I'm back from MileHiCon

I've survived another MileHiCon, and it was yet another great experience. This year's Con was a bit different for me because I brought the family with me. None of them had ever done anything like this...in fact, they didn't even know this kind of thing existed.

Rather than attending as many panels as I usually would, I did a lot of the kids track this year, and that was very fun and different for me.

As far as my programming, I started out Friday doing a panel on Dystopias/Utopias, which went pretty well. We batted around a lot of ideas, and had a lot of fun in the process.

On Saturday, I did a panel called Meet the Small Press. There was a lot of talk about e-books, which I really don't know much about, but I contributed on the topics that I could, and I plugged Nomadic Delirium Press and Sam's Dot Publishing as much as I could.

Sunday was a very full day for me. I started off with a signing, which actually went pretty well. I did a lot better than I thought I would. After that, I had a reading with Gary Jonas, but other than my family, there were only two other people in the audience, so it was a bit of a bust. My panels ended with a panel called Getting Inside the Head of Non-Human Characters. We had Tim Powers on the panel, and I imagine that, plus the interesting topic, left us with a standing room only audience. This was the first time I ever moderated a panel, and it went really well. We had some great discussions on the panel, plus some great questions from the audience towards the end of the panel.

And as always, I got to talk to a lot of people I've known for years, talk a lot about writing, and generally have a really good time.

The best thing about the Con was that the family really enjoyed it, and they want to go back for more...

Off to MileHiCon

I'm about to leave for the Con. If I have time, I'll post updates over the weekend, but it could be Monday before you hear anything more from me.

Hope you all have a great weekend?

I've done my part for democracy

I mailed in my ballot today, so I guess that means that I have every right to gripe about whatever the idiots in power do for the next several years.

In other news, the weather is definitely changing here. We're getting rain, thunder, lightning, wind, and steadily dropping temps. If this keeps up, we'll see a little snow by morning. Yay!!!

I have the best fiancee in the world

Normally I really hate my birthdays, but she made this one very special. She made a nice breakfast, a great dinner, and then an amazing cake with ice cream. On top of all of that, she got me tickets for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show here in Denver this December.

TSO is my favorite band, and I've been wanting to see them for years, but something has always interfered...now I'm going to get to see them!!!!!!!!

Busy, busy, busy

Things have been pretty hectic around here lately. On Saturday, we took the girls to the Pumpkin Festival that's just across the field from us. It was the coldest day we've had so far this season, and none of the women of the house seem to enjoy the cold. They had pumpkin chunking, master carvers, a hay ride, and lots of other stuff. It was a lot of fun, although the walk home seemed a lot longer when I was carrying both of the girls' pumpkins.

On Sunday, we went to The Wildlife Experience to talk to them about possibly hosting our wedding. We're both really excited about it, but we're still trying to figure out how we're going to come up with the deposit. Money won't be an issue after the first of the year, but it's a major issue right now, and we're both afraid that we might have to postpone the wedding. After talking with the representative, they let us take the girls around the museum for free...and they loved it.

Other than that, I'm still trying to find a job that will work around my limited schedule, still trying to write and edit when I can, and trying to adjust to family life.

I should also note that today I am officially 365 days away from 40, and I'm not thrilled about it. Rebecca is walking around the apartment with a big grin on her face, and I've seen her with bags that I'm not allowed to access, so obviously she's planning something. I guess that means I can't sit around and mope like I usually do...

When Living is a Crime

My story, When Living is a Crime has sold to Tales of the Talisman. It's set to appear in the September 2009 issue.

I'll be sure to remind you when the issue comes out...

My MileHiCon 40 schedule

It looks like I'm going to be nice and busy at MileHiCon 40. I have three panels, a reading, and a signing.

For those of you planning on attending, here's where you can find me:

Friday 3:00-4:00 Dystopias/Utopias Grand Mesa B-C

Saturday 3:45-5:00 Meet the Small Press Mesa Verde B

Sunday 11:00-Noon Signing Dealers' Room

Sunday Noon-1:00 Reading Mesa Verde C

Sunday 1:00-2:00 Getting Inside the Head of Non-Human Characters Wind River B

Hope to see a lot of you there. I will have some books with me, but it's always a good idea to get copies before the Con...just in case. For ordering info, go to http://www.jalanerwine.com.

Internet Issues

Earlier this week I had some major problems with my ISP...as a result, they've been dropped, and I'm currently on dial-up.

I should be back up with high-speed by the middle of the week, but until then, you can probably expect to hear very little from me because dial-up is enough to drive anyone batty...