The Journal of Michael Merriam

I have double-spice chai black tea in my Eeyore mug, because it makes me happy (the Eeyore mug, though the tea is fine as well).

I'm preparing to dive into working on the Monster-Hunting Barista Novel #2. I know I shouldn't write the second book when the first one hasn't sold yet, but I'm writing them to be mostly self-contained, and frankly, this is the thing that wants to be written right now. I am also pretty sure that once I send it to Editor Melissa at Carina Press, she's going to recommend it to the Acquisition Team. In other news at my publisher, the first set of Carina Press books (which are all ebooks) have been picked up by Harlequin print imprints. The print imprints seem mostly interested in three to multi-book series, so working on the Monster-Hunting Barista novels is actually me positioning myself to make that sort of move.

Or something like that.

I had a really good Paganicon, which I will blog about later today or tomorrow.

Job hunting continues. I've had a couple of places show some interest and one really good interview. I need to do some follow up this week at a couple of places.

ETA: To clarify: Harlequin has not picked up any of my books. What I meant was that Harlequin has taken some books by other Carina authors and turned them to print. I am hoping to take advantage of this with my monster-hunting barista series. If they had taken my books, there would have been much more flailing and jumping around!

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.

Wow. I haven’t updated since the first of the month. Things have been busy around here, and I’ve been (unsuccessfully) fighting off the ick. Like I said, though, things have been busy, so here is a little catch up post.

MarsCon was a great success. I had a good time, the panels were smart and well attended, and the convention big enough to be interesting and have energy, but still small enough not to overwhelm me. My reading went well, even if it was sparsely attended. All the panels I sat on were good, solid panels, with “Ask a Writer” probably being my favorite, though it turned into “Ask an Editor” for a long stretch, since all the panelist had editing experience. I was able to manage the dealer’s room at MarsCon, and able to move around on my own pretty well. I call it a success.

We left the con on Saturday night for ladysea’s birthday, which was also a success. It was good to be around great friends, and there was good food and conversation. Also, we got to pitch MarsCon to most of them. They are almost all of them in fandom in one way or another, so I’m hoping to have a few more of my friends at MarsCon next year.

We went to Catherine Lundoff’s (catherineldf) reading at DreamHaven Books. She is an excellent reader and her material was quite enjoyable. Afterwards we went out to Merlins Rest for food and drinks. The food and drinks were good, and it was great hanging out with everyone after the reading, but Merlins was too crowded and noisy for my taste. I would be willing to try it again on weeknight, maybe.

The Stoll Baby Shower was also a great success. More good friends, good food and good times. The expectant parents seemed pleased with the gifts and the out pouring of friendship and love from their friends.

The City of Hopkins hosts “The World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade” and they are not kidding. I think it took the whole parade about 5 minutes to pass. After, we went down to the VFW Post for free hotdogs and soda, but not before walking to the Elk’s Lodge by mistake. Luckily Hopkins is small and the two locations were only about four blocks from each other.

We bought new bedding. It is lovely.

Made a trip to Uncle Sven’s Comics Shoppe in St. Paul to spend a gift certificate I’ve had for years. Picked up two collections and one card game. The shop itself is small, cute, and well-stocked with friendly and knowledgeable staff.

This weekend I have Paganicon (http://tcpaganpride.org/paganicon/). I will be doing a reading/storytelling event on Sunday, where I plan to present “Four Minnesota Fantasy Tales.” Hopefully I am over my sick and my voice holds out.