Pros-y things...
Oh wow, it's been forever since I posted. I don't even know where to start. Cats? Horses? Pros? I shouldn't let myself get so out of touch...
Well, maybe I'll limit this to Pros. And I'll make a list - that'll help! I love lists! :-)
1) Nattercon! I went to Nattercon...I love going to Nattercon, for many reasons. And finally, after three years, I am starting to remember people! That makes it a lot more fun. I saw many Pros fans from across the pond, spent wonderful time with old friends and really enjoyed meeting some new folks whom I'd only known online before, like kiwisue. Truthfully, the con wasn't quite...Pros-y enough for me this year, but it was still good. My own zine premiered there - I carried 26 zines over (my case weighed 60 lbs!!), which was pretty exciting - and so did another wonderful zine. More about both of those below. After the con I spent a few days in London, first with Fish, which is always time to treasure, and then with msmoat and elizabethoshea, which was similarly marvelous - and very Pros-y! It was a great trip.
2) Never Far Apart! I got the zines from the printer (after a few heartstopping near-disasters) the day before I left for Nattercon, so I was able to bring it there and send it with an agent to MediaWest. I sold all the ones I brought to Nattercon - which was good, because I didn't have to lug them home! *g* And... I am absolutely stunned and incredulous at how well it's been doing. I've sold over 100 copies. I never, ever expected or even imagined this. I'm...humbled. And grateful, to Suzan for making it so beautiful, really outdoing herself; to the authors; and to everyone who's taking a flyer on me, a first-time zine publisher. Wow. And god I hope it doesn't disappoint. (BTW, anyone who's reading this who placed an order - all orders are in the mail!) This has really made me see that online fic notwithstanding - and obviously I am a big believer in it! *g* - there is still a huge appetite out there for zines, and I'm so happy about that, since I myself absolutely love zines. And it definitely makes me want to continue with this Pros zine publishing stuff, at least for a while!
3) Close Quarters - it's only a little more than six weeks away now, and I'm getting both excited and nervous... It's time for me to buckle down and start really planning, and I've asked on the Mailing List for people's thoughts and ideas about various things, like art and vid shows. If you're not signed up, and a weekend of all-B-and-D sounds fun, think about giving it a shot! And a reminder to anyone who's considering coming: the special room rate of $99, which includes full breakfast, is good only until June 20.
4) Kate MacLean... Finally, I can't end this without mentioning the other zine that premiered at Nattercon: a new novel by Kate MacLean, called Redemption. Any of you who read, or (more likely *g*), saw and skipped, my Musings on Kate MacLean last August know how much I love her. So to say I'd been awaiting this new novel (which she'd been working on for years) eagerly would be something of an understatement. And...well, I don't know what to say. "I love it" seem so inadequate somehow. It is...amazing. Incredible. Stunning. I think it is by far the best thing she's every written - and that, for me, is saying something. I can't get it out of my head; I don't think I will ever get it out of my head.
I thought about writing a much longer post about it, and I intend to, but I've decided to wait until more people have had a chance to read it. But...I wanted to at least post something, because I'm not sure whether people know about it, and everyone should know about it. It's not an easy read - KM is never an easy read, as far as I'm concerned. She makes you feel everything, good and bad. She takes you on a ride. But it's deeply, profoundly satisfying, and so incredibly beautiful and so... Well. Incredible. It's just...brilliant; I've never read anything like it - it touches everything in me, every place where B & D live.
It's available from Gryphon Press; the contact info is in the Files sections of Pros-lit and Proslib, or email me...I brought *eight* of them home for people, and I'm going to see if it's possible for me to have some available at Close Quarters; I don't know if that'll be workable, but I'll do my best.
Well, okay, that wasn't so hard - fun, even! Maybe I'll find a way to get back in the swing of this LJ stuff... :-)
Well, maybe I'll limit this to Pros. And I'll make a list - that'll help! I love lists! :-)
1) Nattercon! I went to Nattercon...I love going to Nattercon, for many reasons. And finally, after three years, I am starting to remember people! That makes it a lot more fun. I saw many Pros fans from across the pond, spent wonderful time with old friends and really enjoyed meeting some new folks whom I'd only known online before, like kiwisue. Truthfully, the con wasn't quite...Pros-y enough for me this year, but it was still good. My own zine premiered there - I carried 26 zines over (my case weighed 60 lbs!!), which was pretty exciting - and so did another wonderful zine. More about both of those below. After the con I spent a few days in London, first with Fish, which is always time to treasure, and then with msmoat and elizabethoshea, which was similarly marvelous - and very Pros-y! It was a great trip.
2) Never Far Apart! I got the zines from the printer (after a few heartstopping near-disasters) the day before I left for Nattercon, so I was able to bring it there and send it with an agent to MediaWest. I sold all the ones I brought to Nattercon - which was good, because I didn't have to lug them home! *g* And... I am absolutely stunned and incredulous at how well it's been doing. I've sold over 100 copies. I never, ever expected or even imagined this. I'm...humbled. And grateful, to Suzan for making it so beautiful, really outdoing herself; to the authors; and to everyone who's taking a flyer on me, a first-time zine publisher. Wow. And god I hope it doesn't disappoint. (BTW, anyone who's reading this who placed an order - all orders are in the mail!) This has really made me see that online fic notwithstanding - and obviously I am a big believer in it! *g* - there is still a huge appetite out there for zines, and I'm so happy about that, since I myself absolutely love zines. And it definitely makes me want to continue with this Pros zine publishing stuff, at least for a while!
3) Close Quarters - it's only a little more than six weeks away now, and I'm getting both excited and nervous... It's time for me to buckle down and start really planning, and I've asked on the Mailing List for people's thoughts and ideas about various things, like art and vid shows. If you're not signed up, and a weekend of all-B-and-D sounds fun, think about giving it a shot! And a reminder to anyone who's considering coming: the special room rate of $99, which includes full breakfast, is good only until June 20.
4) Kate MacLean... Finally, I can't end this without mentioning the other zine that premiered at Nattercon: a new novel by Kate MacLean, called Redemption. Any of you who read, or (more likely *g*), saw and skipped, my Musings on Kate MacLean last August know how much I love her. So to say I'd been awaiting this new novel (which she'd been working on for years) eagerly would be something of an understatement. And...well, I don't know what to say. "I love it" seem so inadequate somehow. It is...amazing. Incredible. Stunning. I think it is by far the best thing she's every written - and that, for me, is saying something. I can't get it out of my head; I don't think I will ever get it out of my head.
I thought about writing a much longer post about it, and I intend to, but I've decided to wait until more people have had a chance to read it. But...I wanted to at least post something, because I'm not sure whether people know about it, and everyone should know about it. It's not an easy read - KM is never an easy read, as far as I'm concerned. She makes you feel everything, good and bad. She takes you on a ride. But it's deeply, profoundly satisfying, and so incredibly beautiful and so... Well. Incredible. It's just...brilliant; I've never read anything like it - it touches everything in me, every place where B & D live.
It's available from Gryphon Press; the contact info is in the Files sections of Pros-lit and Proslib, or email me...I brought *eight* of them home for people, and I'm going to see if it's possible for me to have some available at Close Quarters; I don't know if that'll be workable, but I'll do my best.
Well, okay, that wasn't so hard - fun, even! Maybe I'll find a way to get back in the swing of this LJ stuff... :-)