Phew!

I've survived the last three weeks. I also spent the last two days on the sofa, napping on and off. I needed it. On average, it appears I got about 3-4 hours of sleep per night. Yeah, I can't do that shit for long. Good thing that was only for a few days. In case I didn't say it, Armadillocon was wonderful. The agency retreat in LA was even more so. I got a lot out of it. Rooming with Colleen Venable was a blast. It's always great to see my agent, Barry Goldblatt. I got to have dinner with Ty Franck. (Half of the author duo who wrote The Expanse.) I met the actor who plays Amos and one of the show's producers too. That was an amazing dinner. All three were wonderful humans. After that, I got to meet my agency's movie dude. That was both good and bad. (The good: getting to understand how things work. The bad: merchandising makes everything more complicated and awful. Naturally, that's the bit Hollywood is interested in most.) Then there was WorldCon which, after all the glitches, programming problems, and unfortunate timing issues, turned out to be a good time. I missed all the readings this time, sadly. (All but Alex Renwick's.) But I did get to hang out with all kinds of wonderful people--including my good friend Thomas Wagner, my former mentor Sharon Shinn, and Kay Kenyon. Hugs were had from many folks I don't see that often too.

All in all, worth it, but that's the last time I travel during a Mercury Retrograde with seven planets in retrograde. Everything that could be messed up, was. And I mean everything. It was stressful. Good times were had, but...yeah. I'm glad that's over. I confess, I didn't like San Jose that much. It's too... techie white-bread suburban.

I did get to meet with my editor, Joe Monti. And that was lovely as always. The editors at Tacheon Press practically slapped me on the back of my head because they've been after me to write something for them, and I've never completely understood until now that they're serious. (I'm such a dork sometimes.) So, that's happening the instant I wrap up edits for Persephone Station. Also, I've a short story coming out in Apex Magazine next month titled A Siren's Cry is a Song of Sorrow. It's super dark--like the darkest story I've yet written--but it's also something I'm proud of. I can tell my writing skills are still improving, and that makes me feel wonderful.

So, travel happened. Some plants died. (aww.) My cat is now glomming onto me for fear I'll pack up and leave again. But hey, I'm settled for the rest of the year which is good because I've so much writing to do.