A Spring Walk

The oldest and I took a walk yesterday, exploring some of the "wild" around us that we hadn't seen before. On Thursday, we noticed that the prairie dog babies were starting to come out of their holes...so, the first shot I got was of one of them on its hole. He's kind of hard to see, but he's the off-colored spot on the fresher looking hole...



Normally, this field is very brown and sparse, but since we've gotten a few inches of rain in the last month, the field has really greened up. So, I had to get a shot of it...



Having prairie dogs around is a pretty cool thing, and I've been reading up on them, trying to understand why they do the things they do, and I've found that they have a complicated society, and actually seem to be fairly bright. Not only that, but they aren't the nuisance that most people claim they are...in fact, they're an important part of the ecosystem in this part of the country. There are hundreds of these guys in the field, and with the green, they stand out a lot more. So if you look at the other side of the river in this shot, all the little brown splotches are prairie dogs...



The most surprising part of the walk was when we came upon this young lady. I had no idea we had these so close to our place. This picture was actually taken within half a mile of our door...

For Goodreads followers

I'm now cross posting this blog on my Goodreads site, so now you can read my entries here, or over there...your choice.

If there's anything specific that you'd like for me to talk about, please let me know...

The first revisions are done!

I've just typed out the last of what are the first revisions on Ephemeris. The revised rules are almost 15% longer with quite a bit more detail. There's still a lot of work, as we still need to add more things for the characters to play with, but this is a significant step.

I feel like I've been working on this beast for years, and I actually have been, and it will be nice once we finally release the game. As of right now, we're shooting for an Aug. 1st release, but if all goes well (which it rarely does), we might be able to push that release up a little!

Stay tuned for more information as I have it.

An update for the end of April

I've been very busy of late. I've had a case of the creeping cruds (no, it's not the swine flu...people really need to relax on that subject.)

We're nearing the end of the school year for the oldest, so she's had all kinds of events. I've also been putting a lot of effort into the revisions of Ephemeris, and I'm almost done with those. I've also been working on a bit of a redesign of the Flying Pen Press website...hope to debut that eventually.

We've also been working on trying to get all of our financial issues worked out. We were supposed to be getting married in a few weeks, but Rebecca's tax return was intercepted because of unpaid student loans, and now her wages are being garnished. Add to that me losing my "real" job, and things have been a struggle, and we've had to postpone the wedding until next May. By then hopefully the economy, and our personal finances will have improved.

In the next couple of days I will hopefully be posting an entry about finishing the first revisions on Ephemeris. At this point, we're hoping for a release date right around Aug. 1st, but there may be a pre-sale event even before that...so for those of you who have impatiently been awaiting the release of the game...it may actually be coming!!!

Ken Rand

Back when I first started out this crazy endeavor of writing, I was published in several ProMart magazines. Around the same time, there was a guy named Ken Rand who was also being published alongside me. When I became an editor for ProMart, I had the pleasure of publishing Ken several times...often joking with him that his stuff was too good for what I was editing...and in some ways that was true.

Over the last few years, we've exchanged an occasional e-mail, posted on each other's LiveJournal from time to time...but overall we didn't keep in touch like we should.

I've just learned that Ken passed away yesterday. He'd been sick for a long time, and he often talked about the fact that he was outliving any of his own expectations for his health, but I guess his illness finally became too much for him. All I know is that I wished I would have kept in touch with him more than I did.

You'll be missed Ken. You were a great writing talent, but more importantly, you were a great guy...

Great experience during revisions

Normally, revising my work is something that I really hate doing. Last night, I had one of those great experiences while working on the revisions of Ephemeris. It was after sunset, and I was sitting in our living room with the sliding glass door open. Yes, true, we did just get almost a foot of snow just a few days ago, but that doesn't mean it can't be really warm a few nights later. During that storm, this area got a lot of moisture (we saw a lot of rain and snow), so the river that runs through the field close to our house is running high and running fast. Needless to say, it was quiet enough last night that I could hear that river running while I was working on the revisions.

There's just something about the sound of running water that seems to drive the creative juices. I've heard this from a lot of writers, and I know it's true for me. So, I sat for a solid three hours and just cranked out notes for revising the game. It was one of the best revision sessions I've ever had.

Sadly, with the dry heat we're now getting, the water levels are starting to drop in the river, so I might not get to repeat that experience for a while...at least not until we start getting our Summer deluges.

The initial draft of Ephemeris is done

I've just typed the last of the 80,000+ words that is the initial draft of the Ephemeris RPG. This has taken forever and a day to get to this point, but as of late, I've been getting a lot done on it. Unfortunately, my partner in this has dropped the ball a bit, and I've had a lot more work to do than I expected...but it's done...it's done...it's done!!!

There's still a lot of work ahead of us. I have to go back through and put in all kinds of table. I have to work on the language to make it smoother. And I have to make some changes to the early part of the game because some of the rules changed half way through. Things just made more sense the farther into them that I got.

It shouldn't take anywhere near as long to revise the rules as it did to create them, so we're still hoping for a late Summer release. It would be so nice to finally have this beast out of the way...but it's been a lot of fun creating the game.

Now...I think I'll sleep. This last little push has left me with some severe insomnia...

An Ephemeris update

The RPG I've been designing, Ephemeris, is now very late in delivery. However, there is definite progress that is being made. Most of the initial draft of the rules has been written. My co-designer is supposed to be sending me the final chapter that I need very soon. At least, I hope he will be. If he doesn't, then I need to write that section. After that it will be some tweaking of the rules, and a whole lot of re-writing...but we are making progress.

I'm hoping for a release in late summer or early fall.

Price on my Kindle books reduced

If you're lucky enough to have a Kindle, you can now get two of my books for just 99 cents!

The Opium of the People and Seedlings on the Solar Winds are both available from Amazon for a new low price. Here are the links...

The Opium of the People

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

Why are you here?

Since joining NetworkedBlogs, I now have nearly 100 followers...and I know there were several of you here before I joined. I would imagine that quite a few of the people who are "followers" actually just excepted the Facebook invitation because that's what a lot of people do. But for those of you who actually do follow this blog now...or who have followed for quite a while, I'm curious as to what makes you read this particular blog? What do you like to hear me talk about?

This is your chance to give me some feedback...

Thanks...

Forgive Men Their Trespasses at Afterburn SF

My story, Forgive Men their Trespasses, is the featured story at Afterburn SF this week.



