The Journal of Michael Merriam

Line edits on Last Car to Annwn Station are finished and returned to Editor Melissa at Carina Press. It should be a couple of weeks before the CEM arrives. I have a week to finish that, then the manuscript will be complete and delivered. There will be a final proof galley, then at last a book. I can’t wait.

My reading at DreamHaven Books was a success. I started off reading too fast, but got my footing and by the time I read from Last Car to Annwn Station I had settled in. Everyone seemed to enjoy the reading, and several folks said they are looking forward to the novel coming out this summer. We had a great crowd, 41 people by our count.

Super Bowl party was fun, with about 20 people at my house, some of whom cared about the game, many of whom did not, and everyone having fun. There was lots a good food and great company.

Had a nice night out with some other local writer folks. Good conversation, goods people, and a smashing beer and scotch selection at The Muddy Pig in St. Paul.

Speaking of food, we have a new Japanese restaurant in Hopkins, Aji. There is nice review here: http://www.weeklynews.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=8267&SectionID=49&SubSectionID=110&S=1

We went with some friends and found everything cooked to perfection and the sushi bar well presented, with a good selection of excellent and flavorful sushi.

We went to see Bill W. and Dr. Bob (http://www.illusiontheater.org/events/bill-w-dr-bob) at the Illusion Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. This show is well worth seeing, and the discussion after the show with the director and actors was great fun.

The MinnSpec meeting today was a presentation about giving presentations and being on panels. There was some really good stuff, though I feel like we focused a little too much on PowerPoint stuff. I know some people really dig the PowerPoint, but I don’t use it. There was also good discussion about what to do in difficult situations (a cellphone goes off, crying children, that one person in the audience who tries to hijack the panel, that one expert in the audience who asks you the one question you don’t know the answer to, that sort of thing). We talked about different things you can do the make your public speaking better, including joining Toastmaster and taking some basic acting and voice classes. Over all a very positive meeting, plus we figured out the topics for the next couple of meetings.

Getting gear up for Con of the North this weekend. I will be spending my birthday at the Con.

I sent in my panel picks for CONvergence. We shall see what happens.

Speaking of panels, I have my schedule for MarsCon:

Friday, March 4:
6:00-6:45 PM--Krushenko's/Concierge (Room 1332)
Fiction Reading: Michael Merriam

Saturday, March 5:
6:00-6:45 PM--Re(a)d Mars/Taylor (2nd Floor)
Panel: The Woods Are Lovely
How do we create modern fairytales and myths? How do we tap into the primal emotions of fairytales in a modern era?
Michael Merriam, mod.; PMF Johnson, Naomi Kritzer

Sunday, March 6:
11:00-11:45 AM--Re(a)d Mars
Panel: Ask a Writer
Always wanted to know how a novel is born? How does a writer structure their day? Is it all glittering parties and intelligent company? Come ask a panel of working writers anything!
Michael Merriam, mod.; Roy C. Booth, Catherine Lundoff, Anna Waltz

1:00-1:45 PM--Krushenko's
Panel: The Western as Fantasy
Myths about the Old West began before the West was old, making it one of the first shared worlds in American culture. We'll discuss the rise and fall of the Old West mythology, and how it has influenced and lent its energy to current genres including fantasy and science fiction.
David Christenson, mod.; Eric M. Heideman, Michael Merriam

2:00-2:45 PM--Krushenko's
Panel: Writing in a Series: Harmonies and Discords
Writers who have done multiple novels or stories about continuing characters and/or a linked world share their experiences, positive or negative, and their advice to aspiring series writers.
Michael Merriam, mod.; Lois McMaster Bujold, Naomi Kritzer

I’ve acquired shooting scripts from several televisions shows and one from a motion picture. I plan to read and study these, watch several episodes of Being Human, Eureka and Warehouse 13, and then create spec scripts. I am also outlining a feature movie script.

My counselor at State Services for the Blind has, in support of my quest for a part-time job, hooked me up with Lifetracks in St. Paul. My worker there has already sent out my resume to a potential employer that looks to be a good fit for me, except it might be too much travel by bus. Still, if they can find me a possible position before I’ve ever had a meeting with them, I’m impressed.

Tomorrow night I will cook Valentine dinner for my Bunnee. We stay in and avoid the crowds on Valentine's Day. There will be good food and small gifts.

Also, still sick. This is the start of week three. I suppose I should go see a doctor.

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.

These are the conventions I'll be attending this year: Con of the North -- February 5th-7th, 2010. The Twin Cities' longest running games convention, held at Holiday Inn St. Paul East.

Minicon -- April 2-4, 2010. The Grand Dame of Minnesota SF&F Conventions. This Con is held at the Sheraton in Bloomington, MN.

CONvergence -- July 1-4, 2010. CONvergence is at the Sheraton in Bloomington, MN. This convention hosts the Tales of the Unanticipated magazine release party.

Diversicon : A Twin Cities convention that celebrates and explores the connections between speculative fiction (SF) and diversity.

Info at my wife's journal. Post comments there, please.

http://careswen.livejournal.com/159456.html

http://careswen.livejournal.com/159657.html

...though it is a bit chilly here in Minnesota today.

