ooo boy, lots of stuff

I had a birthday. It was wonderful. New giant computer (yes, Windows 8 but I've got it set up like 7), a  new phone, lots of fun with friends, and an Irish Rock Band sang me happy birthday.

I wrote this for BookSworn. Oh go on and read it. It's short, intentionally so, to leave lots of room for discussion on what can be a surprisingly complicated topic.  Other BookSworn are thinking on riffing on it in the coming days, which will be undoubtedly more fascinating than my take. Also, there are other stuff on there, cool stuff. Award nominees and that. Go on, git!

Oh wait, come back! I'm not through with you yet!

WorldCon plans are finalizing. I'm going mostly as a fan since I'm not on panels, but I do have some appearances as a named guest at parties--my favorite kind of appearance. I also have an interview and another tentative. So keep an eye on this space, Twitter, and Facebook for things like flyers and a formal schedule. I also will be MIA part of the time so I can write. A couple of BookSworn are dedicated to study hall... 

Speaking of Twitter, in answer to a few questions about it, yes I culled my follows down to under 300. It was completely unmanageable before. I've lost about a hundred followers, but they were clearly just following me since I followed them. I'm down to pros, friends, and a few fans at the moment. And frankly, I was heartily sick of the book quotes with links and review quotes with links and buy my book!  with links! Ugh. Some writers need to take a look and see how the pros handle themselves online. I'm not the only one doing so; several writers have recently culled their follow lists.

I'm working on Electric Spec. We had a spot of trouble (my fault) with the last issue. It's down currently and I'm working on getting it back up. New issue at the end of the month!

EMISSARY is finalizing via synopsis and I'm eager to throw myself back into it. Tomorrow! Kids go back to school on Thursday so we have some stuff to do and an amusement park trip on Wednesday. Can't wait to get back to making up for my abysmal efforts this summer. Summer is a tough time to work!

We're doing a little minor construction at the house. I also moved a few things around in my office. Sometimes a little switch-up really helps.