After huddling with my book solo for so long that I am beginning to feel like a pathetic chicken who has only managed to lay one egg, and an egg that won't hatch at that, I have finally remembered (I think I may have mentioned) that hanging out with other writers now and then can be of benefit.


( Which is to say, I'm at the Feral Writers retreat for the someteenth year. )

I've gotten a decent bit of work done; it helps to have an actual goal and stuff. I failed on bringing my headphones, which are kind of necessary (even with 7 participants instead of 9) to block out random chatting on occasion. But Dave is going to loan me a pair of headphones tomorrow, and regardless, I've already gotten more work done today than I've gotten done in the last week, or even at the last retreat. Hopefully, I'll be able to sustain the momentum--though maybe not tonight, since I've spent the last half hour looking for the photo of Ralph Lauren made skinny in photoshop... and sleepy time is coming.

Anyway, the writerly company I've been keeping of late has been very good for me--splash_the_cat and I even started up Write Club again--if only because it is only other writers who understand that, for example, 500 words is a pretty good day, and 2,000 words is an amazing day. And why staring into space or playing a game actually counts as work, no really, I swear.

One last thing. I forgot to post this before (I think): albogdan pointed a camera at jimhines (Jim C. Hines) and me at ConClave, and this video was the result. I only cringed 48.2% of the time while watching it. YMMV.

I am in the Dayton area to partake of some writerly company. Some fellow Codexians are having a bit of a retreat (which we are calling LonCon after the host, lonfiction). I'm hoping to hit up some attractions I found on Roadside America on the way home, which I meant to hit up on the way here, but I ran into the trifecta of lateness, detours, and go-back-for-left-behind cell phone yesterday.

So far, the food has been great, and I've gotten a very little bit of writing done, in between petting the awesomely friendly sphinx cat Howard and chatting with the other writers. Also, the misery of my memory key not working, so I don't actually have the most recent draft of my novel with me, as a result. I think. At least, I haven't found it yet.

So, I'm working on new something instead. Which is totally okay with me, even though I really wanted to be done with this novel (again).

Anyway, Danielle and Hel and Lon and I are sitting around writing, while we wait for kelly_swails and kosmo34 to arrive, and for lunch to cook. Lon's other half, Shelley, has recruited a neighbor (JJ), and they are performing magic in the kitchen. There's going to be bastilla for dinner, which I've only eaten once, and failed to make another time.

PS, I love Howard the sphinx beyond all reason.

setting

We are on Hastings Point, workshopping novels. The weather the first day was great, and we all went on a nature walk (except for steve_buccheit, who was still en route when we went) down around Elmwood Beach, saw wild ladyslippers, unfurling ferns, trillium, dogwood, and skunk cabbage. And lilies of the valley, which were the whole goal. Mayflies and gnats are everywhere, but at least it was very windy a few days.... and rained a lot... anyway, we got a nice afternoon yesterday, but we were trapped inside critting. Today looks good. The lake is blue, and the sun is bright.


plot

Critiques are done, and life is good. We crammed four crits in yesterday, rather than leaving one isolated on its own for this morning. Should we do this format of critique again (which I'm still debating), or even really any other format, I don't think I'll plan in an iso-crit again. Maybe leave Sunday as a buffer zone for spillage? Or just leave it open for the travelers. We'll see.

Critiques in general seemed to be successful/helpful/satisfying for people. I think blood was let, but it all seemed productive blood, and no one had to jump in the lake, which I believe people had to do at Milford the year I was there... I amused myself by guessing how kaiweilau writes novels, and being validated. (I guessed she was a non-sequential writer. She is. Though my guess was more lengthy and detailed than that.)

I, of course, did not have That Brilliant Revelation on my novel, but that probably wasn't going to happen anyway, and hey, I sort of had That Brilliant Revelation a few weeks ago, anyway. It's really a matter of putting it into action. Or words.

characters

toriw7 has been aiming cameras at us on the sly throughout the event, and kaiweilau has taken up residence as our chef. dendrophilous, who brought sylvrilyn up from IL with her, steve_buchheit, and Larry of No Known LJ, round out the group. kaiweilau is conducting an anthropological study of the Midwest, and we have taught her how to collect kindling, how to build a fire, and how to toast marshmallows. (This seems fair payment for her excellent culinary skills: last night she created a French/Italian cassoulet for us, and the night before we got a Thai/Indian curry. Both full of vegetables and served over brown rice, which allowed us to feel virtuous when we scarfed down s'mores later.)

For non-critique group events, we went with three rounds of Cranium, which resulted in some pretty good moments. Larry of No Known LJ, for example, did a stunning rendition of Dances with Wolves in charades. steve_buccheit and I proved to be an excellent team, so much so that they forcibly split us up later.

goals

We are about to hit up Sandy's for breakfast.

motivation

For we are hungry.

