I found out today that “Shadow Play” will be available for subscribers of Daily Science Fiction on March 21. Everyone else will have to wait a week to read it online, but given subscription is free why wait?
March is turning out to be a rather snazzy month!
I had the pleasure of attending Rainforest Writers Village for the first time this year. We worked hard, played hard and a staggering number of words were created between us. I (surprise surprise) talked about Roller Derby a bit and discovered (unsurprisingly) that quite a few writers give pretty good hip checks (yes I may have run around and bumped people a teeny tiny bit!).
I wrote a little under 10,000 words, which is less than I had hoped, but a satisfying amount in 4 days (especially as I lean towards slow writing). The workshops, organized and spontaneous were excellent and Christie Yant facilitated a writing exercise every night that should make the world of fiction a more interesting place.
It was wonderful to spend time with so many amazing people, old friends and new. It makes me excited about the world of fiction. It makes me very grateful to Patrick for organizing such an event every year and I see why it normally sells out in seconds.
I got two bits of exciting news back to back on the first day, the day of most silent virtue and nearly exploded with unspoken squeee. Everyone was working so hard, I didn’t want to interrupt them, so I went outside and ran around and around until I could calm down!
Achievements beyond word count include writing a complete short story, exploring a middle grade book I might write (discovering its flaws and how the outline needs a radical restructure). Exploratory word chunks. Revising and resubmitting a short story.
I ran out of battery for my camera phone, so I borrowed other phones to go on a Bosun Ducky picture taking extravaganza… which is code for MORE PHOTOS TO COME!!!
Mermaid’s Hook can now be read over at Apex magazine. I sold this story around the time Leonard died and wrote the story just after Clarion, so the proceeds will go towards the Leonard Pung Memorial Scholarship.
It’s an honor to be part of this issue. It’s full of writers I admire AND non-fiction that mentions cosplay and fake geek girls. Yesterday I wrote about wonderful inclusive cosplay at Emerald City Comicon, today I am next to an article speaking against “fake geek girl” nonsense, celebrating casual cosplay and casual fandom. My warrior heart (a few of the memes reclaiming idiot nerd girl were created by this one) is thrilled.
Wow, Emerald City Comicon, I love you. It’s hard to write about. I’m exhausted, I’m overstimulated and shattered, I’m happy, I’m teary, I don’t know how to write about you.
1. Cosplayers
Wow, they were a wonderful part of the atmosphere and performance art experience of the convention. I loved the diversity, the creativity, the crossplay (eg women dressed as Dr Who or men dressed as Princess Leia) and the inclusiveness of it. Some people spent hundreds of hours or thousands of dollars on their costumes (or both), some had a cool idea a few bucks and wild abandon. The spectrum of creativity felt wonderful.
I loved that the general gaze of the convention was appreciative and supportive. Some conventions feel really objectifying and that gives things an unpleasant edge. Here it seemed like an inclusive celebration, a place that supported kids and adults to be creative.
On Saturday night I was Tempura Tantrum‘s sidekick and ran around finding cosplayers to interview. The dedication and super niceness of all the cosplayers was inspiring. They said the archive would be available on FlipOnTv, but it doesn’t look like it’s there yet. I’ve sent them a tweet to ask what they think the ETA is and will let you know what’s happening as soon as possible.
2. Derby Derby Derby
I was behind the Rat City Roller Girls booth for much of the con and wow, talk about fun and exhausting! I got pretty good at explaining the game using ten Rat City buttons, even if people kept giving the buttons away :P
It was interesting the number of people who went from “Oh yeah derby, I want to check it out sometime,” to “Wow that sounds cool, tickets please!” once we went through the rules of the game. I got so caught up and excited chatting to folks I forgot to eat, drink, didn’t sleep much and didn’t drink coffee the whole weekend… that’s derby for you.
3. Comics
I often find trying to process all the new information at a convention distressing. My brain gets overloaded by all the fine art and stories and I feel bad that I’m not giving them all my attention/money. This convention I mostly bought stuff from webcomic creators who helped keep my head together when I was working at Toora Women’s Refuge and later accidentally starting a revolution (it’s a long story). Folks I fell in love with in and never thought I’d even be on the same continent as them. Something Positive, The Devils Panties and Girls With Slingshots were things I devoured in huge chunks.
I also bought prints and the new anthology from CrabTank… but I lost that bag, so I have some sad feels. I’m so excited about CrabTank and so proud of how they get stronger and stronger.
Best Panel
I didn’t make it to many panels, but I’m glad I made it to “Looking Past the Target Audience”
A great panel on diversity, that was full of positive ideas and feelings. I hope it is the first of many like this, the panelists were Rachel Edidin, David Brothers, Andy Khouri, Regina Buenaobra, Sarah Kuhn, Cheryl Lynn Eaton, and Kate Welch.
