Grá finder – Orycon 2011

Hey all,

I’ll be at Orycon (November 11th through 13th at the Portland Doubletree Hotel.)

I’ll be reading and you should TOTALLY COME. (seriously, there may be cookies.)

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Saturday – Nov 12 – 5:30pm
Grá Linnaea Reads from his own work
Room: Grant

But you can also see my purple-haired nonsensical self on panels:

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Friday – Nov 11 – 2:00pm – Drowning in slush – Room: Idaho
The best and worst of slush. How does slush reading work and who does it? What makes a story stand out from the slush pile? Is there any way around the pile? Are agents now the new slush readers, and how is that working out for the publishing industry?
Leslie What, (*)Grá Linnaea, Lizzy Shannon, Wendy Wagner

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Friday – Nov 11 – 4:00:pm – Theme – Room: Hawthorne
What is theme? How do you develop theme in your writing, or should you even try? For the sake of future graduate students studying your brilliant prose, learn about this often-neglected aspect of storytelling.
Karen Azinger, Bill Johnson, (*)Grá Linnaea, Richard A. Lovett

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Saturday – Nov 12 – 12:00:pm – Science Fiction as a Tool for Social Change – Room: Idaho
Many writers have put their ideals into their writing. Some have even tried to get people to follow those ideas.
(*)Rhiannon Louve, Brenda Cooper, Grá Linnaea, Edward Morris, G. David Nordley

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Saturday – Nov 12 – 2:00:pm – But I thought it was perfect! – Room: Hawthorne
The pain and pleasure of giving and receiving critiques, and how to employ feedback while honoring your muse.
(*)Mary Rosenblum/Mary Freeman, Grá Linnaea, Bill Johnson, Joan Gaustad, Richard A. Lovett

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Saturday – Nov 12 – 3:00:pm – Writers of the Future – Room: Roosevelt
Much more than a contest, this can be a stepping stone to a published career. Come find out about this contest, what it takes, and what it can do for you.
(*)Ken Scholes, Aimee C. Amodio, Stoney Compton, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Grá Linnaea

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Sunday – Nov 13 – 12:00:pm – Publishing Ethics – Room: Hamilton
When does a long response time become unprofessional or even insulting? How does an editor or publisher offer suggestions to a struggling author without offending them? Should they? This panel discusses where in the field of publishing the line is drawn (or should be drawn) between ethical decisions and business decisions.
Guy Letourneau, (*)Grá Linnaea, Claude Lalumière, Bruce Taylor

If you’re at the con, come check it out!

[Scotch Challenge] – First check in

Of course I got sick on the very first day of my challenge.

Actually, much of the 31st and the 1st were a total bust. But I did get about 500 words on each. (I also tried to do design work in bed, but only got a little done.)

Mostly I watched old movies and read my friend Rob’s book, which is awesome and you should buy.

But today went better. Nina suggested I just write on whatever scene most excited me and not worry about writing in order. Doing that, I got out about 3000 words on four different scenes. Pasting this stuff together will take some work, but my productivity is WAY up.

Eden, Rob, Bill, mark my words, you will receive no scotch.

The Scotch Challenge

I blame Rob Ziegler.

The first thing you should know is that I normally don’t drink much.

And yet, I was at World Fantasy Convention, standing in the … uh, some party … maybe Tor‘s? I dunno, I was a little drunk.

Anyway, Rob was hard-timing me about the YA novel I was supposed to finish months ago and I was thinking about NaNoWriMo and I (reportedly, I was a little drunk) said, “If I don’t finish this book by December 1st, I’ll buy you something.”

Somehow, something became a bottle of Lagavulin.

Apparently I agreed, since I later found an email to myself, “i owe rob one bottle of lagavulin if i don’t finsh stupid book by dec.”

Lagavulin, in case you’re not classy, turns out to be EIGHTY DOLLAR SCOTCH WHISKEY.

If I were smart, I would’ve told Rob that drunk email contracts aren’t binding and it wasn’t fair anyway because I thought Lagavulin was some sort of fruity wine.

Instead, I complained to Bill Shunn the next morning (perfectly sober) and Bill took ruthless advantage of my hangover. “Oh, well, you can by me a bottle of Ardbeg Uigeadail if you fail.”

And I (perfectly sober) said, “Fine, I’ll do that, Bill Shunn!”

I’m pretty sure he smirked.

.

I’ve been informed that Ardbeg Uigeadail is not in fact cheap drinking chocolate but is ALSO AN EIGHTY DOLLAR BOTTLE OF SCOTCH.

The details are fuzzy, but sometime in the next hour I offered Eden Robins a bottle of A’bunadh ($72)

This was the point where I realized I had a problem and needed help. Interventions were staged before I could offer Bradley Beaulieu a bottle of Old Pulteney.

Still, I find myself encumbered with at least $250 worth of alcohol bets.

But, screw it. I’ll just finish the book, right? We’re talking about 45,000 to 60,000 words in the next month. That’s basically NaNoWriMo anyway. Peice of cake.

Of course I’ll be whining about this all month. Updates to follow.

Oh, I’ve also suggested to Rob, Bill and Eden that if I DO succeed in finishing this book in the next month, maybe the three of them should buy me some really good wine.