current subscription) that are available online at www.talebones.com. It seems that this wonderful tome of quarterly fiction could use our support to carry on; please consider an issue or two or even four today! It should also be said that Patrick seems to be a fine acquisitions editor with an eye for outstanding short fiction. He also proved to be a wealth of experience and advice; panel after panel, day after day. It would be a pleasure to see my own work featured within the pages of his reputable publication someday.

Jay Lake and Me

    Now for the highlight of the whole convention: The Liars’ Panel. This rummy gathering of authors consisted of: Jay Lake, Patrick Rothfuss, Joshua Palmatier, JC Hendee, and Barb Hendee. The panel was comic gold! I have not laughed so intensely in a very long time. Jay Lake is an electric personality; he captivates his audience, diffuses his addictive energy to the crowd, and keeps you wanting more. I have been a fan of Jay for a long time through his prolific blog (and he was my number one reason for attending the Con), but I did not expect such a dynamic and enjoyable personality to exist behind this profuse advocate of LiveJournal. It is my opinion that Jay is only at the beginning of a potentially colossal career. Everyone really came alive on the panel and were very entertaining. Jay and Patrick were animated; Joshua was more conservative, but still hilarious. JC is very distinct in appearance, but conservative in speech. His true gift—however—is when he does speak, it is worth listening too (whether being humorous or serious). The real surprise was Barb, she was delightful, witty, and has excellent comedic delivery.

    Make sure to check out Jay's two major novels available now: Mainspring and Trial of Flowers. There is also a sequel to Mainspring available for preorder entitled Escapement, and a sequel to Trial of Flowers entitled Madness of Flowers, due out December 2008 from Nightshade Books.

Sails and Sorcery Cover.jpg

 

Patrick and Me @ NORWESCON

This is the first time I have attended NORWESCON here in Washington and I am already enjoying it. The writing panels are illuminating, blithe, and organic; well worth attending.The real surprise of the day was the appearance of Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind. His contributions to the panels were witty and satirical; easily eloquent, and very appreciated.

   

Stay tuned to my blog for an ongoing series of nano-interviews I am calling 6-Sided Q&A. These will be short, six question interviews focusing on unique questions
addressed to some of my favorite authors.
Mr. Rothfuss has graciously agreed to be one of the
first contributors. An authors time is so very valuable and
I am honored by any benignant participation.

   
Tomorrow is a marathon of panels for me--seven hours worth--I hope I survive!

BTW, I am digitally recording these panels...more on that later

pro·cras·ti·nate (prō-krās'tə-nāt', prə-)

v.   pro·cras·ti·nat·ed, pro·cras·ti·nat·ing, pro·cras·ti·nates

v.   intr.
To put off doing something, especially out of habitual carelessness or laziness.

v.   tr.
To postpone or delay needlessly.

Latin prōcrāstināre, prōcrāstināt- : prō-, forward; see pro-¹ + crāstinus, of tomorrow (from crās, tomorrow).

    Procrastination has been the disease that has infected my blogging desires. It has taken years to start this blog (I do not count my dabbling in the callow pages of Myspace). I've been staring at this screen for a few minutes deciding how to begin and decided that the best way was to prattle on about why this has taken so long; curse that damnable adversary of achievement know to us as procrastination!

    I hope to keep everyone informed about myself, my writing, and hopefully be marginally entertaining. I will attempt (though I may be assaulted by procrastination and his crony distraction) to blog at least a couple of times a week, and if there's anything you want to comment on, or ask me - please feel free - I'll do my best to answer your questions or perhaps acknowledge your own contribution of prattle.

There, I believe I have successfully doled out enough idle talk on one day.