This story is set in the same "universe" as my novel The Opium of the People, although this one takes place in the Denver metro area. Those of you familiar with Denver might recognize a few of the places.

Hope you enjoy the story...

The Blizzard

As Colorado blizzards go, this one wasn't much of anything. We did have sustained winds of about 40 mph, and we did get about a foot of snow in this area, but anyone familiar with Colorado in March knows that that's not all that impressive.

Still, I did promise some pictures to a few people, so here they are.

During the storm (a little dark because of the blowing snow):


The morning after:




No matter how much snow, the kids always have fun:

Filed By

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I'm always trying to find a new way to promote my work. Today, I found Filed By...and I signed up, so please feel free to check out my page. It's currently a work in progress...

The end of BSG

Last night was the final episode of Battlestar Galactica, and my thoughts on the final episode are about the same as my thoughts on the series as a whole. It had some great moments, and it showed a lot of potential, but ultimately it fell flat.

The whole series had a little too much "God" or "Gods" in it for my taste. I don't necessarily mind science fiction with a bit of a religion in it...as long as it's a good story. Watching last nights episode, however, left me greatly disappointed. In a lot of ways, I felt that the writers fell back on the old Deus Ex Machina, which seems to be something you can get away with on TV...but NEVER in print fiction. In the end, everything happened because that was how God wanted it to happen...what a lame rip off! And Starbuck? She was an angel? What does that say about this Cylon God, considering that Starbuck fracked half the guys in the fleet?

Overall, I would give the series and the final episode a C+. It had moments of greatness, but it fell back on literary cliches far too often. I imagine the writers thought they were being clever by having the Galactica end up at prehistoric Earth...but guess what guys? It's been done before...and Douglas Adams did it better!

I guess the good thing is that I now have an extra hour to work on Friday nights...

Flying Pen Press

I've just been named Senior Editor at Flying Pen Press. I will be taking over many of the editorial duties in an effort to free up the publisher to focus more on the things that a publisher should be focusing on.

Flying Pen already has several great titles out, and you owe it to yourself to check them out.

A busy week at The Genre Mall

In a good month, I'll add about 15 new titles to The Genre Mall. In the last three days, I've completely blown through those numbers. On Monday, I uploaded 13 new titles, and today I uploaded another 10 new titles. Those numbers are unprecedented.

It was a pretty wide variety of titles, and I've also added a new publisher...Flying Pen Press. Please feel free to check out all of the listings at http://www.genremall.com/new.htm.

The Syfy channel

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard that the SciFi Channel is planning on changing its name to the Syfy Channel. If you weren't already aware, I'll wait while you go read the article...

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php

Is it just me, or were you insulted as well? I was particularly annoyed by:

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

I personally embrace the term geek and nerd. I happen to be proud of those names, and let's face it, there are a lot of very successful people out there that are geeks and nerds...Bill Gates ring a bell?

When I first heard about this, I was thinking it was time for those of us that are geeks and nerds to band together and boycott the Syfy Channel...then I realized that they don't really show anything worth watching anyway...

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8

Last night I finally finished the editing of Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8, and I e-mailed it off to Tyree at Sam's Dot Publishing. I've already seen a mock up of the cover, which was done by Laura Givens, and it looks like it will be a very nice looking book. Once it's actually released, I will post a table of contents and an ordering link...of course.

I have two more days at the real job, and then it will be time to file for unemployment. I'm going to be sitting down with someone (can't say much yet) on Tuesday to talk about a job. It wouldn't be a job that would pay really well (yet), but it's a job with a lot of potential...and it's something I would REALLY enjoy doing. So, we shall see what comes of that.

A day at the ER

Yesterday was a fun day spent at the ER. Rebecca called me at work at 10:30 saying she was in intense pain and thought she needed to go to the hospital. I left work and quickly came home. She was having intense pain (she said it was worse than labor) in her back and abdomen.

So, we ended up going to the hospital. Seven hours later, we got the diagnosis we were expecting...kidney stones. She's not the type that does anything easy, however. She has them on both sides, and one of them is larger than normal...so it might not pass. I took today off from work to make sure the oldest got to school, and to keep an eye on the youngest, while I keep Rebecca doped up on pain killers.

Seven hours seems a bit ridiculous for a Monday afternoon at the ER. I know they have a triage system set up, but I don't think it works. There were a lot of people that got in before us who didn't even look like they were in pain...whereas she doubled up several times while we were waiting. If she'd had a severe kidney infection, those extra hours of waiting might have made a big difference in the final outcome.

After she was discharged, we went to get her prescriptions filled...that was the next part of the ridiculous day. Her anti-nausea prescription was $110 for 15 pills...and that was with insurance!!! Something tells me socialized medicine might not necessarily be a bad thing. The funniest thing about it was that her highly addictive narcotic pain killer was only $5. Yeah, the American health care system really works. I hate to imagine how much all of this would have cost us if it had been me...I don't have insurance. Even with her insurance, I'm sure this is going to set us back quite a bit.

The one sad part of the night was while she was in her room waiting, I saw the police bring a girl in who was probably 13 or 14. She was cuffed, and because they didn't have any empty beds, they were questioning her and giving her a breathalyzer in the hallway. I think she'd attempted suicide. In the two plus hours we were in the room, I never saw her parents show up...that's the biggest tragedy of all...

Weekend update

Things have been hectic around here, so that's the main reason for the lack of posting of late. We had the in-laws staying with us for a couple of weeks, so that kept us busy with a lot of different things. Since they left, the kids seem to have forgotten how to behave, so that's made life interesting.

This coming week was supposed to have been my final week at my "real" job, but it looks like we're going to stay open for at least one more week. I've been able to pick up some extra hours, and as a result, I should now qualify for unemployment if I don't find a job...which I don't think I will right away. I've never liked the idea of government aid of any kind, and I've never had to take any kind of aid in the past, but times are changing for all of us, and stimulus or not, the economy pretty much sucks right now.

In the writing corner, I've had a small press publisher pass on Red Moon Rising, but they gave me some very specific things that didn't work for them, and offered to re-read it if I can make the changes. Given my crazy schedule, it will probably be a few months before I can get back to work on the book.

