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.