Thanks, everyone, for your lovely notes & comments about the new limited edition chapbook (a "Riverside" story about how Alec met Sofia . . . &  a few other things).  I took several copies with me to Finland, where they made the perfect Thank You gift for some of our generous Finncon hosts; I also sold a few by "subscription" (and if you'll be at ( Read more... )

But why are you &  deliasherman  still posting from Finland? you may ask.  Weren't you supposed to be back in NYC, all groggy & jetlagged from the 8-hr flight and 7-hr time difference & stuffed with cloudberries, today?

Well-- about a week ago, as we were lolling about on Nauvo, I came across some Significant Information in my Lonely Planet: Finland, regarding ( Read more... )

 teroyks  did a much better job than either deliasherman  or I at actually describing the joys of Finncon 2010 itself.  He blogs about it here - and I'd like to think that all the nice things he says about us were not just him being a good host.  He and all the members of the Finncon ConCom (say that twenty times fast...!) were superb - and continue to be, as Delia ( Read more... )

The Pleasures of Finland continue with:

 The hedgies inspect the last of the blueberry pie (on our hotel porch on Nauvo).

deliasherman  has decided to accept Tove Jansson as her spiritual master.

 We got up too early!  We took the train to Turku!   We got to sit in the top car!  Tero met us at the station with his little girl and a picnic basket! He drove us to the island of Parainen!  Our room is overlooking the harbor!  We had a beer on the terrace!  (I've decided that all outdoor places with little tables are places to have beer.  Even ( Read more... )

I've been filked!

Many and great are the delights of Finncon -- at least, when you're GoH. As we've been burning the midnight sun here in Jyvaskyla, and have a train to Tampere to catch in the morning, I will not enumerate them for you here . . .  (deliasherman  's been doing her best, but seems to have fallen behind; she is, however, writing in her journal ( Read more... )

Oh. My.

We took what was essentially the redeye back from London to Newark last night, arriving around midnight (5 a.m. UK time) - add 1 hour to get through passport/baggage/customs, and another :30 to get home . . . . I slept some on the plane, but also took great joy in staring out the window at the hours & hours of sunset over the clouds - if I ( Read more... )

Yesterday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., I traveled by plane (to Heathrow), bus (to Reading), train (to Exeter), taxi (to Avis @ Exeter airport, all others being closed on a Saturday afternoon)  & rental car to Terri's little village on the moors.  I was Troop Leader for our little expedition, which included deliasherman , Holly Black & her husband ( Read more... )

Exactly 72 hours ago [well, when I started this post at 10:45 am today], I was saying to Delia, "Don't talk to me now, I have to pack so I can leave in 45 minutes. What the hell happened to my toothbrush ( Read more... )

I bet you thought I didn't have one. But the Massachusetts All-Stars (all of whom used to live within 2 hrs of each other) meet on an ad hoc basis, whenever there is need. And there was need. So:

Plans were made to meet last weekend to go over Delia's ms. for The Freedom Maze, which she must finish for Big Mouth Press soon; and also to look ( Read more... )