Until Midnight (& Sometimes Later)

The amazing Jean Marie Ward interviewed me back in May, while we were both at Balticon, about what I do for buzzymag, the editing process, and all the different hats I wear. She’s fantastic to work with, and I’m proud to be a part of buzzymag, and to work with her.

You can watch the interview or read the transcript at buzzymag.

I am now an affiliate member of Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA). That is all.

2012 will be remembered as the year I came to terms with living in Delaware and found a life here. We ended the year by going to several holiday parties, and spent New Year’s Eve in Philadelphia with lots of friends, watching the ball drop on TV.

I spent 2012 editing more than ever, but I also started reviewing movies at buzzymag–best job ever! It’s a start. I took Jonathan Maberry’s Novel in Nine Months class, and while I didn’t manage to write my novel, I did learn a lot. I put out my first solo anthology: Galactic Creatures, and I’m very proud of how it turned out. I didn’t lose the fifty pounds I wanted to, but I came close at forty-eight down.

Cat-wise, we produced a litter of maine coon kittens, a litter of munchkins, and a litter of havanas. We didn’t show much, and it looks like we won’t be showing all that much in 2013, either. I’ve got a few judging assignments lined up for the next year, but my focus has definitely shifted.

Looking ahead to 2013, I’ve signed up for some online classes from EFA to spruce up my copyediting skills (a refresher never hurts), and to learn how to format e-books. I’ve got lots of editing lined up, and a couple of short stories I *will* submit (or else!). I want to do more writing, including the movie (and book) reviews for buzzymag.

I’m going to be more involved in Philcon this year (I was assistant Masquerade director in 2012), and I hope to get more involved in PSFS, too. I’m hoping to learn more about how to put on conventions–it can’t be that different from putting on cat shows, right?

I’m within fifteen pounds of my goal weight. I’m on nutrisystem, and I *will* get there this year. Next up: more exercise.

Oh, and more filking. My first guitar lesson in thirty-plus years is tonight . . .

This weekend is the 17th Annual Baltimore Book Festival, a three-day extravaganza of book-related fun spread over several blocks of downtown Baltimore. Readings, panels, demos, and signings will be taking place, as well as all manner of books, new and used, for sale. Dark Quest Books is handling the book sales for SFWA (Science Fiction Writers of America), who is a program partner for the event this year. I’ll be helping out with the book sales.

I’m also scheduled for two panels, both on Saturday, 29 September at the SFWA tent:

12 noon The Electronic Age
It’s here and it’s booming. A plethora of bonuses come with reading in the electro-optic age, including: eBooks, animation, audio books, and who knows what in the near future. Come hear what’s up in one of biggest developments in publishing.
Panelists include: Kate Milford, Sarah Pinsker, Harry Heckel, Elektra Hammond, Philippa Ballantine

1pm Steampunk and Gaslight: It’s Hot and on Top
Come talk with steampunk and gaslight authors about this immensely popular new genre.
Panelists include: Tee Morris, Tiffany Trent, Ellen Datlow, Richard White, Elektra Hammond

If you’re at the festival, stop by and say “hi.”

Sparkito Press is now live.

The first output from my imprint is now available for your reading pleasure.

The steampunk novella The Last Ride of the Iron Cowboy by James Daniel Ross is now available as an ebook for the Kindle [other formats to come at some point in the future] at the bargain price of $0.99 ! Or you can borrow it for free if you are an Amazon Prime member. James Daniel Ross is also the author of fantasy novel I Know Not, steampunk story Scoundrel’s Magic appearing in the collection In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Elektra Hammond and Neal Levin, The Radiation Angels series, and stories in the award-winning collections Breach the Hull, So It Begins, and By Other Means all edited by Mike McPhail, and Dragon’s Lure edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jennifer Ross and Jeffrey Lyman.

The Last Ride of the Iron Cowboy centers around Sheriff Jack Judge, lawman in the quiet town of Nowhere, Indiana. Although known as a sharpshooter in his younger days, his reputation has largely been forgotten–and he really doesn’t mind. But when his town is threatened by something completely outside the realm of his (or anyone’s) experience, nothing will stop Jack Judge from defending his town, even at the cost of his own life.

Featuring wonderfully relatable, complex characters set in a steampunk version of the Old West, Ross’s descriptive prose will draw you in and keep you reading through to the very end. He creates a beautifully detailed world that you’ll love visiting!

Available right now–what are you waiting for?

The year 2012 actually started the way a new year is supposed to–with champagne, and music, and friends. Of course, it was a bit of a slow start–I’m still limping from the toe surgery I had on the 28th, and I don’t get my stitches out until the 3rd. I’ve been sitting down a lot.