My main writing project right now is still Ephemeris. I'm making progress on the game, but it's very slow progress. For editing, I'm pretty sure we've read all of the submissions for Infradead, and we will soon be finishing that up. I feel very bad about that project because I haven't had enough time to devote to it like I would have liked. As a result, our co-editor, Scott Virtes has had to pick up a lot of the slack...and I feel very bad about that. I'm also working on Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8, and I will hopefully be sending that off to Tyree at Sam's Dot in the next couple of weeks.

That's about it for now. I'll try to post more often as time allows it...but now I must feed the kids, and continue to try to find a "real" job.

Recognized in public

A few weeks ago, my oldest took a copy of Seedlings on the Solar Winds in for show and tell for her 2nd grade class...a lot of the kids were very excited about it.

Then last week, Rebecca and I were shopping for birthday gifts for the youngest when I suddenly heard a voice from below saying "You're the guy who writes books!" It was one of the oldest's classmates, and he was very excited. You would have thought he'd met whoever it is that little boys think is cool these days.

Authors are rarely recognized in public, so this was pretty cool for my first time...

And of course the Hugos

Hugo balloting has also opened. If you attended Denvention or if you're already registered for Anticipation, you are eligible to vote. Simply go to...http://www.anticipationsf.ca.

If you're eligible, then you should certainly take advantage of it and vote. I wish I could attend Anticipation this year, but with the wedding and everything, we simply can't afford a trip to Montreal this year.

The Locus Poll

Locus Magazine has started their annual readers poll (although you don't have to be a subscriber to vote. This is a great way to vote for some of your favorite titles from last year, and it's also a good way to show support for Locus (one of the best resources in the speculative fiction field.) If you're interested in voting, simply go to https://secure.locusmag.com/2009/2009PollAndSurvey.html. The poll has drop-down menus for the items they consider worthy of voting for, but you can write-in a title or editor as well.

Should you be interested in voting for me, you can consider the following:
Short Stories: The Magenta Equations from Allegory E-Zine and Hunted from Tales of the Talisman. You can also consider me for editor...although I don't expect to beat out any of the people on the list...I am a realist as well.

Some other people and titles to consider:
Editors & Writers:
Tyree Campbell
David Lee Summers

Artist:
Laura Givens

Zines:
Aoife's Kiss
Tales of the Talisman
The Fifth Di...
The Martian Wave

Publishers:
Nomadic Delirium Press
Sam's Dot Publishing

Aliens

As many of you probably know by now, I'm helping to create a new science fiction role playing game. One thing that should be different about this game as opposed to others is that, for the most part, we are trying to use plausible science in the creation of the game. Granted, we are using hyperspace, but who wants to play a game where relativity has to be taken into account? In other ways, we're trying to make it believable. Think more along the lines of Babylon 5 as opposed to Star Wars.

Most of the "encounters" that characters are going to have will be with the major species of the game, but we'd still like to include some "monsters" in this thing. With that in mind, we're wondering about vacuum based lifeforms. What do you think they would need to survive, and how would they have evolved?

Obviously, they need to be able to "breathe" in some completely new way, they need to be able to function in vacuum, they need to be able to survive the extreme temperature fluctuations, they obviously can't have blood like we have...

...what else do you think we need to take into account when we create these critters?

Regime Change

Here in the US today we had our peaceful transition of power. Out with the old (and it's about time), and in with the new. Anyone who has read my more political postings on this blog has to know that I was never a big Bush supporter. My personal feeling is that he was the worst thing to happen to this country in my lifetime...and maybe ever. So, seeing him get on that helicopter today really felt good.

I'm glad to see Obama in office. I think he will make a much better president (but then so would my cat), but I don't hold the overwhelming optimism of so many Americans. First off, he's a politician, and it's very difficult to trust politicians in this day and age. Secondly, he's shown several times that he's willing to compromise what he says are his beliefs in order to gain favor (like most politicians.) Still, I don't think he will do anywhere near as much harm as Dubya did.

I watched his speech, and I thought he had some good things to say, but like most speeches, it was filled with ideas but no real plans. We'll have to see how he plans to make those ideas a reality in the coming months. I was very put off by the amount of times god and religion were mentioned...although it was nice to hear him say non-believers. Not sure if I've ever heard a president comment on what is a growing percentage of the population...and it was also nice to hear him say that he wants to put more emphasis back on science...something that has suffered horribly under the Bush regime. It was also nice to hear an American president that can actually use the English language. I haven't yet heard Obama say nuclear, but I'm willing to bet that he will get the pronunciation right.

The best part of this day was the fact that there is now a non-white male running this country. We're way behind many other countries, but that at least gives me hope. I can now point out to my kids that, like them, he's mixed, and even they could be president...although we still have to elect a woman.

I will say that I am cautiously optimistic about the future of this country under Obama's leadership, but I think his supporters are setting him up to fail. There is no way in the American political system that he can bring about all of the Change that he is talking about...but he will do better than Bush.

Goodbye George! I won't miss you even in the slightest.

And Good Luck Barack!

My site

I've been able to get my domain name back, so jalanerwine.com is back up.

The date

In my year in review blog I mentioned that one of the biggest things I'd be doing this year is planning our wedding. Turns out it won't be as much work as I'd thought. After looking over our finances and realizing just how expensive a wedding and honeymoon would be, we quickly became aware that we had limited options.

Our original plan was to get married this May, but we wouldn't be able to afford the wedding...so we were going to postpone it to August. By doing that, we'd be able to afford the wedding, but not the honeymoon. So, we were faced with the option of pushing the wedding back to May of 2010. At that point, we both realized that it was more important that we get married...ceremony or not.

So, we will be having a courthouse wedding on May 21st of this year. After that, we will be honeymooning in Taos. This is also easier on us because we were already planning on having the kids spend part of their summer with their grandma.

For our first anniversary, we're thinking about having a second ceremony, which would be more like a traditional wedding...including all of the guests...

Preditors & Editors

This is an annual poll that has had some major problems in the past. It looks like they might have everything going right this year, so if you're interested in voting for me, I've been nominated in the following categories:

Author
Science Fiction Short Story: The Magenta Equations
Zine Editor

Also, please feel free to vote for any Sam's Dot Publishing or Nomadic Delirium Press listings that you might see...

And The Genre Mall is up for bookstore...

http://critters.org/predpoll

Lost domain

Apparently my domain name expired, and nobody bothered to tell me it was going to...so I've lost my website.

I'm working on rectifying the situation, but it might take a while...

The Year in Review

On a personal level, this year, like every other year, had its ups and downs, but the ups far outweighed the downs. Rebecca and I got engaged, which was a huge up...we moved in together, and I suddenly found myself the father of two great girls...all ups.

