From the first story, “Lost in Whitby” — a tale of love lost, and found, and DIY — to the haunting “All on a Summer’s Day” to the space opera with a twist of ”Lusts of the Cat Queen: a Dash Manning Adventure”, I loved every minute of it.

My personal favorite was “Think Small” because of the deft hand that shows us the character growth in Emily as the story progresses.

Seldom does a book with stories ranging from fantasy to horror strike the perfect note in every genre. This one does. I highly recommend it.

A horse is led by the reins.

A king reigns over his kingdom.

The only time a horse reigns over anything is when he is Bad Horse and runs the Evil League of Evil.

Thank you, that is all.

Finishing the night was the traditional Yard Dog Press Road Show. If you ever get a chance to see one, take advantage of the opportunity. It is always fun. Here are a few shots captured at the Road Show:

Melanie Fletcher reads and Julia Mandala and Rhonda Eudaly “dance.”

Rhonda performs…while Mel. White plots…

Kathy Turski reads while Dusty Rainbolt waits her turn…

The Road Show is always fun, but exhausting. It was a pretty early night.

Saturday: I had two back to back panels about the Young Adult trends. The first one discussed whether or not there was too much darkness in the books being published currently. It was an interesting discussion. We decided that the trend is reflecting the climate of the world the kids are living in, and that the darkness in the books can be helpful in learning to cope. (Plus, the darkness has always been there…it just may be less hidden these days.)

Then we discussed the rise of the Heroine in YA, and gave our favorite examples of strong heroines in the current literature. From Hermione Granger to Katniss Everdean, the strong heroine is a role model for today’s girls.

Then I had a signing with Lou Antonelli. He had brought some of the paperback copies of Zombie Writing!, so I got to get one for my archive shelf. It is a neat collection of zombie writing advice, and I am pleased to be part of it. Now I need to read the rest of it and learn how to write scary zombies as well as silly!

Mel. White coaxed me onto the What is Filk? panel, and I actually performed some of the songs from Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits. She even convinced me to come to the filksinging later in the evening, and I sang three songs…didn’t get back to the room till midnight.

Sunday: Resting up after a great supper to drive home tomorrow morning. Very energized after the weekend. Can’t wait to get back to work on some revisions I have in the queue.

Got some great feedback on the chapters of Skellyman that I read in my reading. Rachel Caine, one of the sweetest writers I know, was extremely helpful and encouraging, which makes me excited to get back to work on it. (And champing at the bit to read her work-in-progress when it is out.)

Then I got added to a panel which included Cherie Priest, the con Guest of Honor. I hadn’t read any of her books before, but I am a third of the way through Four and Twenty Blackbirds, and I am a new fan. It is Southern Gothic and extremely compelling. I’m sure I will get around to her Steampunk trilogy soon now. 

It was a fabulous con, as always, but I will be happy to get home.

Heading up to Dallas for the first con of the year– ConDFW. I had to miss it last year, and I am so glad that isn’t the case this year.

Here’s my schedule for the weekend:

FRIDAY:

Panel Room 1 – Warwick
5pm – Where’s My Unicorn? Trends in Fantasy
Panelists: S. Boyd Taylor, Bill Fawcett (M), Brad Sinor, Rie Sheridan Rose, Julia Mandala
With the recent surge of genre mashups, something may have been lost – the pure worlds of fantasy. Where are the worlds of unicorns, mages and no hint of sparkly vampires? Where are the modern versions of Tolkien? Our panelists try to figure out where the genre of Fantasy is going – and whether it needs saving.

Panel Room 3 – Canterbury
9pm – Yard Dog Press Road Show
Panelists: Selina Rosen, Ethan Nahte, Julia Mandala, Linda Donahue, Chris Donahue, Lou Antonelli, Melanie Fletcher, Bev Hale, William Ledbetter, Gloria Oliver, K. Hutson, Dusty Rainbolt, Rie Sheridan Rose, Frank Summers, Kathy Turski, Mel White
The fantastic authors of the Yard Dog Press put on their always entertaining Road Show! Make sure not to miss this.