I know I've been quiet here on Live Journal lately. I think part of it is that I really haven't had much to write about (at least, nothing that someone else has not already written about and done it better), and I think the other part is: I'm starting to mentally move into my February LJ/Facebook/MySpace/Internet sabbatical.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I'm excited about, starting with, say President Obama. I love saying that! I love hearing it said! Sure, he's just a man, not a messiah. Sure, he’ll do thing I'll disagree with, but after eight long years of that other guy, I can't help but be hopeful.

And this weekend is Super Bowl weekend, a religious holiday in my family. I'll be preparing the traditional Super Bowl dinner of meatball subs and the cheese dip from careswen's mom's recipe. And while I don't have a particular team to cheer for or against, and I suspect the Steelers are simply too good for the Cardinals to handle, I'm looking forward to the game.

I'm looking forward to Con of the North as well, and am hopeful that no one gets sick this year. I've a bunch of games slotted out, probably more than I will actually play, but maybe not.

Though every short story I have in progress has stalled, I'm still moving along on Rija's Tale. I'm in an odd place in that I'm trying to link up a pieces that were written non-sequentially (something I don't usually do), and so I've had a bit of a struggle with the last couple of chapters. I have one more chapter to write, then I will be back to working sequentially again.

Rija's Tale


While I'm taking time off from the internet (I will be checking email, since most of my work is done that way), I'll be trying to finish Rija's Tale and continue marketing Last Car to Annwn Station while getting both Dark Water Blues and Old Blood's Fate submission ready. I also want to write some more short stories. I need to prepare for the teleconference with the blind writers and poets group. I need to start getting ready for convention season. And I'm going to spend time considering what I want to do with this journal in the future, and what I plan to do about (and what I want to get from) attending conventions in the future.

February seems packed already.

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.

I will be at Con of the North starting this afternoon.

I have this memory of the hotel's free wifi not working correctly every time we've stayed there, so I might be out of touch until Sunday night / Monday morning.

After revewing the local SF/F/H conventions and a few of the regional ones, it looks like I'll be at Minicon, 4th Street Fantasy, and CONvergence in 2008, with the possibility of adding Diversicon because I keep meaning to go, and maybe Con of the North to get my gaming fix.

I think I'm going to pass on World Fantasy Convention until 2010 in Columbus, OH, unless I end up with a burning professional need to go to WFC before then. Who knows when, if, or ever I'll be attending Worldcon.

ETA:There is still a possibility that we might go to WFC 2008 in Calgary. careswen and I are going to talk about it after Christmas and decide then.

Nothing on the novel, but I started two, count 'em, two short stories. I like short stories.

Plenty of reviews and crits on the three stories posted to The Online Writing Workshop. One story needs a massive re-write, the second a few moderate adjustments, and the third some sentence level housekeeping. I'm pretty happy with the situation. I plan to let careswen have a go at the third story in the next week or so, and then send it on its way. A big old hug to everyone who left reviews and critiques. You all know who you are, and you are the best!

I thought I would post a list of conventions I'll be attending this year. 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.

Con of the North

This is one of the premiere gaming cons in the upper Midwest. careswen and I will attend this Con for one day only. On Saturday the 19th we will be gleefully engaged in a variety of gaming pursuits. We won't actually know what our slots are until we get there, and I will be damned disappointed if I don't get into the LARP on Saturday night. Costumes and pirates, what could be better? I think we might go ahead and stay at the hotel for this one. I'm going to call today for room rates.

Minicon

The Grand Dame of Minnesota SF&F Conventions. This year the Con has moved to the Sheraton-Bloomington, just a couple of miles from our house, so we will simply drive back and forth. At Minicon I usually sit and observe. I'm a little intimidated by Minicon, truth be told. It has a long running attending membership, all of whom have know each other for decades. It's not that they are unfriendly; in fact everyone seems very nice. The problem is me. I'm so quiet, shy, and easily overwhelmed by crowds that I tend to wallflower at Minicon. I'm going to try to change that this year.

CONvergence

A free-wheeling SF&F fandom/media convention, CONvergence is also at the Sheraton-Bloomington. For this Con we will be staying at the hotel, rooming with some friends. This is the convention you go to in order to observe Klingons and Anime Cat Girls fighting with boffer weapons. The theme this year is Superheroes. I'll be Matt Murdock. But don't let the apparent silliness fool you. Some of the best panels I have been to were at this convention. Despite the fact that this convention is barely controlled chaos (very well run barely controlled chaos, mind you), I'm usually more comfortable at this con than any other, probably because I'm more involved. I will typically sit a few panels at this con, both in the literature and gaming tracks, and last year I did a public reading. This convention usually hosts the Tales of the Unanticipated magazine release party. I may volunteer more at this Con. Blind badger anyone?


World Fantasy Convention

I missed the one in Minneapolis a few years back. This year it is being held in Madison, Wisconsin. Damned if I'm going to miss it again. Yes, we will be out there for six days. Yes it will take a huge bite out of our budget. I don't care. I'll be the blind guy walking around star struck. Or I might put on my theatre face and try to network. Please Divine Powers That Be, do not let me be the cause of an editor spilling hot coffee on his child. Again.

Well, back to work.

In Peace
Michael