The biggest downs for the year would be that my friend Joe lost his battle with cancer early in the year, and my three year old niece was diagnosed with leukemia just before Christmas.

The "real" job news was also both up and down. I finally got away from the job that I've been hating for years, but then it took me months to find a new gig, and then that place went into liquidation one month after I started. So, even though I'm still working, I might not have a job much longer.

In writing news, I've mostly been focusing on longer works, so I haven't written much short fiction. I did finish the drafts on two novellas, and did quite a bit of writing for the Ephemeris RPG, but no major victories on any of these. I've already sold (or permanently retired) much of the short fiction I've written, so I only had two publications in 2008. One with Tales of the Talisman and one with Allegory. Overall, I didn't write as much as I'd like, but I imagine that is because of adjusting to the new family and spending so much time trying to find "real" work.

In 2009, the biggest thing I'm working on will be the wedding. Planning for that is going to take up a lot of time, and obviously I have to find a new job. I'm hoping to write more, with the emphasis still on longer fiction, and I'm really hoping we will finally finish Ephemeris and get it out on the market...

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Help Ed Bryant

I got this from Jason Sizemore's LiveJournal, but I don't think he'll mind that I'm stealing it.

His message:

It has come to my attention that noted writer and critic Ed Bryant needs our help. Due to financial complications surrounding recent heart bypass surgery, a limited income, and some assholes who took advantage of his kindness, he has been struggling to buy the insulin needed to keep him alive (Ed is a Type I diabetic) and nearly lost his home to foreclosure.

To that end, a third party trust fund has been set up for Ed at the Colorado Fund for People with Disabilities. The PayPal donation button below goes to an account administered by the Colorado Fund. Please consider helping Ed by donating funds to the third party trust using this button.

More information can be found at http://www.friendsofed.org.

My message:

I've known Ed for years. He's a major force in the speculative fiction culture here in Colorado, and a major force worldwide. Ed and I went to the Henry Rollins show many years ago, and he's always been a very nice guy. He's always offered advice to up and coming writers and does a lot of workshopping here in Colorado...so it would be nice if we could all help him out...

The Martian Wave

Some of you may know that for years I've edited an on-line zine called The Martian Wave. In 2009 we're turning The Martian Wave into a biannual print zine and I've just posted the guidelines over at the Sam's Dot website. The zine is a science fiction zine, with an emphasis on stories about the exploration and colonization of space.

If you think you might be interested in submitting, please go to http://samsdotpublishing.com/tmw/guidelines.htm.

The Solar Sea

I don't often plug other books on this blog, but I wanted to let my readers know about a book that will be coming out soon. The book is The Solar Sea, and the author is David Lee Summers. I had the opportunity to be one of the early readers of this book, and I even wrote a blurb for it, which reads as follows:

"In The Solar Sea, David Lee Summers creates a page-turning yarn with some of the most dramatic characters I've read in years. You won't want to put it down, and when you're done, you'll only want more." J Alan Erwine, author of The Opium of the People.

So, if you're looking for a great book to read, I'd recommend pre-ordering the book now. You can find it at http://thesolarsea.com. Plus, I'll also add that I really like the site they've set up for the book...

Happy Holidays

Whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year, I hope it has been...or will be a very happy one.

Tonight we drove the girls around to look at lights, and they loved it. On the last street we were going down, there were three houses packed together that looked like they were having some kind of contest to see who could be the most dramatic. One of the houses was a clear winner. They had all kinds of lights, and decorations. It was a lot of stuff, but it wasn't really tacky. We drove to the end of the street and then turned around because Rebecca wanted to get a picture from her side of the car. As she was readying to take the picture, she noticed someone walking in front of the house...and who was it? None other than Santa Clause himself. Both of the girls were very excited, and the guy actually walked down to the sidewalk, laughing a "Ho Ho Ho," and calling over "Merry Christmas." I think this made the girls night. We let them believe it was the real thing (still not sure how I feel about the whole lying to kids).

Now it's time to wrap the last of the presents, and since I started a new tradition last year of posting a tasteless video, I leave you with this...

A review of Harvest of Debts

Like a lot of authors, I use Google Alerts to keep me informed about what people might be saying about my work. Today I got a review of Harvest of Debts, a short story I wrote a long time ago. The review was posted at Anthology Builder. For those of you who are new to this blog, Anthology Builder is a site that allows readers to put together their own anthology with a variety of stories from the site.

This was actually a five star review, and I don't even know who the reviewer is. If you'd like to read the review, you can find it at http://www.anthologybuilder.com/view_all_ratings.php?story_id=769.

An open question entry

Since adding the NetworkedBlogs application on Facebook, I've added quite a few new readers, so I thought I would open up this blog to some questions and answers.

So, this is your chance to get to know me better as a writer and editor...

...ask whatever you'd like...

It was one year ago today...

...that Seedlings on the Solar Winds was released. Overall, sales haven't been quite what I'd hoped for, but I think most writers would say that about their books...unless, of course, they're Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. Still, this little book has made its way into a lot of hands, and overall, the response has been quite good from the people who have read it.

Interestingly enough, and maybe this is true for a lot of small press titles, sales through the publisher have been significantly stronger than sales through Amazon and other on-line sources.

I'm still very pleased with this book, although a lower cover price probably would have been a good idea, but small publishers just don't have the same resources that larger publishers have...

A blog about writing...believe it or not

Other than the people who personally know me, I think most of the visitors to my blogs are interested in my posts about writing...either because they've read my work, or because they're considering reading my work. For those people, the last several entries probably weren't that interesting...so now I'm going to talk about writing.

The idea for the next novel (it better be at least 80,000 words) is formulating itself in my mind. It's going to be a space opera, with hyperspace, traders, and maybe even a war thrown in. Not exactly pure science fiction, but the ideas coming to me sound like they'll be fun to write...and hopefully fun to read. In some ways, the book seems like it would fit well with Ephemeris, the RPG I'm currently working on. I don't know if I'll write it as an Ephemeris novel, or as a more general novel. Once I start doing some outlining, I'll probably have a better idea.

I have a small press publisher who might be interested in my long novella, Red Moon Rising. I say might because they want some changes made to it. The changes, however, are stylistic in nature, and I'm not sure if I'm willing to make them, since it might change my "voice" in the story. Something for me to think about...

