Diveriscon Schedule

I'm going to be at Diversicon this weekend, and here is my schedule:

SATURDAY:
Noon-12:50 Vampire Chick-Lit. The hot new thing is dead. Let's talk about who's writing it and what they're writing about. mod., Tate Hallaway; Richard K. Lyon, Sybil Smith, Jody Wurl.

5:00-5:50pm Feminist Romance. Very often romances in short stories an dnovels follow very patriarchal rules, even when fairly feminist individuals are writing. What does a faminist romantic storyline look like? What don't we see these? How can writers who like to think of themselves as feminists avoid falling back on the old standbys? mod, S.N. Arly; Paula L. Fleming, Catherine Lundoff, Rebecca Marjesdatter.

Writers' Group Blog

My writers group, Wyrdsmiths, has just started a group blog. This blog is intended to be about writing, the craft of writing, the writing life, and anything else we feel like talking about. The group is comprised of a number of published and award-winning science fiction and fantasy authors including: Eleanor Arnason, Naomi Kritzer, Kelly McCoullough, and Lyda Morehouse.

Check out the wyrdsmiths.blogspot.com

Other Me Reports a Sale

Other Me has been a very busy short story seller this year. In fact, she has some more good news to report.

"I just heard from Eric Heideman, editor of Tales of the Unanticipated, that my short story about furniture obsession, the 1916 Irish Uprising, and time-travel, called 'The Van Buylen Effect' sold for issue #28, scheduled to come out in late 2007 or early 2008."

You go, Other Me!

Revision Crunch

Sorry I've been such a spotty blogger, but I got my revision letter for Dead Sexy from my editor Anne Sowards. She had some substantial issues with the romance as I'd written it, so this has been a fairly major overhaul. It's going quickly, though. I'm one of those strange critters who actually enjoys revising.

Plus, I've been reading Grammar Snobs Are Great, Big Meanies: A Language Guide for Fun and Spite by June Casagrande, which is just tremendous fun. Some of the reviewers on Amazon.com don't seem to like it much, but I've enjoyed what I've read so far (perhaps she flubs the ending? Can you do that in a book about words?)

I'd hazard a guess (by skimming the first reviewer's comments) that the people who are offended by the book are, in fact, grammar snobs themselves and don't like being put in their place. I like the book because though I want to be a grammar expert, I'm not (and I know it, and I, like her, have been terrorized by grammar snobs in my past.) This is not a book for someone who wants to be proven right, rather a book that enjoys language and the modern usage of it. The fact that Casagrande discusses in great length why The Simpsons is the most grammatically correct TV show on today tells you a lot about the kind of person who should be reading this book. That person would be me

(not "I").