When I was at Readercon, Nicole Taylor and I battled with public transport (slow slow bus in the burbs and then navigating America’s oldest subway system) to see Amanda Palmer do a ninja gig that was her audition tape/first practice for the TED talk. It’s amazing to see how she developed and honed her talk and I wonder how many times she practiced it, improvised with it and tuned it.
This talk made me cry… it’s been a crying kind of day :-)
I’m so glad I got to see both versions. Sometimes my heart is full of so many things, so what comes out is not my best articulation… far from it. Amanda Palmer’s talk reminds me that when you have something to say, an philosophy and experience to articulate, practice helps, weaving in new experiences as they arise, continually exploring, speaking and connecting together narratives. That to speak well, you must first speak, listen, respond, speak, listen and keep having conversations. It is only through speaking that she has polished this gem, it would not be such a fine talk if she had just bottled it up and waited until she had the perfect words.
Emerald City Comic Con is here! It’ll be great to see folks and be overwhelmed by all the great comics (artists’ alley ftw).
I’ll be working at the Rat City Roller Girls booth on Friday until 5.30pm, on Saturday from 4pm until close and maybe other times too (I like being behind a booth).
Come by and say hello, go in the draw for FREE tickets, check out some limited edition merch, and meet some of the amazing Rat City skaters. Find out more about the game and with tryouts at the end of March it’s a great opportunity to find out what it’s like to skate with Rat.
Hi all, travel seems to knock the stuff out of me these days, but I’m getting my equilibrium back. Sorry Portland, I feel like you’ve been short changed and I should have blogged about you more, you were grand!
The Portland trip was a lot of fun. It made me want to make sure I visit more often. Alberto was a fabulous host, good shared food with friends, skating at Oaks Amusement Park.
Dear Ms Moon was the first play to be performed during the Pulp Sampler, the young actors hurried out the door after they’d performed their bit – they weren’t old enough to stay, because it was a drinking venue and some of the other content might have been a bit mature for them. An actual brother and sister played the roles of brother and sister and I think/hope they had a good time.
I’m often awake at 4am if I’ve been exercising heavily the day before, and yesterday was PFM scrimmage day. I had new kneepads and wristguards I’d never skated in, so I was a bit nervous. I was also recovering from a cold. I’d dealt with all the nasty cold stuff, but still recovering from my immune system’s passion for battle long after the war is over, which limited my lung capacity. I felt pretty unsteady on the track and frustrated by how much power I was able to put into the game. I think I straddled the line between pushing hard enough, but not snapping myself… I do wish I’d pushed myself harder, but I was shaking afterwards, so maybe not.
I achieved my two goals, listen to the bench coaches more (though still room for improvement) and call off a jam. Hands on hips is not the best place to be when chaos is erupting (memory is foggy, but I think someone fell in front of me and someone crashed into the back of me… maybe). I got a bit more squished and winded than I would like to be and it took a while for my lungs to fill up again.
I think my team did well and we worked together, even though I wish I’d been a stronger element. I pushed myself at a level that was challenging but not suicidal, so I’m happy enough with that.
Goals for next scrimmage:
General goals
I made it, but forgot to share it. I think it’s rather nice.
Cultivate and maintain the beginner’s mind.
I won’t be becoming a Zen Buddhist, although I must thank various buddhist/taoist texts as well as marshal arts instructors for giving me this vocabulary and encouraging this practice. I will be trying to maintain joyful, curious, playful intensity where I have it, and trying to return to that place for activities where I have forgotten it.
I’m glad I spent an hour getting my calendar in order (even if it’s a little bit scary to see September filling up).
Dear Ms Moon shall be performed on the stage for the first time on January 26 in Portland – I must book bus tickets! I love what the Pulp Stage did with Maxima Vrugleplex, so I am very curious to see what they do with one of my favorite short stories. If you would like to join me tickets are still available.
Yesterday was a nice, gentle, thinkey kind of practice from Mike Hammer. I certainly felt more graceful afterwards.
A big takeaway is that I need to work on my left foot in crossovers. I kick back when I should be pushing sideways. Which might have been feedback I’ve heard before (certainly I try to avoid kicking back wherever possible), but I have new ways of approaching/understanding the problem now (focusing on the angle of my foot).
I loved getting tips about hand/arm movements while skating and that makes me feel more fluid. My hands get to say hello to my opposite knees and it makes me feel… well… groovy is the word that comes to mind and stays lodged in my mind (which I guess makes me dorky).
After practice Mike and I plotted out all the major events for 2013. It’s a full schedule, though it gets a bit quieter towards the end of the year.
In the evening I went to my first derby wife wedding. The cake had rollerskating ponies and glitter, the ceremony was adorable with promises to help each other and kick each other’s butt, and we watched both Sherlock Holmes movies. Congratulations Jess and Laurie!
A day without work on the novel! Decadent! Strange!