Progress Report, in which Robin Bailey makes me famous

Back home, after much traveling in the past week.  This must be what a rock star on tour feels like.  Kinda.  Except without the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll.

OK, I guess there was a bit of rock ‘n’ roll.  Read on, if you would know more . . .

First leg of the journey was to Denver, to attend a graduation.  Productivity, of course, took a hit–but I got a couple of good ideas for the new novel during the drive, which I was happy about.  And note-making continued to inch forward.

After Denver, we went to Kansas City for ConQuesT.

I don’t know why I think I’ll get any kind of writing done at cons.  It’s the hopeless romantic in me, I guess.  Suffice to say that I’m a little less starry-eyed now.

I was a bit apprehensive about ConQuesT, to be honest.  I’d only been there once before, ages ago, and I knew next to no one.  I feared it would be a lot like my first WorldCon, in San Antonio, where I felt like I was attending a huge party that I hadn’t been invited to.  But I did run into a few homies from Omaha . . . and then I met someone I knew through LJ . . . and then I went to a party and met some new folks . . . and before I knew it, I was having a great time, and had to force myself to go to bed, lest I spend the entire weekend in a zombie-like daze.

The next day, Saturday, I did my first panel (Making a Living As a Writer, which I moderated), met some more new folks, and pretty much settled into the con groove.

My reading was sparsely attended, as expected, but a few intrepid souls stuck it out, for which I was grateful.  The story ("The Multiplicity Has Arrived") seemed to go over well.

Then came the panel on politics in SF, which was a good discussion.

That evening, I participated in a thing called ConQuesT Idol–yep, just what you think it is.  Karaoke with a panel of judges, complete with  playing the part of Simon Cowell.  After eviscerating my brilliant, spot-on rendition of "Born To Be Wild," Robin proceeded to name-check me about half a dozen times throughout the evening, as in, "I don’t think we can send you Hollywood, but we can send you to the Matthew Rotundo School of Singing."

Hey, no such thing as bad publicity, folks.  As a smiling Robin said to me afterward, "I made you famous."

All in good fun, all in good fun.  Just remember, Robin, yer gonna be in Omaha in a couple of months.  Heh, heh, heh.

Oh, and Selina Rosen made for a great Paula, BTW.

Stayed out even later at parties on Saturday night, then dragged myself in a zombie-like daze to my 10:00 am movie panel on Sunday.  Then came lunch and a visit to the very cool "Art of the Brick" Lego exhibit in Crown Center, followed by my final panel, a fun one on worldbuilding, where astronomer/writer Diane Turnshek sounded intrigued by my description of Petra. That was cool, getting a bit of validation from a for-real scientist.

After that, the wife and I went to closing ceremonies, said our goodbyes, and headed home.  I arrived exhausted, sad it was over, but happy to be home–all signs of a good con.  Everyone in KC was great.

So now I have less than a week to make some serious headway on notes for the new novel.  I doubt I’ll be able to start drafting June 1, but I hope it won’t be too much later than that.  I’m itchin’ to get back in the saddle.

No updates for Write Club.

Aaaand I’m out.

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