A sale at NDP

Nomadic Delirium Press is having a holiday sale. This is a chance to get several of my books at a pretty good discount, so check it out soon...

http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/holiday.htm

The weather outside is frightful

Current temp is zero and we have light snow. The snow I can deal with, but I've never really liked the BITTER cold...

Thought I'd post a few more pics...especially since someone mentioned that the cats weren't in the last batch.

The girls with the tree:









Rebecca decided to get a shot of the falling snow and the lights on our balcony. The lights didn't show up very well, but she got a cool flash effect off of the snow:





KJ wonders why there's a tree in his house:




Mosi says get the &%@* out of her face:

Some Xmas stuff

Wednesday night Rebecca's dad came over, and he and the girls decorated the tree while Rebecca and I went shopping for Xmas presents. This was the first time the girls had ever had a real tree, so they were pretty excited about it. We didn't want to do anything extravagant, so we went with a small tree...although I think we could have used a few more ornaments.

Here are some pics...

The tree before:





The family with the tree:





The tree after:





The next night there was a gorgeous sunset, so I had to go on to our balcony and get a shot of it:

Why is the universe trying to crap on my Xmas?

I thought it was a bad thing when I found out that I might be losing my job after the holidays. Very Scroogish of my employers...but I just got off the phone with my mom, and she told me that my three and a half year old niece has been diagnosed with leukemia. Kind of put things in perspective for me...

For a young child to have to suffer like that seems pretty cruel of the universe, but for it to happen to a family less than two weeks before Christmas seems completely unfair...but then I've never thought the universe was a fair place.

Rebecca's brother battled leukemia when they were both teenagers...unfortunately, he lost his battle. We're all thinking positive thoughts for my niece, and we're hoping she gets a diagnosis of one of the forms that is easier to treat.

I'd appreciate it if you could all think positive thoughts for her as well.

Damn jobs

Anyone who reads here frequently knows that I had one hell of a hard time finding a job when we moved here. Most likely it was because of my availability, but I spent close to three months looking before I got my current job. I've now been there for close to a month, and today we were all told that the store was closing and that we are going into liquidation.

That means that in the next 6-12 weeks, I will once again be out of a job. I might be able to get a transfer, but there are no guarantees. It does give me time to look, but it's not easy to find something at holiday time...so to say that the timing of this sucked would be quite the understatement. This is one of the main reasons why I don't like "real" jobs, but unfortunately, writing and editing is still very hit and miss on money for me.

Since I like to report on nature sightings I have, I'll mention that while I was standing out in the cold waiting for our oldest to get out of school, a large bird flew over me. I was expecting it to be a goose, since there are so many of them near her school, but I didn't hear any noise. When I looked up, I realized that it was a bald eagle. That's about the only good news I have from the day...

The TSO show

To say that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show was amazing would be an understatement. Great music, a phenomenal light show, and a great crowd made for a great night...not to mention the great company.

The first part of the show was put together as a story, which was pretty much the same as their Christmas Eve and Other Stories album. After that, they jammed, and that was the best part of the show. Moving lights, stage sections that rose, electric violins...it was definitely amazing. If you've never seen them live, you owe it to yourself to go.

Before the show, Rebecca wasn't sure if she would enjoy it, but she had a blast.

Possibly the best part of the show was the fact that the members of the band are real class acts. Before the show, they donated more than $17,000 to local charities, and after the show, they set up tables in the hallways so they could sit and talk with their fans. You definitely don't see that with most bands. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to stay...maybe next year.

Again, if Trans-Siberian Orchestra is coming to your town, you need to go see them. If you really appreciate good music, you will not be sorry.

Going to the TSO show

Rebecca and I will soon be leaving for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. This is something that I've been waiting for for years now...and, it's hard to believe, but this will be Rebecca's first ever concert.

No matter what, this will be a great show...enjoy some vids...

Noises in the Night

Sunday night after Rebecca came home from work, we both heard strange noises coming from outside. At first, I thought it was kids laughing on the stairs, but why would kids be out at almost 11 at night? Yeah, some parents are ok with that...

As we listened more closely, we realized that the noises were coming from the field behind our place. We went out on the balcony, but couldn't see anything, but it was obvious that the sounds were being made by coyotes. Shortly after that, someone went over to the field with a flashlight and they took off...we did see one of them running through the trees. Our guess is that they'd chased something into a thicket that's over there because we went over to investigate the next morning and didn't find any signs of a kill in the snow.

We've known that we had coyotes in the area. I've seen them on two different occasions, but this was the first time that we'd heard them...and they were only about 50 meters from our place.

In other news, we're having the typical crazy Colorado weather. I walked to work this morning at 6 in howling winds, but because the winds were out of the west, it was 50 degrees...and it warmed up close to 70 today. However, tonight the winds are supposed to shift to coming out of the north, which means that the temps will drop, and we have a chance for snow. You have to love Colorado's weather...

Damn word counts

I don't know why, but my works tend to fall around the 60,000 word mark. That's too long for the few novella publishers out there, and it's too short for the novel markets. Granted, if I was writing mainstream fiction it would be fine, but for SF, most markets want at least 80k.

I finished the latest revisions of the novelization of A Problem in Translation, and it came in at 61,574 words. I guess that means it's back to the drawing board with it. I suppose I need to find several new scenes to add...but I'm just not sure where.

For now, I'll probably set it aside for a few weeks, and let it stew in my brain.

Black Friday is over

My original plan had been to title this entry "I Survived Black Friday," but then I read about a Wal-Mart employee in New York being trampled to death by crazy shoppers and I decided that would be a tasteless title.

Come on people. We're talking about saving a few bucks...is it really worth killing an employee over? I'm sorry but when hundreds of people run the poor guy over...and then step around his broken body, you can't call it an accident, and all of those shoppers should be deeply ashamed of what they did today.

As for my Black Friday, we were busy, but nothing like that. The first two hours, we were crazy busy, but then after that, it was just more of a steady busy. No matter what, we definitely earned our paychecks today.

Thanksgiving went well here. Rebecca made a fabulous dinner. She'd never done a turkey before, and she was absolutely convinced that she was going to ruin it, but in all honesty, it was one of the best turkeys I've ever had...now we have tons of leftovers.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Black Friday

For my 30+ years on this planet, I've managed to avoid Black Friday like the plague. I don't generally like crowds, and I really hate them in stores or malls, so I've never seen a reason to partake in the festivities.

