Weekly Accountability Post, the Return! Plus cool things!

[catherineldf]

This week had been a LOT, even by my standards! I left last Wednesday for the wilds of Wisconsin to teach at the Novel in Progress Book Camp: Speculative Fiction Edition so I could spend the night in Lake Mills, Wisconsin and drive in fresh and rested in Thursday morning to teach and panel and such.  Lake Mills is very charming midAmerica: I stayed at a lovely Victorian B&B run by an older gay couple and their charmingly crabby elderly kitty, had a nice conversation with one of the other two guests, visited the farmer's market, did a very tiny amount of shopping at a couple of local shops and had a very pleasant time. It was my first time away from home overnight in nearly 2 years so it was a bit of an event! And from there, it was on to NIP and an action-packed schedule. The grounds were beautiful, the students very focused, the other pros interesting  and engaging - 10/10, would do again. Which is good, because I've been invited to teach there again next year if we can get scheduling to work out. After that, I got to drive back in a horrible series of rainstorms that doubled the drive time (bearing in mind that I haven't been more than an hour and a half away from home in nearly two years). But made it home, despite having to miss my planned lunch with Madison friends.

The rest of the week

• So the Very Cool Things: on Thursday night, I discovered that a Queen of Swords Press book had received its first starred review from Publishers Weekly! Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore will be out on 8/20 and it is glorious queer hopepunk/climate fiction (and up for preorder now!) with a bi trans protagonist and an all-queer cast. :-D
• Next bit of news hit early the next day: The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper by A.J. Fitzwater won New Zealand's Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Collection! This was A.J.'s first book, our little Pandemic Book and Queen of Swords Press first award win (A.J. has won multiple times for their short fiction)! We are very psyched. :-D
• Then on Friday night, I finished polishing up an article on writing marketing copy and submitted it and it got accepted the next day. So by the time I left NIP, I looked like the one very successful small press publisher/author. :-D
• Had a fun time doing an author reading from Blood Moon at OutwriteDC on Sunday.
• Got Jana a tiny show at Dancing Bear Chocolate's Sunday Artist series (9/12 12 -4PM). We'll be in a tent outside selling her handmade boxes and books. Dancing Beat is in the Victory Neighborhood of North Minneapolis, the owners are lovely and their chocolate and baked goods are amazing.
• Pitched some more nonfiction and have almost finished tweaking a story to submit.
• Worked on a couple of other fiction projects.
•  Interviewed for 2 jobs - 4th time for 1, second time for another. Did not get the 4 time interview one but they may pull me in for something else. Don't know about the second one, may have a 1st interview at a third place next week. At any rate, still unemployed, tired of interviewing and rather frustrated.
• Cancelled on Multiverse Con with reluctance, but had to be. 3.5 months of unemployment + dicey insurance situation + COVID surge in Georgia + Delta Airline's attitude about vaccinations and safety (that being "screw it and screw you; we don't care" - we are a hub city for Delta so it's generally our best option for direct flights) was just a bridge too far. :-(
• Applied for a couple of other events - more news when I have it.
• Read submissions.
• Saw Suicide Squad 2 and mostly enjoyed it.
• Had a complete crash and burn day and spent it icing a mysterious foot injury, nursing a migraine and binge watching Season 3 of the BBC Three Musketeers series. Not quite as well written as the previous 2, but still fun and I thought they handled the ending well.
• Took toxic waste (batteries and old paint) to country drop off today.
• Took on moderation duties for a horror panel at Skepticon tomorrow (see pinned post)

And now back to virtual Readercon and hopes for another round of good luck next week.