The Journal of Michael Merriam

The programming is up for 4th Street Fantasy Convention. This small convention (membership capped at 250) has single track of programming. 4th Street Fantasy is intimate, literate, smart, and the best little fantasy convention on the block. These are my programming items for the year:

It's a Secret to Everyone - 10:00am – 11:00am Saturday
What makes secrets work in fiction, and what are some ways they can be mishandled? How much of a difference does it make when the reader is in on the secret? What's the difference between a surprise that will make the reader remember a book for years to come, and a twist that will leave them feeling cheated?
Panelists: Anne Gwin, Michael Merriam (Moderating), Will Shetterly, Patricia C. Wrede

Novelty, Complexity, and Mass Appeal – 10:00am -- 11:00am Sunday
Readers of popular fantasy series often see them as groundbreaking in ways that experienced readers don't. Similarly, the nuances that appeal to the latter group can disorient and disconcert the former. How important is the perception of novelty in a series having breakout appeal, and what kinds of novelty matter? What sorts of complexity are audiences willing to put up with immediately, and which kinds wouldn't work in a stand-alone work but might in an ongoing series?
Panelists: Alec Austin (Moderating), Emma Bull, Scott Lynch, Michael Merriam, Sherwood Smith

My venerable (for a computer) HP Pavilion kicked the bucket after 8 good years of service. Considering the lifespan of most electronics, I really can’t complain. I didn’t lose anything, since we keep all of our doc, pics, and music on the network drive and back it all up regularly to the laptop. That said, I’m thinking about signing up for DropBox. I will working on the laptop for the time being, though we are considering buying a laptop with a docking station so that I can work at my more ergonomically correct desk and use my huge (seriously huge) monitor.

In happier news, I sold my short story “Steadfast” to Flagship. This is a space opera retelling of The Steadfast Tin Soldier. I’m pleased to have sold it.

And a reminder that I will be at Paganicon (http://tcpaganpride.org/paganicon/) this weekend. I will be doing a reading/storytelling event on Sunday, where I plan to present “Four Minnesota Fantasy Tales.” There are also some other author events that I will probably see attending on Saturday and Sunday.

Here is a list of conventions and other events I will attend. If anyone wants to come up to me and say hello, I'm easy to spot: I'm the large man with the white cane. I'd love to visit with you.

Speculations Reading with Michael Merriam
Friday, February 4, 2011 6:30 PM
DreamHaven Books
2301 E 38th St
Minneapolis MN 55406

Con of the North -- February 18th-20th, 2011. The Twin Cities' longest running games convention, held at the Holiday Inn St. Paul East.

MarsCon -- March 4th-6th, 2011. Held at the Airport Hilton, Bloomington, MN.

Paganicon -- March 25th-27th, 2011. Held at the Doubletree Park Place Hotel, St. Louis Park, MN.

Minicon -- April 22nd-24th, 2011. The Grand Dame of Minnesota SF&F Conventions. This Con is held at the Sheraton Hotel in Bloomington, MN.

4th Street Fantasy Convention -- There hasn't been an announcement of dates yet.

CONvergence -- June 30th--July 3rd 2011. CONvergence is at the Sheraton Hotel in Bloomington, MN. This convention hosts the Tales of the Unanticipated magazine release party.

Diversicon -- July 29th–31st, 2011. A Twin Cities convention that celebrates and explores the connections between speculative fiction and diversity.

Saturday, I ventured into downtown Minneapolis for the Twin Cites Book Festival, spending the morning and early afternoon celebrating the written word. I arrived just as the doors were opening, and was surprised to find the exhibit hall already quite packed.

I ran into half_double and leorathesane almost immediately, who had also just arrived. We spent a few minutes catching up, then dived in.

Folks, I knew the Twin Cities and Minnesota had a strong lit community, but you don't realize just how strong it is until you enter a exhibition hall with 100+ publishers of books, magazines, literary journals, and literary support organization. I meet a number of publishers and had a handful of local lit journals express interest in seeing my fiction.

