Faculty Fun

Just got invited to speak at the Surrey International Writers Conference in Vancouver BC. Well, ok, it's actually in Surrey which is very close to Vancouver. I love western Canada, and I really enjoyed this conference when I spoke there in 2006. It is very well run. Lots of aspiring writers, eager to listen. Lots of authors (much more famous than I am) to listen to.

I had been writing as a hobby for about eight years when a friend and I decided that we needed to learn more about the business of writing. I had written about half of Song of the Beast by this time and felt as if I was learning the craft. But I had never met a published writer when I walked into my first writers conference in 1998 (Pikes Peak WC, where I am going to speak in April), and I felt as if I had found...... my home. I had always been extremely shy and introverted, and had never been able to walk up to a perfect stranger and start a conversation. But there I could walk up to anyone and say, "What do you write?" WCs are more expensive than science fiction conventions. They are usually multi-genre, and focus on the craft of writing and the business of publishing.

I am not getting much writing done this week, as I am in Texas visiting my mom. Today it was about 65 and gloriously sunny. The air smelled like spring. It reminded me why lots of people live here. (Come down in July and it reminds you why some of us don't any more.) Tomorrow, we're driving into East Texas, where it is even prettier - green hills and oak and pine woodlands. The redbuds and dogwoods likely aren't blooming quite yet, but it should be pretty anyway.

I'm flying home on Super Tuesday. Is it significant that Super Tuesday is also Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras? For those who are in a Super Tuesday primary state - go vote!

I'll be back to work on Wednesday.