WisCon Report

Just got back from WisCon in Madison, Wisconsin, land of cheese curds (Tillamook's are better and mine are better yet.) My first time there and it was a GREAT con. Didn't hurt that it was the 30th anniversary and they invited every guest of honor they'd ever had as a guest. So I got to see people I don't usually see. Even Ursula was there. MUCH fun and a great time was had by all. Gender is the central theme at WisCon, home of the Tiptree Award. Geoff Ryman won it for Air...I haven't read it yet, but it's on my list. Geoff is a sweet person and I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the award.

It's a lovely con, very reader/writer oriented, relaxed, lots of time to visit and Madison offers great restaurants and interesting shops and lakes to sit by within walking distance. I'm going back. Doesn't hurt that my son, Nate, is there as a grad student. :-) He has a great bunch of friends so I spent two evenings hanging with them and eating great grilled stuff. Is this the Generation of Cooks?

Nice to return to a part of the country where it is NOT 80 degrees at 5 Am.... uh, I remember this type of humid, hot weather... Yeah, rain and all, I like the Pacific sea breezes. Now I'm off to the yard to mow down and pull up the four days of hyper-vigorous weeds and grass that took advantage of rain, warmth, and my absence!

Pretty Pages

I've spent that past 24 hours (well, a generous portion of it) checking the page proofs of Horizons for typos. Wow! I am SO impressed. I never pay any attention to book design...that is the look of the actual printed page. I am too busy looking through that page into the world to notice. But these pages really blew me away. They're PRETTY -- quite lovely in fact. The flyleaf has a panel of additional art...a stylized glimpse of the orbital's hub garden. And a small bar of that image dresses up the first page of each chapter. Even the header on each page is eyecatching. The typeface is large, crisp and very easy to read. I was SO impressed. I don't think I've ever noticed the details of a printed page in any of my other publications, either hardcover, paper, or magazine. Tor has done a marvelous job overall with this book. I am thrilled. And can't wait to see the finished product.

Well, I'm now working through one of my first-draft chapter summaries of my next novel. It begins on Europa (I've had such fun creating that world) and spends more time in the solar system as a whole. But we get to travel back to Earth, too, and see what the future holds for our two divergent species of humanity.

Lambs for Annie

I started 18 month old Annie herding sheep last week. Little high drive girl went out into the round pen and did an amazing job of really trying hard to figure out what Mom was up to here. While DJ was more Mr. Wild Man at first, she did a solid 'lay down' and was quick to move out when I said 'get out'. When I told her 'that'll do come' she was quick to let go and turn away from the sheep. We didn't work long...it was hot. But the sheep never got nervous. (I had three 'heavies' in there that are sort of like working with sofas on castors. Sofas that try to stay together and knock your feet out from under you). They decided right off that she was gonna mind me and not go right for their hamstrings. (They weren't so sure about DJ the first few times). I was really pleased with her. But I shouldn't be surprised. Her goal in life is to show DJ up in everything. :-) Marvelous as he is, she probably will, too. Well, I have a nice crop of lambs growing up for herding games later. Dunno if Annie will be ready for lambs this summer...I doubt it, good as she is. But DJ will have fun 'dog-training' em. :-) He's already had practice with BB's on a plank. I bet he can't wait, heheh.