2011 saw a lot more editing work come my way, as well as my first published story. Of course, more editing work means that I’m writing less to keep up with the editing. I need to find a better balance. The year also saw a shift in the balance between the sci-fi/fantasy and cat show worlds. BlueBlaze produced two litters of maine coon kittens (now all sold), and is now showing a havana queen, but on the whole I spent more of my available [weekend] time at conventions or book-related events rather than cat-oriented events. This shift has made me a happier person, and I plan to continue it. I have some [cat show] judging assignments coming up in the next year, and I look forward to them [particularly spending Valentine’s week in Malta], but I am severely curtailing my exhibition-only weekends in favor of sci-fi conventions, book fairs, and steampunk events.

Thanks to my GP sending me back to Physical Therapy, I finally started exercising, and I was doing close to an hour of cardio at a stretch prior to having my toe sliced open. I’m still trying to figure out how to do something, but I fear I need to wait until the stitches come out before either the exercise bike or the treadmill is an option.

In 2012, I want to:
Write more. And get better about putting aside time for it. To help achieve this, I’ve signed up for Jonathan Maberry’s Novel in Nine Months class, starting in mid-January. It’s about an hour-and-a-half drive each way, but only meets physically once a month, and I’ve heard very good things about it. Hopefully that will be the push I need.

Edit more. And perhaps more effectively. I’ve decided it’s time for a refresher–I’m planning on the EFA Advanced Copyediting class, which I haven’t taken yet. In the past I’ve found the online EFA classes to be extremely worthwhile and well worth the cost. The class runs six weeks and starts in late February–I’ll assess at the beginning of the month if I can manage it while taking Jonathan’s class.

Get more organized. I’ve started this, but I need to keep up with it, and refine it. I’m freelancing in enough different directions I need to be certain nothing falls through the cracks. I’m starting to think I need a virtual corkboard–or maybe a real one.

Get back into shape. This is somewhat contingent on the healing of the toe, but I had a pretty good start on it before the surgery slowed me down.

Lose the last blasted fifty pounds. Related to the above getting in shape. I’m tired of being overweight. It’s a bit tricky trying to diet when traveling, but I’ve done it before. I just need to wrap my head around it again. Exercising will help, I think.

De-clutter. Especially the extraneous paperwork. Some of this is part of various ongoing projects to scan and dump old stuff, and some of it is just dumping old stuff that we’ll never look at again anyway. There’s a lot of paperwork that we have no room for, and I’m tired of having it in the way.

Read my way through some of the backlog. And sift through some of the books and donate them. I could read from now until doomsday, and I’d never get through them all . . . it’s time to be merciless and cull the backlog again.

Clean out and organize the craft stuff/sewing stuff/needlework stuff in the guest room so guests will fit in there. ’nuff said

I think that will keep me busy until next year.

Grim Tides is the sixth book is T.A. Pratt’s Marla Mason series, and he’ll be serializing it (free!) online starting on January 2nd. I finished copyediting it last week, but all I’m willing to give away is that it contains old friends and new, lots of ass-kicking and magic, and that it is entertaining as hell. I loved it and I’m sure you will, too. I can’t wait until everyone else gets to read it, so I can talk about it with someone.

Tim funded his writing of Grim Tides via a successful Kickstarter campaign–it’s not too late to donate and join in the fun!

Brenda Cooper is featured today on John Scalzi’s Whatever. Her new novel, Mayan December, is the subject of The Big Idea. Brenda’s Mayan-infused steampunk story “Speaker for the Mayans” appears in the anthology In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk edited by Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Elektra Hammond, and Neal Levin.

Sometimes I’m just behind on everything.

Balticon was a whole new experience for me. I started attending Science Fiction Conventions in the early 1980s, when I was in graduate school, and I have always enjoyed them. Over the years I have attended panels, filk concerts, bardic circles, workshops, art shows, auctions, slide shows, GOH speeches, readings, open filks, and dead dogs. Key word: attended.

At Balticon that all changed. Mike and I (with help from Janina, Amber and Tree–thanks!) spent the weekend running a fan table for Darkovercon 34 [ 25 – 27 November 2011 in Timonium, MD ] , in a busy hallway right in the middle of things. We talked to a lot of nice folks, and met a ton of nice people.

I took a few breaks from the table–notably to attend several panels–where I sat on the other side of the table for the first time! I did two costuming panels: Faux Paws (Recreating Expensive Looks for Less) & Steampunk in Costuming; and was drafted onto a couple of literary panels: Dark Quest Books Presents and Steampunk. I also helped at the Dark Quest book launch on Sunday evening, and did my first reading.

Mike and I also managed to squeeze in the Masquerade, and a couple of concerts including a great FuMP show. And I proofread a magazine. We even got some sleep.

I’ve been working in the field for better than a dozen years, but now I really feel like a pro.