The April issue of Locus magazine came today and there on page XX is a review of my novella “The Goddess Deception”. Now I’ve been reviewed by Locus before, but in their online version. Print is different. It’s an actual something. You can hold it in your hands, you can smell the ink and paper, you can roll it up and swat the fly that’s been driving you bat shit crazy for the last hour. And it certainly didn’t hurt that the review was very positive at that. Thanks for the kind nod, Rich. It’s a little thing, really. Getting reviewed in Locus had been a goal of mine coming up through the ranks, and now that it’s here it made my day. Until…

…an invite came asking me to be a panelist at Orycon 36. We’ve not attended before, and visiting Portland will be a treat. Good days are made of small things, and today we received two.

OryCon 36 and the Locus review.

Norwescon 37 was a wonderful experience, despite the misfortune of my son and I being sicker than dogs.  What can you do?  All in all, I’m very pleased.  Nine scheduled events, slightly more than average and certainly my heaviest convention load to date (eight panels, of which I moderated two, and a solo reading). Plus my staff duties in the Green Room.  Yikes! That’s a busy four days. My schedule per the program guide for April 17-20, 2014:

April 17, 3PM – Is Space Really the Old West?
A wagon train to the stars is a familiar trope in SF. We see examples of Western stories set in space all over the place. The immense distances in space create problems similar to those encountered by American settlers colonizing the continent. Come and join in the discussion of this popular form of our genre.

April 17, 5PM – Intricate Worlds
How do you build and maintain an intricate fantasy world that holds up to intensive fan interrogation?

April 18, 11AM – Authors with Volume
Audiobooks, vlogs, and podcasts are extremely popular formats, but many authors don’t know where to start. Learn the tools and tricks by participating in a recorded podcast session.

April 18, 2PM – Faith in Speculaive Fiction
Faith is an area that is often overlooked in world-building and character motivation for speculative fiction in spite of the fact that it has had and continues to have (for good and bad) in our world. How has faith been used well (or badly) in our genres?

April 18, 5PM – Lies My Writing Teacher Told Me
Much of what we think we know about publishing is wrong–or rather, it’s not true anymore. This panel aims to dispel common myths and radically update the understanding of etiquette, norms, and plausiblr paths to success in this fast-changing industry.

April 18, 4PM – Giving Good Alien
It’s pretty hard to write about a lie form completely outside of our experience. No matter how good an SF story is, if you come across an alien that’s either “just a guy in a suit” or too far from our current understanding of the laws of physics, it can throw you out of the story. So what does it take to create a believeable alien?

April 19, 3PM – Reading, “When Averly Fell from the Sky”.

April 20, 12PM – Queen Victoria’s Fantastical Fiction
Steampunk is no longer a fad, but t’s own subgenre. What makes it so appealing, and is steampunk different from other forms of fantasy? Join our panelists as they look at recent works and discuss where steampunk is going, and who might take it there.

April 20, 2PM – Writing Action
Penning a thrilling action sequence requires specific writing skills. Learn how to change up the tone of your prose, sequence events properly, and triple your pace without sacrificing clarity.