catherineldf: (Default)
All my tests were negative, so apparently last week's sore throat, etc. were the usual con crud. Which was good, because I recovered in time to teach online for Clarion West on Sunday. Jennie and I had a fun time - the students were engaged and asked good questions and I hope we get to do it again! And we launched the Pride StoryBundle in the midst of things last week and being sick always makes things like that more of a challenge. This year's StoryBundle is very cool: we have an epic fantasy novel by Melissa Scott, 3 anthologies from Neon Hemlock and Speculatively Queer, a couple of novellas from Cynthia Ward's vampire series, a new ghost story by Andi C. Buchanan, Queen of Swords Press titles Foxhunt by Rem Wigmore and The Language of Roses by Heather Rose Jones, a new spin on gay vampires by Jerry Wheeler, a climate fiction novella by Sim Kern, fantasy novellas by Ginn Hale and Nicole Kimberling and queer robot stories by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor and Vincent Scott. Our charity is once again Rainbow Railroad, an international nonprofit that assists LGBTQ+ people at risk and refugees to get to safer areas, something that is even more critically important now. The Bundle runs through 7/1 and I hope you'll give it a look.

Also coming up next week, I get to do my first Twitch event with Geek Girl Con. I'll be on a panel about world-building in art and fiction on 6/14. Then it's off to St. Louis Park for 4th Street Fantasy and a couple of panels on immortality and modern sensibility and progressive narratives, plus other interesting discussions. Then we do our panel at the Library of Congress the week after that! It is an action-packed month!

Speaking of which, our next title, a new edition of Last Car to Annwn Station by Michael Merriam is up for preorder! I am gleefully describing it as "Last Car is the most Minneapolis fantasy novel since War for the Oaks!" And it is - phantom streetcars, visits to Uptown, evil rich people living on Lake Minnetonka, a race through Lakewood Cemetary - good stuff! We'll be doing a DreamHaven event in July to kick it off.

The home situation: I've been trying to get a copy of J's birth certificate so I can file for Social Security for a month and a half now and finally broke down and spent the money for a service that expedites gov docs. Then to hope that we can get her application through in a reasonably timely manner. I also just set up an emergency contact failsafe with some neighbors (I wanted to get to know them better, anyway). I had to push our doctor's appointments out to August due to the crud, since I wasn't sure what it was, but now I get to follow up on some new issues she's having. I, meanwhile, could really use a checkup myself. Sigh. Still have to figure out how to handle my Novel in Progress teaching weekend in early August as I think the thing I was hoping for will not work out. She did have a good run at the WisCon Art Show, so big thank you to the Art Show staff and everyone who bought her work!

Onward!

catherineldf: (Default)
 Twin Cities Book Festival today at the MN State Fairgrounds! Cory Doctorow, Charlie Jane Anders and Malinda Lo are all appearing and Queen of Swords Press will have a book table. Local author Michael Merriam will be signing his new weird Western novella, NOT ENOUGH MIDNIGHTS from 10-5. 
catherineldf: (Default)
Apart from national and world events, Ma'at hates Shu this week so it's Kitty WWIII at home. Which means separating them into different parts of the house, all night howling, sneak attacks and a house overflowing with cat pheromones. Whee. It generally doesn't last more than a couple of days but has gone as long as two weeks. Ack. Otherwise, lots and lots of balls in the air. Some should settle soon and then I'll have some good news about Queen of Swords Press, the schedule for next year and such. I'm also getting a new writing website, so I'll post about that soon too. My much beloved previous site was rendered unupdatable and inaccessible through sundry changes in tech so I'm getting something simpler and much easier to navigate. 

In the meantime, two huge events this week for Queen of Swords Press and I'm scrambling to get ready:
  • On Friday, October 13th, QoSP will be at the WomenVenture Women Mean Business Luncheon and Marketplace at the Minneapolis Depot. This will be the first big tabling event for the Press. I'll have books, mugs, mouse pads and info out at the table so please stop by and say hi if you're there.
  • On Saturday, October 14th, QoSP will have a Press table at the Twin Cities Book Festival at the MN State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. Author Michael Merriam will be helping me out, as well as selling and signing his brand new weird Western novella, Not Enough Midnights. More books, more swag and chocolate! Come by and say hi!
And for serious fun, I get to scramble to pack up right after the first event, go quick like a bunny to my car and race through early rush hour traffic and the horrors of "Hey, we've closed pretty much everything for construction! Good luck!" (Seriously, our construction season is epically awful right now) to go get set up up for the second event late Friday afternoon! It will be glorious! Or something! I'm sure I'll learn a LOT from this experience. 😏



Profile

catherineldf: (Default)
catherineldf

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
6789101112
13141516171819
2021 2223242526
27282930   

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Apr. 23rd, 2025 03:06 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios