lonestarcon3

I had 20 original stories come out. Here’s the list, if you want to look for some of them.

• DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, November, 2013. Just the Facts: A Zombie Story.
• DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, October, 2013. Flying Matilda (with Gio Clairval).
• DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, October, 2013. Superhero Art.
• ABYSS & APEX, October, 2013. The Toad’s Jewel.
• WHAT FATES IMPOSE, edited by Nayad Monroe, September, 2013. To Read the Sea.
• SIGNS OF LIFE, September, 2013. Mystery in Metal.
• GLITTER AND MAYHEM, edited by Lynne Thomas and Michael Damien Thomas, September, 2013. Of Selkies, Disco Balls, and Anna Plane.
• EVERY DAY FICTION, August, 2013. Three Wishes.
• BEYOND THE SUN, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, July, 2013. Elsewhere, Within, Elsewhen.
• DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, July, 2013. On the Big-Fisted Circuit.
• THE MAD SCIENTIST JOURNAL, June, 2013. Prophetic Lobster Man.
• CLOCKWORK PHOENIX FOUR, May, 2013. I Come From the Dark Universe.
• THE JOURNAL OF UNLIKELY ENTOMOLOGY, May, 2013. Of Spiders, Centipedes and Holes.
• SQ MAGAZINE, April, 2013. A Man and His Parasite.
• THE OTHER HALF OF THE SKY, edited by Athena Andreadis and Kay Holt, April, 2013. Dagger and Mask.
• DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, March, 2013. Soft.
• GIGANOTASAURUS, March, 2013. Logic and Magic in the Time of the Boat Lifts (with Ben Burgis).
• DAILY SCIENCE FICTION, February, 2013. Love’s Footsteps.
• FISH, edited by Carrie Cuinn, 2013. The Fisher Queen.
• EVERY DAY FICTION, January, 2013. The Passing of Grandmother’s Quilt.

I’m off to Worldcon tomorrow! I’m reading on Friday at 11. Stop in to listen and you may win a fabulous prize, since I’ll have a bunch of the Near+Far pendants with me. Right now I’m doing laundry and figuring out exactly how many pens I need to take with me.

If you’re trying a con for the first time, here’s some necessities:

• Food. I always have some protein bars with me, even though I know I’ll be able to swing past the con suite, the green room, and the SFWA suite and probably find something to nosh on there. Along the same lines, I’ll have a small waterbottle with me, which goes in my carryon so I don’t have to buy expensive airport drinks.
• Speaking of carryons, I’ve learned by now that certain things should go in there: change of clothing, toothbrush, all medications, and anything else that I would severely miss if my checked baggage should turn up missing.
• Layers. While it’ll be hot in San Antonio, conference rooms can be awfully chilly, so I usually have a shawl in my bag. And a fan for times when the AC is broken.
• Big envelope. All receipts get shoved in there for sorting out post-con, along with business cards I collect. In the meantime, I’ve put all my flight/hotel info and the story I’ll be reading from in it.
• Emergency reading. Well, of course.
• Notebook and multiple pens. Margaret Atwood suggests a pencil for airplane travel; I just make sure I’ve got plenty of pens. And the notebook has my name and contact info written in BIG LETTERS in case it goes astray and someone finds it.
• Small purse that holds just my cell phone and room key, for evenings when I want to go to parties and not worry about toting my usual bag.
• Business cards and some postcards advertising my classes.
• A first aid kit that includes aspirin, decongestant, antacids, etc.
• Charging cables! For both phone and the ipad which, with a wireless keyboard, serves all my laptop needs.
• Extra book bag that rolls up. Just in case.
• Ear plugs and sleep mask. Sleep is precious.
• Moisturizer. Because hotels are always way too dry.
• Comfortable shoes. Life’s too short not to wear comfortable shoes.

I’m headed to LoneStarCon3 at the end of August and here’s some of what I’m looking forward to:

• Participating in a couple of group readings
• The chance to pick up my copy of Beyond the Sun from Bryan Thomas Schmidt
• The Glitter and Mayhem party. I want to do something worthy of it, so I’ve decided to add a couple more colors to my usual pink (explained in The Pink Hair Manifesto) just for WorldCon and let YOU decide the color. Just vote in the comments. The top three colors will get at least a streak’s worth of hair. If you are supporting me in the Clarion West Write-a-thon, even by just a dollar (which also gets you a bonus stack of fine fiction), your vote counts ten times as much. Everyone who votes gets entered to win a copy of the book or a piece of the Near + Far jewelry.

Here’s your options, all Manic Panic colors:

After Midnight
Atomic Turquoise (currently at 4 votes)
Bad Boy Blue
Blue Moon (currently at 10 votes)
Electric Amethyst
Electric Banana
Electric Lava
Electric Lizard (currently at 1 vote)
Electric Tiger Lily (currently at 1.5 votes)
Enchanted Forest
Fuchsia Shock
Green Envy
Infra Red (currently at 10 votes)
Lie Locks
Mystic Heather (currently at 21 votes)
New Rose
Pillarbox Red
Pretty Flamingo (currently at .5 votes)
Psychedelic Sunset
Purple Haze (currently at 31 votes)
Raven
Red Passion
Rockabilly Blue
Rock and Roll Red
Shocking Blue (currently at .5 votes)
Sunshine
Ultra Violet
Vampire Red
Vampire’s Kiss
Venus Envy
Violet Knight (currently at .5 votes)
Voodoo Blue (currently at 12 votes)
Wildfire (currently at 1.5 votes)