Shortly after nearly completing the circuit of tables (I never managed to get to them all, and I never went upstairs to the children's pavilion, and I never made any programming items, sadly) I encountered cloudscudding, who I escorted over to the Sam's Dot Publishing table and introduced to Tyree, the publisher. wordswoman was already at the table when we arrived, and dmbaird and zarathud23 both showed up a moment later.

The rest of the day was spent browsing the tables and talking to folks, including Scott at the Tales of the Unanticipated table, where we lamented that the Book Festival, Arcana, and Conjecture were all happening on the same day.

I went back to the Sam's Dot Publishing table, where cloudscudding was helping Tyree sell books. I sat down as well. We were joined by wordswoman, the three of us giving Tyree a chance to wander around for a bit. It's always a good idea to help your publisher out when you can. joelarnold and Terry Faust came by the table as well, so we had several of the Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales authors available to sign copies. It was also good to see several folks I've meet at local conventions attending the festival (Carrie and Katie, I'm talking about you!)

As I was leaving the festival, I ran into Britt Aamodt, who pointed me to a possible venue to hold a release party for Northern Lights

I think next year I would like MinnSpec to have an information table and maybe a place for members to sell their work, as long as it is not completing with another publisher at the festival.

Filed under Moments When You Realize Your Life Has Gotten a Little Odd: I had separate occasions where people I did not know said something to the effect of "Oh! You're Michael Merriam. Great! Now I can put a face with the name." I'm still a little boggled by that. I also have not gotten use to having people I've never meet walk up to me holding my book and asking for my signature. It is a happy-making thing meeting someone who bought your work and is excited about it.

I signed a lot of books. I had no idea we would sell that many copies of Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales and The Horror at Cold Springs.

Tyree at Sam's Dot Publishing also told me that Horror at Cold Springs is about to go into its second printing. I told him I had the next novella in that setting almost ready, and he told me to send it on to him. Also, we talked about doing another MinnSpec anthology in 2012, since Northern Lights has sold so well.

That is all to report about the Twin Cites Book Festival, but I will probably post again tomorrow to talk about the rest of the weekend, which included seeing a favorite author read her work, going to a friend's deployment party, and running network cable through the ceiling with greykev at careswen's office.

Effective today, I am no longer reading slush for Fantasy Magazine. It was a great experience, very educational and eye-opening, but I need to refocus on my own writing.

Also, I am stepping down as the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers Convention Liaison and Programming Coordinator, effective 12:01 am on 2 August 2010 (the end of Diversicon).

I have finished the draft of the untitled monster-hunting barista novel. It clocked in at 68,000 words, which might be a little thin. I'm glad to be done with this one, and ready to start working on other things.

Had an author's online meeting with the editorial and marketing staff at Carina Press. All of Harlequin is behind the launch of this line. I need to set up an author's page at e-Harlequin. I am bemused that I set out to write a near-future Urban Fantasy and ended up with Paranormal Romance. The working title, "Should We Drown In Feathered Sleep," will probably not survive, but I'm okay with changing it to something marketing thinks will appeal more to the target audience.

I keep pulling out and petting my copies of The Horror At Cold Springs. I am a little boggled that I'll have two stand-alone novellas published this year. Now to sell a novel.

Met with the The Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers last weekend to talk about the Northern Lights: 20 MinnSpec Tales anthology. Several members did not know the extended history of this project (it was first proposed in 2007). There were a few moments of "Michael squirms in his chair" as I took questions from writers I had rejected. Next weekend I will be presenting at MinnSpec again, this time with cloudscudding and Conrad Zero on social networking for authors.

I sat down today and worked out what needs to be done in order to salvage "Dark Water Blues." I can fix this, though it will mean some serious rewriting. I also realized I only have eight pieces of short fiction out right now, which is a low number for me. Turning more and more of my writing attention to novels has cut into the number of short stories I have in progress, though there are a couple of WiPs I'm excited about.

