Category: Liaden Universe® World Tour

As predicted in a previous Thrilling Episode, Steve and I boarded the Downeaster at Brunswick, Maine, at a ridiculously early hour.  We settled in, to watch the rain through the windows and eat our carry-on sandwiches and nap a little.  The train was an hour late, because of on going track work, and we arrived at North Station a little before 11:00, where we were met by our intrepid drive, and whisked off to our hotel.

We got settled in, went out in to the rain in search of lunch, had a nap, and in due time met our driver once again and headed out to Cambridge, and Pandemonium Books for the big Dragon in Exile Release Day Party.

There was NO ONE driving in Boston to hinder our progress and we arrived in good time to have a nice chat with Tyler and John, and to admire the spaceships on the ceiling, and to chat with people as they came in.  We had a good crowd, including many, many familiar faces.  Tyler set out a lovely wine-and-cheese-and-fruit spread, and we all had a good time talking about all kinds of interesting stuff, including the Liaden Universe®, our writing process, and, of course, cats.

Yesterday, we traveled to Toadstool Books in Keene, NH, where we met with the writing group. We had a lively and intense discussion, and had a special visitation from an Original Green Liaden Universe® t-shirt.

Tonight!  We’ll be at Toadstool Books in Milford, NH at 6:30.  Come by and see us if you’re in the area!

Fans of the Office Staff will be pleased to learn that Trooper and Scrabble are on the case, and helping the housesitter keep the Cat Farm secure until our return.  Princess Sprite has retired her aerie, where, one speculates, she is working on her memoirs.

So, we were Principal Speakers (aka Writer Guests of Honor) at PhilCon, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey over the weekend. We had a good time, together and apart. Of course, there were glitches, such as our speech running over time (we’ll eventually be posting the text, if not doing a recording, so the whole thing can at least be read in all its dubious glory), and a couple of failures of communication, but on the whole, it was a lovely con.  The theme of my convention was “believable.”  I had a blast moderating the panel “Would you believe?” ably assisted by articulate and thoughtful panelists Peter Prellwitz, Diane Weinstein, and David Walton, then joined Gregory Frost, Gail Z. Martin, Rob Balder, and Anastasia Klimchynskay to discuss creating believable relationships in science fiction and fantasy.  I was also a panelist on a fascinating topic of separating the author from his work, of which I expect to blog more, sometime later (I’m not kidding you; it was that fascinating), with Ian Randall Strock, Peter Prellwitz, Oz Drummond, and Muriel Hykes.

I read “The Gift of Music” to a gratifying number of very respectful people.  Really, you could’ve heard a pin drop in the room.

As much fun as all that was, though, my hands-down, verymost favorite event was the Teddy Bear Tea, for which we had a fine, if rolling, attendance of Teddy bears and other stuffies.  Also?  Thanks entirely to the care and expertise of Gene Olmstead, we had TEA.  I’m talking cucumber and watercress sandwiches, homemade (by Gene) scones, two kinds of tea — English Breakfast, and Darjeeling laced with flowers — properly served in silver tea services, and a taste of sassafras mead, and young port (from Gene’s own cellar).  I had a delightful time, and every attendee I spoke to was suitably — and favorably — impressed.

Follows a few pictures of the convention.

As recently mentioned here in this blog; Steve and I were part of the 10th Annual Books in Boothbay Celebration, held at the Boothbay Railway Village.  We arrived slightly early for the afternoon, “adult authors” session, so we got to tour the room during the children’s authors’ session, which was an unplanned-for bonus.

Because the committee thought of everything, and provided all attendees with free tickets to the Village and the exhibits, we were also able to ride the antique narrow-gauge steam train:

We had our tickets punched by Ethan, the Youth Conductor of the Day:

After our train ride, which encircled the Village Green, following a pleasantly wood-side track, we wandered through the village, though we did not feed the goats — I think Steve has pictures of the goats — and came back to the town hall (that would be the Railway Village’s town hall, not the Boothbay Town Hall) in time to be served a lovely lunch.  We picnicked under the trees with several of our fellow celebrants, then went inside to start up the afternoon session.

Here’s a picture of the space, as we’re just getting underway:

We found our place in the back of the room, next to Chris Holm and his wife, Katrina, who were charming tablemates, and proceeded to Get Down to Business.  It was lovely to spend the afternoon talking to people who were passionate about books, and great to meet so many new readers.

After the signing was over, there was an Author Reception the lawn, which was perfectly lovely.  Steve and I, alas, had to leave early, due to needing to drive home to Central Maine.

So, we had a splendid time — the committee really knows how to treat authors right! — and we’re glad we took the day off to enjoy.

As previously discussed in these pages, Thursday was a Day of Travel for the Cat Farm Thumbs.

Since we didn’t know how long the Maine Literary Award Ceremony might go, we used Star Points to book a room at the Westin Portland Harborview Hotel (formerly the Eastland Hotel).  Since we had used Points to get the room, the hotel warned us that we would not have a room with a view.

Here’s a picture of the no-view:

We arrived in mid-afternoon, checked in and went for a walk around the Old Port, visiting a purveyor of Asian artifacts (including old kimonos, antique marriage rooms, and mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinets), an art store (one of about ten zillion, since the Maine College of Art is in the neighborhood), where Steve had a hard time separating me  from all the Beautiful! handmade! paper!; a rock-and-tarot store; a pipe store; a deli; and a couple of antique stores.

When we were done exploring, we returned to the room to dress for the Event.

Here’s a picture of Steve, dressed up and practicing Tai Chi:

After all that excitement, it was time to go to the Awards Ceremony, so we did.  Here’s a picture of the pre-ceremony reception:

The ceremony was good-natured, and at times light-hearted.  I tried for a while to tweet out the winners as they were announced, but my Twitter skills are nowhere near that good, and I had to stop after only a half-dozen categories were announced.  The award recipients were uniformly pleased, and generous in their thanks.  Here’s a list of the winners. For those keeping score at home, Necessity’s Child did not receive the Speculative Fiction award.

The ceremony was over earlier than we had expected; we could have driven home, but we had the nice room with no view waiting for us, so we went back up the hill, fed the chupacabra, had a glass of wine, and went to bed.

Friday morning, since we were so close and all, we motored down Route One to Old Orchard Beach, breaking our journey in Scarborough, to enjoy breakfast at The Egg and I.  We had a half-hour walk on the beach, Elevensies at Pine Point, and so to home, where the cats were embarrassingly pleased to see us.

A word about Kineo, the new car.  It turns out that Kineo is equipped with a six-speed continuously variable transmission.  I had been. . .somewhat concerned that there was something dicey with the transmission, because I am used to driving three-speed automatics.  Old three-speed automatics, at that.  This trip let me get a feel for how Kineo approaches the challenges of the road.  Overall, I remain pleased.

And, now?  I have stories to edit, edits to input, and new words to write.

Hope you are having a fine weekend, wherever you are.