Just came back from some SERIOUS DINING with a suite of LJ users: colomon, a2macgeek, mandolinjen, matociquala, sithdragn, jillfelice, (ETA) a2gemma(end edit), THE CONFUSION PRINCESS, the infamous pirate king, and the Kitchen Chick herself. (And. Uhm. I'm forgetting someone(s).) Here's the Kitchen Chick's rundown of Chia Shiang, which is where we ate. It is foodie heaven.

I liked and even loved, most of what we ate, which was a Chinese banquet. Some of the dishes were so complex and arresting that I couldn't outright love them--it was good to sample, and not have a whole meal of them. I could contemplate eating a full meal of the, uhm... pineapple fish, I think; certainly the chicken and chestnuts, which is featured in the above review; the lamb with cumin; and maybe two or three other things that I munched on as they went past and I've now forgotten. But the most impressive things on the menu would be hard for me to contemplate as a whole meal. Mainly, the fish stew and the spicy chicken we ate were so intense and multi-flavored that I kind of went on culinary overload, and it was hard to cleanse my palate afterward. In fact, bizarrely, my tongue and whole mouth kind of went numb while eating them, which I'm told was due to Sichuan peppercorns. The ConFusion Princess actually wondered aloud if she were having a neurological event. That was a good question.

I ended up "cleansing" my palate at one point with... Duck Stuffed with Everything. Eight Treasures Duck? It was ah-mazing. I would get that again. In a heartbeat. In fact, this duck may be why civilization must continue to function at current levels.

I have been experiencing a weird kind of synesthesia lately, where tastes read in my mind as experiences. "This tastes like stepping out of a hot tub onto cold decking" was a recent experience--tonight I had "This is like driving toward Estes Park on a chilly summer day, with the windows cracked and the heat on." (I think I said, "Tastes like Colorado," when trying to explain it tonight, but that was inadequate.)

Anyway. Good times, catching up with folks I don't often catch, and meeting new folks.

PS See you at Penguicon?

I'm terrible sleepsity right now, but I must post my ConFusion schedule (ConFusion: http://www.stilyagi.org/cons/confusion.html), where I anticipate meeting catrambo and buying jimhines some sort of beverage to say, "Thanks for being The Awesome Guy on the Internets Who Gives Me Hope for Humanity." And such things of that nature.

I will also be there with the usual suspects... the splash_the_cat, the daveamongus, the vidensadastra, the iuliamentis, of course (three of these come with the hotel room!), and hope to see the becoming-usual steve_buchheit, jeffreyab... and many more! (Is this a tappu year? I will find out shortly!)

My panels this year:

Smut and Nothing but Smut 10:00 PM Friday Dennison III
David Rozian, Kelley Armstrong, Anne Harris, Merrie Haskell, and Violette Malan
A discussion of sex scenes in genre fiction and whether they have any redeeming literary value or are they just inserted for prurient interest to sell the book.
I'm not afraid of this one. I have... Opinions.

The Short Story 12:00 PM Saturday Salon E
Cat Rambo, William Jones, Merrie Haskell, Jim Hines [M], and Steve Buchheit
The best of these are an art form unto themselves. Where can we find them? How has the electronic age affected them? Selling short stories -- aimed at telling people how to submit short stories, how to get started and keep it up.
Can do this one in my sleep at this point, which is fortunate, because I'm going to need sleep.

Paranormal Romance: Meet the New Boss 3:00 PM Saturday Salon H
Kelley Armstrong, Melody Barker, Merrie Haskell [M], Steven Harper Piziks
Meet the New Boss about love, vampires and werewolves is the new economic engine of the genre. Where did it come from? Who writes it? Who reads it?
I'm glad I'm moderating, because the sudden appearance of Kelley Armstrong has sort of awed me. Shockingly, I'm much less opinionated in front of persons with more experience and authority than me. However, if you have any advice--or better, questions--about Paranormal Romance, comment with them! I'll attempt to write a semi-decent panel report in return.

Gadgetering 12:00 PM Sunday Dennison I/II
Cory Doctorow, David Rozian, Merrie Haskell, Philip Edward Kaldon and Freon
Creating gadgets in SCIENCE fiction
I'm not sure why SCIENCE is all capitalized like that? But I'm not sure that this is a *hard* topic? Just writers saying, "Well, I do thus and such?" and "Boy howdy, I like Q." Am I underthinking this? Why am I the only woman? Am I doing gadgets wrong in my fiction? Am I undergadgety to be on this panel, or am I overgadgety for my gender? I'll let you know next week, I guess.

Anyway, I'll be around. Comment if you want to meet up. Pop me an email if you want my cell number. (mythos (at) merrie haskell (dot) com)