SATURDAY:

Panel Room 4 – Churchill
11am – This Present Darkness: Trends in Young Adult
Panelists: Rachel Caine, Bev Hale, Ethan Nahte, Rie Sheridan Rose, Frank Summers (M)
Young Adult books have gotten progressively darker in the past couple of years to the point where even the New York Time has noticed. This hasn’t stopped Young Adult from becoming more and more popular – from the dark ending of Harry Potter to the Hunger Games and beyond. Is this healthy for teen readers? Or is this a sign that our world is growing dark? Our YA novelists talk about the health of the genre, and where it is going.

Panel Room 4 – Churchill
12pm – The Next Challenger Has Arrived! Heroines in Young Adult
Panelists: Rachel Caine, Frances A. May, Aelle Ables (M), O.M. Grey, Rie Sheridan Rose
The rise of teen heroines is significant these days. From the “Morganville Vampires” and Claire to the “Hunger Games” and Katniss, strong female leads are appearing more and more. Our novelists describe the role YA heroines have to fill and why it is so vitally important they do so.

Signings:
4 pm – Lou Antonelli, Rie Sheridan Rose, O.M. Grey

SUNDAY:

Readings:
12 pm – Rachel Caine, Rie Sheridan Rose

Elizabeth Burton and I are going up together this afternoon to be relaxed before the con starts, and coming home Monday morning, so I’ll have some visiting time if you want to drop by the hotel.

I am also very excited that this weekend’s Georgetown Mystery Readers meeting is going to be discussing MY books, even though I don’t really write mysteries per se. It’s rather nerve-wracking also, but I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say.  :)

So, I did have a little news to share. See you when there is more.

I didn’t meet one of my other goals this week. I was supposed to get something out this week. Something new…which didn’t get written. Of course, tomorrow is another day, and still part of the week. So very much to do!

Since I haven’t written anything new this year, here’s a bit of old to share with you. I particularly like this poem :

She Wraps Herself in Autumn

 Brown

Gold

Copper

Red

She wraps herself in Autumn.

Leaves surround her

in a patterned gown

held together with spidersilk

and moonbeams.

A touch of Spring green

to remind her of tomorrow —

the sun will come again –

and her dress will be of flowers…

but for now,

she wraps herself in Autumn.

Red

Copper

Gold

Brown

Everybody have a good weekend.

Oh, and for those who are also following Here’s The Clean… – I found my camera…on my desk… Hooray!

Looking back on it, I probably should have. I couldn’t think of any reason someone might not find something to read that they would like. Of course, Newell pointed out that he couldn’t find any Robert Heinlein books that he hadn’t read, because he had reached the end of a limited resource. I suppose, if they were discussing something along those lines, the statement might have been true.

On the other hand, there are so many authors writing so many books these days — I have over a thousand in my Kindle alone — that no one should be stuck for something close to what they are looking for, even if the specific author they love is no longer producing. I bet there is someone “Heinleinesque” out there for instance… Anyone got any suggestions?

These are the resolutions I’ve made in this area this year:

1. Clear the decks on all short pieces. If they haven’t sold by now, they aren’t going out again. This may seem counter-productive to many, but I like the idea of a clean slate. And that isn’t to say that they may not be put up on the website or offered as self-pubbed pieces in the future — it just means that they aren’t going out again now. I can think of one or two exceptions to that rule, but those are special cases and not currently in play.

2. I want to try and send out at least one NEW piece a week this year. (Of course, this means I have to actually WRITE something, so less time playing on Facebook or carousing in Skyrim…)

3. I hope to do more lyric writing this year. I really enjoyed writing the songs for Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits, and I am very proud of the results. I would like to do more along those lines…so if you write music, and want lyrics, drop me a line!

Those are already ambitious goals…and with the cleaning too…it’s going to be a busy year!

I also have started a second blog on a totally different wavelength hoping that it will help keep me honest. If you are interested, Here’s the Clean... will follow my daily trials at trying to get a handle on housework. Hopefully, it will be a bit of fun to read…we’ll see.

I’m going back to reading Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography
now. If you are/were a fan of Sarah Jane Smith, you should be reading it too. It is like a long lovely chat with Lis about her varied and vibrant career. HIGHLY recommended.