On the home front, we’ve been hit with several larger repairs lately: a new compressor for the AC in careswen's car, and heating elements for both the dryer and hot water heater. On the positive side, The Reverend Selena seems to be pretty much back to normal, though she still get IV fluids twice a week to help her ailing kidneys. Had wonderful and successful birthday parties for both careswen and greykev and went to dlandon's dance recital, which was a joy to watch.

Preparation for attending 4th Street Fantasy Convention, CONvergence, and possibly Diversicon are starting to rev up. I updated my website, mostly the bibliography page. I am looking forward to seeing everyone. I really need to spend quality time practicing with my bass guitar before music circles at these cons.

Big Update Done!

These are the conventions I'll be attending this year: Con of the North (gaming con), Minicon, CONvergence, and maybe Diversicon depending on a couple of things.

I attended several SF/F/H conventions this year, all local here in the Twin Cities where I live (we have a plethora of local SF/F/H conventions) along with one gaming convention. I go to conventions for a variety of reasons: To see my friends and to be around other folks who share my enjoyment of SF/F/H in literature, movies, games, or other media. I go to support my friends who are professional authors by attending their readings and hawking their books and to get my own name, face, and fiction in front of the local public. I go to just enjoy myself.

It was a tough convention season for me this year. Each convention presents different challenges for this blind fan and writer, and at times those challenges overwhelmed me. The larger the convention, the greater the challenges, but even small conventions can present me with difficult situations.

For example, small conventions typically mean small consuites: Small, narrow, crowded, hard to get around in consuites. I usually end up sitting somewhere and asking my wife to bring me things, but this is sub-optimal for several reasons. For one, I still hate to be a "bother" to anyone, and would rather sit silently than risk breaking up a brilliant conversation because I need help getting through the crowds to the soda. And I know that's a personal choice on my part. I know.

And crowds. This is a fact of life at larger conventions, but it's something I struggle to deal with, to the point of sometimes getting so overwhelmed that I give up and go up to the room to hide. Now granted, I'm an introvert and at conventions I try to be "on" as much as possible, smiling, chatting, being social, which is exhausting to me. So I dive back into the room to recharge. But the crowds, oh the crowds, they are probably my greatest challenge.

Because people at conventions are talking and visiting and looking at all the shiny, and they don't actually pay much attention to their surroundings. Now, you'd think being well over six feet tall and wielding a long white cane would be a clue, but no. Any moment I'm in the hallways and trying to get around under my own power (as opposed to being assisted) the journey is fraught with peril, near-misses, people tripping over the cane, and accidental body-checking into walls. It is especially bad with small children, who tend to dash one direction while looking the other. This forces me to try and be extra slow and careful, hyper-aware of my surroundings. It's exhausting.

Dealer's rooms are another adventure. The same problems as above, now with bonus narrow aisles and displays lying in ambush, waiting for the hapless blind guy to stumble into them. Going into the dealer's room without assistance is neigh impossible.

The final thing the crowds tend to do is "blind" me. I'm already struggling with not being able to see much of anything in a rapidly changing environment, but the noise--especially around the party rooms (which I've learned to avoid)--basically leaves me without my other primary way of telling me what is happening around me. If I can't see clearly, and I can't hear clearly, what chance do I have? I've had to drop out of some things I wanted to do, simply because it became too hard on me in those situations to deal with the environment. There were moments where I quite literally froze in place because I lost my bearings and could not navigate my surroundings safely. It is a frustrating thing.

There was some disability programming at a couple of conventions this year, panels I pushed for about Disability in SF, which also touched on being a disabled fan (a panel I had taken part in at a convention a couple of years ago). Sadly, even this was problematic, as one of the conventions put us in a space that was too small and nearly inaccessible for our disabled fans in wheelchairs. And once I was in the room, I was stuck. There was no way I'd have been able to maneuver out of that room without help, and even then it would have been tough. Good thing I was safely ensconced on the panel!