However, now that I have a retail job, I find that I will be working on Black Friday, and not only that, but I have to be in at 5 a.m. I'm really not sure what to expect, as our location is pretty slow, so there might not be very many people coming in. Still, I think we will be busier than normal, so I would guess the day will pass quick. After that, it's one short day on Saturday and then two days off. I'm hoping to use that time to finish up the revisions on the novella/short novel that I've been working on...but it isn't turning out like I'd hoped, so it probably won't be the final revisions like I'd wanted them to be...

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow will be Thanksgiving here in the U.S. For me, this holiday has always brought up mixed feelings. Since becoming an adult (at least in age, not necessarily in maturity) I haven't really been a part of a family. Yes, I have been in relationships during the holidays, but they've always been highly dysfunctional...to say the least.

This year, I suddenly find myself with a family. Rebecca and I have been together for a little over a year, and our little family will be celebrating Thanksgiving together, and as the cliche requires...that makes me very thankful.

Some other things I'm thankful for would be the rest of my family...who are scattered all over the States, my friends (including the childhood friends who I've just started to re-connect with), my readers (you're the ones that make writing worthwhile), and of course the end of the Bush administration.

One thing that has always bothered me about this holiday is that in a lot of ways it seems to celebrate the exploitation of the Native American population. Let's face it, most of those early colonies would not have survived without the help of the local Indians...and it's a disgrace how they were repaid for their help. Knowing that some of my ancestors walked the Trail of Tears always makes me a bit morose on Thanksgiving.

So, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, and I ask that you please try to take a few minutes to remember the atrocities committed against the Indian people after that first Thanksgiving.

The aStore

For those of you not reading this in an RSS feed, you've probably noticed that there's a new widget at the top of my main page...it's also on most of the pages on my homepage.

This is an Amazon aStore widget. The aStore I've created features a number of the books I've written or edited. Unfortunately, it doesn't have most of the Sam's Dot titles I've worked on because they're not available on Amazon...which is the one thing keeping Sam's Dot from being one of the major small press markets.

Yes, it's just one more attempt by me to try to make more money off of the hard work I've put into my writing and editing...

Still undecided

I've been debating back and forth whether or not I'll see this when it comes out.

Now that I've seen this preview, I can honestly say that I'm still undecided. Parts of it look good, and other parts look ridiculous...

SNOW!!!

I woke up this morning to get ready for work, and found that it had snowed overnight. It wasn't a lot of snow...just enough to almost cover the grass, but it was the first measurable snow we've had in Denver so far this Fall. According to my memory, which isn't what it used to be, this is the latest first snow we've had since I've lived here.

Of course, the sun came out and melted it all away, but at least I finally got my snow.

The job search is over

For better, or for worse, I once again have a "real" job. Tomorrow at 6 a.m. I report for duty at Office Depot, where I'll be doing stocking and sales.

It's certainly not my dream job, but it is a job. Given the limited hours I'm actually available, I'm reasonably happy to have this. At least it's not food. I don't know if I could have handled another food job.

Looking on the bright side, I will hopefully get a discount on things like paper and mailing supplies...that's always a good thing for a freelance writer.

Also, today is Veterans' Day here in America, so I would like to take the time to wish every veteran a Happy Veterans' Day, and thank them for their service. Be sure you're all doing the same.

The real losers in this election

The ballots have been cast, and the votes have been counted. The media has told us who the winners are and who the losers are, but I'd like to take a moment to tell you who the real losers in this election are. It's actually a very simple answer...go look in a mirrror. That's right America, you and me, the American people are the real losers in this election.

Of the two main candidates for president, I do believe that the lesser of two evils won. I think we will be better off with Obama than we would have been with McCain, but I still don't think we're in good shape.

The simple reason for this is that both the Democrats and the Republicans are owned by big business, and it's big business that makes the decisions for these politicians. Whether it's the Republicans and the oil companies, or the Democrats and the pharmaceutical companies, these people are more interested in doing what is best for major corporations and for their own political careers than they are in doing what is right for the American people...the people who put them in power.

The system is stacked to favor the two party system. If you don't believe me, just look into what a third party candidate has to do to get on the ballot in most states. And forget about media coverage (which is what generally governs the American view of the world.) The media is too closely tied to the major parties to ever let a third party candidate get the kind of coverage needed to mount a serious charge. Have you ever wondered why you didn't see a Green or Libertarian candidate in the debates? Simple. The debates are owned and operated by the two major parties...thus locking out any chance for a third party candidate.

As long as we continue to have a corporate democracy as opposed to a representative democracy, it will be the American people who continue to suffer. So, in future elections, please consider the possibility of voting for a third party candidate.

Having said all of this, I offer my hearty congratulations to President-elect Obama. Of the two, I'm glad it's him. I hope he can restore some of the America that has been destroyed by the current administration, and I certainly hope that he will bring about some racial healing in this country...something that is still badly needed.

An entry about writing

And finally, an entry without pictures...

While at MileHiCon last week, I moderated a panel about getting inside the minds of non-human characters. It was a great panel...one of the best I've ever done...and it gave me a lot of ideas for the novelization of my short story A Problem in Translation.

So, earlier this week, I started on the revisions. Right now I'm just making notes on the manuscript itself, but soon I'll be back at the keyboard, and hopefully it will be good enough to sell...to a major market...

Halloween

Last night was my first Halloween as a dad. I think what struck me more than anything is the surprising number of people that don't give out candy. I can remember being a kid and going around one or two blocks and coming home with the mother lode of candy. But last night we had to drive around a lot just to find streets where people were actually giving out candy.

The kids still did well, because let's face it, they really don't need too much candy. I was also struck by the amount of candy that we threw out. Rebecca and I were both very cautious and we threw out anything that looked even slightly suspicious.

This year, the girls went as a bride and a unicorn...even though the unicorn had wings, which struck me as odd. We finally decided it was a pegicorn.

MileHiCon pics

Obviously I'm trying to get caught up on blogging tonight...

Here are some pics from last weekend's MileHiCon.

The Getting into the Minds of Non-Humans Panel
(picture courtesy of Ian Brazee-Cannon)


The girls made masks...



Then they got to go to make costumes out of scrap...




Then all of the kids got to pose with a working R2 unit...

