It's been a very full couple of weeks! Last week, I added a panel on querying to my schedule and author Jenna Miller, agent (and Queen of Swords Press writer!) Jennie Goloboy and I talked to a local meet-up hosted by Dot and Dash Editing about the querying process. Then on Friday, I took the day off to do a mad scramble out to St. Louis Park to drop off our taxes with our accountant and do morning errands before we headed down to Bloomington, MN for MarCon.
So how was my first Author Guest of Honor weekend? And first all weekend in person convention in 2 years? Pretty good, on the whole. MarsCon is an old school fan-run con, very heavy on music and comedy acts, and including science and prop rooms, an author track, costumers, gaming and so forth. The author track is a bit of an afterthought and that was made a tad more challenging by lower than pre-pandemic attendance numbers and so forth. I went in expecting that and recruited some friends, including a pal to serve as my Guest Liason, and on the whole, felt it went pretty well. I got to reconnect with a writer friend I haven't seen in over a decade, hung out with some pals and see some folks I hadn't see in a few years due the pandemic shutdowns. I also picked up some nifty things from a local artist who makes gorgeous pens and this year, added pen-sized multi-tools. DreamHaven had my books in the Dealer's Room and they sold some and I sold some directly so that was all good. On Saturday night, my buddy Matt and I got whisked away by my writer pal and her roomie, the current Mayor of Columbia Heights, Amada Marquez Simula, after my last programming item and got to hang with them and drink ginger beer (me) and other things (everyone else) and chat. This was delightful and we had a fine time. Amada is also a cosplayer and one of the organizers of Columbia Heights Pride as well as being the first Latina mayor of the city (and she's up for re-election, if you happen to live there). Jana did reasonably well until Sunday noon, when she was clearly anxious to get home so my marvelous pal Jody dropped her off on her own way back home. Bonus: we got to bring in our former, now current, cat sitter, who is also a striking Minneapolis Schools staffer, to watch the kitties and do our bit to support the strike.
My MarsCon 2022 schedule from last weekend
Author GOH - me
Friday - 3/11
7 PM - Opening Ceremonies
8:30 PM - Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Decopunk and more! Panel with Michael Merriam (Read Mars)
Saturday - 3/12
10AM - What Does a Small Press Publisher Do, Anyway? Presentation on Queen of Swords Press (Kruschenko’s)
1 PM - Author GOH Interview (Kruschenko’s)
2 PM - Autographing (Dealer’s Room hallway)
4 PM - When I am old, I’ll Pilot a Starship and Kick Some Butt (Read Mars)
7 PM - Rainbow in my Skiffy: New LGBTQ+ Media (read Mars)
Sunday
11 AM - Author GOH Author reading (Read Mars)
2 PM - Red as Blood, White as Snow: Gothic Fiction (Kruschenko’s)
4 PM - Closing Ceremonies
I also caught a mild cold. No, it's not the Rona, Yes, I got tested.
I was healthy enough to mask up and go to KFAI last night for the Queen of Swords Press special on Write On! Radio with Michael Merriam and Jennie Goloboy. That was really fun! We on air for the most of the hour, reading from our books and talking about inspiration and the press. Give it a listen - it'll go to the Archives soon and also to their podcast.
And I just had a new interview go up today in Australia on Elizabeth Fitzgerald's Earl Grey Editing blog! We did the interview a few months back so this is its go-live date. :-)
Finally, Past Me did some actual planning. Turns out when I last renewed our AARP memberships, I picked up a multi-year version, which in turn meant that when I finally decided to go looking for vision insurance, I got a good deal on a policy that starts tomorrow. Where this is significant is that I was trying to budget for glasses for both of us and mine alone are super spendy due to my various needs so getting coverage that will help AND kicks in before our joint eye doctor appointments later on this month is super helpful.
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