Paksworld

Very early tomorrow I  leave here to drive down to Austin and catch the train, arriving in Washington (if all goes well) early Saturday afternoon after changing trains in Chicago.  I am excited.   I’m taking knitting along (you guessed!) and hope to finish both the current pair of red socks and the green/purple/red/blue pair of short socks.  This may not happen if the writing fit hits.

Anyone who has the time, please do come down to the National Book Festival on the Mall.  I know many of you can’t come, but I’d love to see a friendly face (once you introduce yourself–remember my face-recognition problems)  from this group.

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I’m back from WorldCon.  I do have an iPad now, although I never got a chance to sit around downstairs where the free wi-fi was to learn how best to use it, because I was raging busy and also my neck was giving me fits–so carrying any more weight in the tote bag was not going to happen.   I have the iPad, and a padded case with a keyboard for it.  Yay!  (Eventually, when I learn to use it, right?)

Very, very busy convention,  and tiring with the size of the convention center and the heat outside and my schedule.  However,  met a lot of neat people, plenty of people wanted me to sign their books (always an ego-boost) and all I lost on the trip was my really good Knit-Picks needle gauge, which I will have to replace pronto.

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So…I went in last night to do some late work on the book after supper (which was late)  and after typing away decided it was time to quit.   Whereupon Microsoft Word said (in my phrasing)  “I feel sick and I’m quitting and what you’ve been working on may be lost when I shut down…Too bad, sucker.”

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I’ll be signing books for giveaways at the Random House booth at New York ComicCon on Friday, from 1 pm to 2 pm.    They’ll be giving away some of my books (don’t know which.)   If you have books you want signed but can’t be there at that time,  I will also be around (but not at that location, though maybe near it–not sure of layout) for another hour or two (depends what I learn about the time to travel between Javits Center and my hotel, as I have an opera that night (!) .  I also plan to be at NYCC again on Sunday afternoon, especially to attend the panel discussion featuring Betsy Mitchell, Shelly Shapiro, and Colleen Lindsay at 4 pm.   I expect to be near that panel venue at least a half hour early.  If you find me wandering around and need a book signed, I’ll be happy to do so.

I do not have a smart-phone, so no tweeting where I am (sorry…still using the clamshell oldie…it works)  but if I get the new power adapter for my netbook in time, I”ll be posting more info once I’m in NYC.   I’m looking forward to exploring the convention myself, since I have the free time to do so.

Just got back today.  Had two good writing days on trains (2000+ words each day) after a brief conference with Editor at the convention.     As usual, time away from a project allows more balanced contemplation of what’s already been done.     I realized, for instance, that a pivotal scene I’d been thinking about for months had never actually made it into the computer–an extreme case of “I know that, but I didn’t show that.”

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And another milestone number:  Book IV is now over 140,000 words.   This was one intermediate goal–to hit this or more before leaving for DragonCon.   Glad to be here a couple of days ahead, as it means I can visit ArmadilloCon this weekend.  Can’t spend long there, what with the packing and also the resting-up I need to do, but I can at least drop by and visit friends I otherwise don’t see between the conventions.   Next year I’ll be going to WorldCon in  Chicago, which gives me an extra day (assuming ‘DilloCon’s in the same relation, time-wise, to Labor Day weekend) and I should be able to actually *attend* it again.

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Tuesday morning I board the train and Thursday evening I arrive in Baltimore.  I won’t be posting or emailing then–and will have scant time to do so while at Balticon, probably–and again no time on the way home.  So we’re looking at a ten day hiatus that might be relieved by a post or two somewhere in there–or not, as time often compresses during conventions.

If you’re planning to attend Balticon, I hope to see you there.

It’s been a busy couple of days.   Dragon*Con is always exciting, but also (for me, anyway) exhausting.   Crowded and loud (it’s the loud that bothers me more than the crowded; I should wear earplugs, probably.)  Costumes–amazing and wonderful.  I saw someone in a steampunked wheelchair…lots of people in steampunk costumes, most of them brilliantly detailed.   Aliens (some simple but cute; others wonderfully imaginative and beautifully made.

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Another day of travel, another 2000+ words added to Book III.    Maybe I should live on the train?   No, not really.   But it focuses my mind something wonderful–no phone, no interruptions (well, meals and such but nothing else) and the words come.   Scenery, too.  And interesting people when I do come up for air.  (Little do they know, the writer is watching…and listening…bwah-hah-hah-hah!)

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I’m now in final packing mode and soon to leave for the city to do a few chores and then catch the train.   Posting here is likely to be spotty at best though I should be able to report how much I wrote on the train by sometime Thursday.  That’s if my brain stays connected to my fingers, which given the number of times I’ve gone from one room to another to find a specific item and been distracted by something else, is presently in doubt.

Convention schedule reminder here. For those who can’t make my autograph session on Friday at 4 pm, I’m happy to sign at other times as long as we’re not in someone’s way or I’m not rushing to something else (and that includes the restroom.)   For those who can’t make any of my program items, you’re just going to have to hunt for me…sorry.