The neighborhood

From previous posts, you've probably gathered that we live in an area that's rich in wildlife, even though we're still in the city. The other night as we were coming home, we came across three very large raccoons, who didn't seem to be the least bit afraid of people...and the other day while I was on my way to a job interview, I heard a rustling sound coming from the dry canal that runs close to us. I walked over to investigate, and there was a very large coyote strolling through the canal. He looked up at me and started walking a little faster, but he didn't run from me.

Here are some pics I've taken over the last couple of months...

Why can't we be friends?

As many of you know when Rebecca and I moved in together, we each brought a cat. I brought Mosi, and she brought K.J. To say that the blending of this part of our family has not been very successful would be an understatement. K.J. has tried to make friends, but Mosi usually chases him or attacks him for no reason...although I'm sure she thinks there's a reason.

Still, sometimes they get along better than they want us to know. One day when Rebecca was taking a nap while I was working at my computer, I turned around and saw these...

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...

700 billion dollars of BS

Our economy needs a bail-out of some kind...there's no doubt about that, but the plan being pushed by the Bush administration is a joke. There's no help for the common joe like you and me, so who does benefit?

The CEOs of these companies are going to get massive pay-offs...for basically doing a crappy job. I always thought quality work was supposed to be rewarded.

Let's face it, the current parties and their asinine policies are what has brought us to this point. Do we really think it's a good idea to continue to let them try to fix it?

If you're interested in reading part of the proposal, click here. Please pay special attention to the statement...

"Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency."

If you feel like me, that there has to be something better than this, please contact your Congresspeople...not that I feel it will really do any good...

Contact your Representative

Contact your Senator

Trying to get back on track

I've been out of the loop for a few days now. For the last two weeks, I've had a bad bronchial infection and the worst sinus infection I could ever imagine. For the last four or five days, I haven't done much more than watch (or more precisely, listen) to TV. Normally I don't use covers when I sleep until it cools way done, but I've been curled up under three blankets, with a fiancee on one side and a cat on the other.

TV is quite disappointing. I've never been a big fan of the idiot box, but being forced to endure it because I couldn't keep my eyes open because of my swollen sinuses made me realize just how bad TV is, and just why our society is the way it is.

Hopefully I will be healthy enough tomorrow to start something close to a regular schedule, because I am way behind on a lot of things.

I need to get back to work on the WIP, get a ton of editing done, send out some manuscripts...and I probably should find one of those job things...

Snow on the high peaks

I woke up this morning to look out at our wonderful view and was quite pleased to see that there was snow on the high peaks of the Rockies. This can only mean that it won't be much longer until there's snow here in Denver. I love snow, so I'm very excited about the prospect of it coming our way.

We're all still battling a bad case of the creeping cruds, so hopefully we'll all be feeling better soon...

Another WIP

Now that my novella that should have been a novel is making the rounds, I've decided to get back to work on another book that seems to have the same problem...not enough words.

This is an expansion of my short story "A Problem in Translation," that I've mentioned several times in the past. This book is most definitely a space opera with lots of aliens, but it has a lot of underlying moral questions. So, here is my wordage so far...

57,961 / 80,000 (72.5%)

If you've read the short story in the past, I'd love to hear if you have any ideas of what you'd like to learn about the Lemec, since they're the primary antagonists in the book...and if you haven't read the story, you can always order a copy of the illustrated version by clicking on the cover below...

Featured Author at Anthology Builder

This month I'm one of the featured authors at Anthology Builder. What this means is that if you build an anthology that contains one of my stories, you get a $1.00 off the normal price. Simply go to http://www.anthologybuilder.com/authordetails.php?byline=J%20Alan%20Erwine and you can start building your anthology today.

At the moment, I have ten stories on the site, so you should be able to find something that appeals to you...

Stories

Regular readers of this blog probably know that I have several stories listed with Anthology Builder. It seems that I'm actually starting to make some sales through the site...which is quite a pleasant surprise. So, if you're interested in reading some of my stories, and you might want to include them in an anthology with some other authors that you may, or may not know, please go to http://www.anthologybuilder.com/authordetails.php?byline=J%20Alan%20Erwine and check out what Anthology Builder has to offer.

If you're interested in picking up some of my previously published work as an e-file (PDF), you can visit http://www.jalanerwine.com/stories/index.htm.

An Ephemeris Update

As many of you may know, we'd hoped to have Ephemeris out by WorldCon, but we obviously missed that goal.

I've been busy with getting engaged, moving, and suddenly becoming a dad, so I haven't had the time I've needed to really work on the game like I should. My co-conspirator has also been busy...and maybe a little lazy...

I've made tremendous progress on the initial rules over the last couple of weeks, and we're now hoping for a release date sometime around MileHiCon. Granted, life often gets in the way, so it could still be early next year...but we're really shooting for late October.

Disappointed in the revisions

Having just completed the most recent round of revisions on what I'd hoped would be my next novel, I have to admit that disappointed isn't even the right word. Even though I did add a lot, I also cut out some stuff that didn't seem to be working.

As a result, I fell well short of the 80,000 words I was shooting for. I'm sure that even if I have people read it before I actually start to submit it, they aren't going to find enough places to add the kind of wordage that I would need...so it looks like I'm stuck with a novella.

Now I just have to figure out where I can actually submit a novella...yeah, more than a little disappointed.

The actual final count:

55,392 / 80,000 (69.2%)

WorldCon video

Someone has put together a short video showing some of their highlights from WorldCon. Personally, I think it's a bit heavy on the masquerade, but it's still a good video and worth watching...

Denvention Pics

Here are some pics from my panel with Larry Niven at Denvention...the World Science Fiction Convention. These are from the collection of pics that have been put together by the Con. To see all of the pictures, please go to...http://www.flickr.com/photos/arwensouth/collections/72157606586226770.

Denvention Day 5

Today was the last day of WorldCon. I made it down early enough to catch a panel called Making a Living Telling Lies. The panelists were Bill Mayhew, Connie Willis, Jay Lake, and Jo Walton. I figured it would be a good panel because putting Connie and Jay together is bound to spark something interesting, and I wasn't disappointed. I don't know if I necessarily learned anything, but I was definitely entertained.

After that, I just wondered around talking to people about whatever we felt like talking about. I handed out a lot of my cards, which will hopefully lead to some sales for me, Sam's Dot Publishing, and The Genre Mall.

There were a few people I'd met in the past that I was hoping to get a chance to talk to, but it didn't work out. I never did see Maggie Bonham, and I passed Mike Brotherton and Frank Wu a couple of times...but they were always quite busy.