And elevators: This is a real problem at larger conventions, where the elevators are few and broken down half the time (ask me about the night I climbed 22 flights of stairs). When the elevators are slow and not always working--placing them at a premium--and people want to get up their rooms to change for an event, or get to a room party, or whatever, all courtesy is tossed out the door. I've had to stand and wait through up to eight cycles of elevators because once one opens and clears, the faster, younger, able bodied people will happily charge forward and cram into the thing before those of us with canes or chairs can even start forward, squeezing us out in their mad dash to get aboard. Tough luck, gimp.

It's a wonder I even bother sometimes.

But I bother because I really want to visit with and see the people I want to see. I want to sit in the bar or consuite and talk with my friends, especially those I only see at conventions. I go because some of the panels were valuable to me when I was starting out as a writer and new to fandom, and I like to be on those panels now, paying it forward, encouraging new writers and fans (I especially like talking with teens about writing and literature and fandom. They're so enthusiastic, lacking all the world-weary jadedness so common in their adult counterparts).

I have learned tricks to help myself, like getting someplace early and scouting it out, figuring out the best routes, the best ways to get up on the raised platform to the panel table, how to get to various crucial locations in the convention. Since large-print or programs are rarely offered and the program pages on the rooms doors and boards are sometimes in smaller fonts, I try to memorize my schedule and all the things I want to, though this can fall victim to last minute changes, leaving me wondering where the go for that panel I was suppose to be on.

The solution seems simple: Stop going to larger conventions and always make sure I have someone available to help me access the convention. I can tell you both of these answers are sub-optimal for me. I know I'd be missing some great stuff by avoiding the larger conventions, and I simply can't rely on having people to help me all the damned time.

I don't have the answers (yet), but I know I'll keep going to conventions of various sizes, trying to figure out the best and easiest ways to deal with these challenges. Because one thing I am is determined to do is this: I won't stop living my life because I'm blind. And conventions, both professionally and personally, are part of my life.

The family will be here from Oklahoma in about another hour. I'll be out of contact until about Tuesday, so don't break anything. I'll try to read my flist as best as I can, but...

I know this blog has been a little quiet lately, but I do have some things I want to blog about when I get back, including some disability issues and some thoughts about (surprise!) writing.

It's just--in a seven week span I'll have done three conventions, fringe festival, a family visit, and written an application for an MN Arts Board grant. It's all fun stuff, but I'm starting to tire. Still, almost there.

I have been invited to be the guest speaker at a teleconference for a group of blind fiction writers and poets. One of the members read the piece I have up at Breath and Shadow and sent me an email, asking if I'd like to take part in a discussion session with their moderator, followed by Q&A with their members. The moderator said it follows a format similar to the one on Inside the Actors Studio. Of course I agreed! I am both honored and boggled.

I've settled on the conventions I'll be attending this year. I'll at Con of the North (gaming con), Minicon, 4th Street Fantasy Convention, CONvergence, and Diversicon.

Since all these conventions are local, careswen and I will only be staying at the hotel for Con of the North (because we need someplace to change into costumes for the nightly LARPs) and CONvergence, (because I always end up on too many programming items and because the con is super-frantic, making it important to have someplace quiet to retreat to). We'll be driving back and forth to Minicon and 4th Street (both of which are close to our home) and I suspect I'll only be at Diversicon on Saturday.

Finally, I'm thinking of taking an internet sabbatical in February. I would only be checking email twice a day, and staying off the internet and all the networking sights I frequent for one month. Unless, you know, I sold a book and needed to make an announcement.

I take sabbaticals from the news from time-to-time where I won't watch news, listen to news, or read news, because honestly, it depresses me. I've feeling that way about the internet in general and blogs in particular for the last couple of months. There just seems to be an awful lot of doom and gloom and bitching and fighting and anger out there right now, and while I know it's always been there (because I've been on the net for a long damned time) I find myself just--out of energy for trolling, internet slapfights, flame-wars, and even heated-if-polite discussions. This has begun to affect both my mood and my writing negatively, and it needs to stop. I'm thinking I need to step away for a while, hit the reset button, and get myself pointed back in the right direction again.