I was also hoping to meet Lawrence Schoen who I've edited in the past, but I've never met in person. I saw him once in the hall, and he was on a cellphone, so I never had a chance to introduce myself. I was also hoping to meet Bryan Thao Worra, but I don't think he even made it.

After the morning panel, I was hoping to introduce myself to Jay Lake, but he had to leave before the panel was over...so I never had the chance. I also wanted to meet John Scalzi, but other than when he won the Hugo, I only saw him when I was in line for registration...and he was with a big crowd, so I didn't want to push my way in. I find it so rude when people interrupt my conversations, and I'm sure it happens a lot more to him.

I also went to the closing ceremonies, which had some good moments. At the end of it all, it was kind of sad. This was my first ever WorldCon, and I didn't get to see as much as I wanted. Had it been for any reason other than family, I would have been very frustrated...but I can't complain about missing a Con because I have kids to take care of. They're good kids, and I certainly want to be there for them.

I'd love to think that I'll make it next year to Montreal, but I kind of doubt it. Australia also seems pretty unlikely...but maybe I'd better get back to writing so that I have even more reason to go to WorldCons in the future.

I'll try to find some pictures to post tomorrow!

Denvention Days 3 & 4

Day 3 was pretty much a bust for me. Because of daycare issues, I was only able to make it to the masquerade...which really wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. There were definitely some great costumes, but I expected a lot more from a WorldCon. Still, it was worth it just to see Frank Wu's costume. You can find it here.

Day 4 was good. I got there at a fairly decent time and spent a lot of time reacquainting myself with a lot of people.

The first panel I went to was about the evolution of SF, which had quite an impressive list of panelists: Ben Bova, John Stith, LE Modesitt, Robert J. Sawyer, and Shoshana Glick. It was interesting to hear what people from across the generations of SF had to say.

After that, I went to a panel on self-promotion, which really didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. Then it was off to dinner with Hobbit and talking to more people along the way.

The night ended with the Hugos. I don't usually like award shows on TV, but the Hugos were fun...and I still think it would be great to stand on that stage holding one of those statues. I guess I'd better work on getting much better at what I do as a writer and an editor.

Now, it's time to get ready for the final day. I mostly want to go down and meet some people I haven't met...except on-line. That's my main goal for the day.

Denvention Days 1 & 2

This is my first ever WorldCon, and to be totally honest...I haven't been there much. Now that I've suddenly become a dad, I've had familial obligations.

I got there Wednesday around 11 with the intent of hitting a couple of early panels...instead I stood in line at registration for about an hour. There were definitely some glitches.

After that, I hit the Dealers' Room...lucky I don't have any money. Along the way, I ran into Ian Brazee-Cannon, Laura Givens, Cynthia Felice, Rebecca Bates...and waved at a lot of other people I knew...all of whom seemed to be on their cellphones...I'm beginning to wonder if there was some kind of conspiracy. I also saw a lot of the big hitters, but they were talking with other people, and I don't think there's anything more obnoxious than people interrupting a conversation.

I made it to two panels yesterday. The first was an art panel, which I didn't think went very well because the moderator did most of the talking. After that, I went to a panel on the small press...which didn't really hold any surprises for me, since I've been in the small press for so long. I then went to the Opening Ceremonies, which I also thought were a major downer. That was it for the first day, and even though it might sound like it wasn't a great experience, I had a lot of fun talking to people...and that's what Cons are really about for me.

Thursday was going to be a nightmare. I had a panel and a signing...the only programming I'm doing at this year's Con, but we couldn't find any daycare...at all! Luckily, I have the most amazing fiancee in the world, and she was able to rearrange her schedule at work. She went in and opened...came home so I could make my panel and signing...and then went back to work to close. Did I tell you she's amazing???

The panel was What Makes SF Work? Characters, Society, or Technology? My co-panelists were the one and only Larry Niven, Ken Scholes, and Shanna Swendson. The panel was a really good time. I'd guess that we probably had 50-70 people in the audience...and yeah, I really believe they came to see me (that's sarcasm, by the way.) Even though we all agreed that the answer to the question was "yes," we managed to stretch it out to the full 75 minutes, with each of us getting plenty of time to talk. It was also nice that the four of us were different types of writers, so I think the audience got a good variety in the answers. And we had a good audience too...with no one trying to talk too much.

After that, I had my signing, which was a complete bust. Most conventions put the signing close to the entrance of the dealers' room, but Denvention had us set off to the side. So the only way someone would have noticed me is if they actually came looking for me. But I did run into Rose Beetem and Ron and Nina Else...all very nice people. The one nice thing about the signing was that I was sitting right next to Stanley Schmidt of Analog. It was fun to kind of pick his brain a little.

Tomorrow I will probably only make it to the masquerade because of more day care issues, but I'll blog about it as I can...

My WorldCon bio

I know I won't shut up about WorldCon, but I'm excited. This will be the first WorldCon I've ever attended, and the fact that I get to do a panel and a signing makes it that much more exciting...assuming we can find daycare for the little ones.

So, if you're interested in reading my bio, you can find it at http://www.denvention.org/programming/bios22.php#JAlanErwine.

Writing again...

...or at least revising again.

Most of my time lately has been focused on the move (and everything that went along with that), working on Ephemeris, and assorted editing projects...so my writing has suffered a bit.

But last night I pulled out the hard copy of Red Moon Rising and started working on it. There's going to be a lot of work to do on it, as I need to lengthen it dramatically, but at least I am working on it again. Right now I'm just making notes on the hard copy, but eventually I'll be back at the computer and actually working on the word count.

If you're actually interested in the process and the progress, I'll be posting more about it on my LiveJournal than I will here.

My WorldCon schedule

It's going to be a busy few hours on Thursday, and then that will be it...

1:00 What makes SF work? Characters, Society, or Technology
CCC - Room 505
Panelists talk about the primary elements of a SF story, and try to decide which are most important to our genre. What makes SF different from other stories? Does it have to include social or technical speculation to be SF?
J. Alan Erwine, Ken Scholes, Larry Niven, (m) Shanna Swendson


2:30 Signing (45 minutes)
CCC - Hall D
Adrian Bedford, J. Alan Erwine, Lee Martindale, Pamela Freeman

Not too intimidating

The pocket program for WorldCon has just been published, and I found out that the panel I'm doing will be with Larry Niven.

Yeah, that's not too intimidating...