My Groove, and BEA (Day Two)

You know what's happened to me the last week or so?

I've gotten my groove back.

Seriously. It's a while, a painful while. I just wrapped up my introductory year of teaching at Cal State. Kinda crimped my writing production when I was teaching. Not saying it's not a worthy profession and that my job isn't a rather primo one; but still - it turns me into a part-time writer. That's just the truth. Before that I had to deal with a move from Colorado to California, and before that I taught a demanding year at Colorado College.

Throughout all this, I kept chipping away at Acacia: The Other Lands, but chipping away isn't the way I prefer to write. I like to be up to my ears in my material. I want ideas bobbing against me all day. I want to be composing scenes in the dentist's chair, rearranging chapters at SaveMart. I want to be stunned by plot points revealed as I'm flipping eggs. When writing is going well for me it's a pretty all-encompassing thing that becomes a part of everything I do. It has not been that for the last two years. I still got work done, but...

Not like I have the last week! I'm free, with nothing to do for a little while but write. (Well, and be a husband and father, with all that entails - but you know what I mean.) I know my window of time is short before other commitments start interfering, but it's so, so wonderful to realize that I can get that full-time writer buzz back! It's here. I'm in it. I'm a writer again, and the words they are lining up.

And to some degree that's why I've neglected my Day Two BEA post. It's no big deal. Not that much happened, but I've been distracted. I will now take a few moments out and tell you what happened, should you be interested to know... (Oh, and I know! I don't have any original photos. That's cause I'm lame and don't want to carry a camera around - or feel silly asking to take photos. Instead, I cull from the internet...)

Day Two was Scalzi day. Yep. I'll admit it. My day was shaped around arranging to hang out with John Scalzi. (Didn't have that much else to do anyway, but this would still have been a highlight even if I did.) We met up for coffee and had a good long chat. (Some of you may be wondering who picked up the tab. Answer: man of class... uh, Scalzi. Waved away my pathetic attempt at bill shuffling and took charge. Impressively done. Now, do bear in mind that I have my own internal calculator for such things. I know now, and will not forget, that I owe John a drink of some sort. I can reciprocate, see? I'll settle up at Denvention, I hope.)

Paranoyd said he was curious about my "take" on Scalzi. I'd say it's this: He's a great guy. He's personable and funny, seems generous with his time and gracious in dealing with fans. He speaks his mind in the same engaging way he does on Whatever. (By the way, today is his thirteenth wedding anniversary. If you haven't already, go over to Whatever and say, "Ahh...") He claims that he can dance, although I did not witness this and can't confirm it. But another thing you notice about him is a sense of confidence. He knows who he is, what he does well, what people think of him, and he seems to rather like the way things have played out for him. (Tell me if I'm wrong, John.) I mean that in a completely positive sense, by the way. It's a good way to be, and I wish it on more people.

I'd also mention how nice it is to feel a sense of camaraderie with fellow writers. It's not quite the same vibe in the Big L "literary" world. Things are pricklier. But I've just had a great time recently connecting with writers like John, and like Tobias Buckell, Mary Robinette Kowal, Patrick Rothfuss and plenty more. I may be wrong, but so far it feels like this is a group of young writers that wants to encourage, support and just hang out with other writers. That may seem like nothing other than what you'd expect, but believe me writers in general can be a strange bunch. Who would've thought the world of fantasy and sci-fi would introduce me to so many people that actually seem... like pretty decent and (ironically) down to earth human beings (with quirks, admittedly).

While still with John I had a celeb author sighting: Neal Stephenson. Only from the back, though. I was sitting with Scalzi and he said, looking beyond me, "Oh, there's Neal Stephenson." Then he qualified that spotting by saying Mr. Stephenson appeared to have no interest in being approached by random people. He had a serious face on - as well as a rather sharp suit and, if I remember correctly, a completely shaved head. He'd been somewhere and was now going somewhere else and deserved to be left alone. Honestly, I get that completely. (I, on the other hand, walked through the same area with a smiley, open face that said, "Come on. Approach me. I know somebody here recognizes me. Just admit it..." But Neal is clearly past that.) I'm a fan of his, and I love it that he has a new book coming out.

So, does the fact that I saw Neal Stephenson but didn't even speak to him merit reporting? Not in and of itself. But I don't mind mentioning it as part of the over all vibe of the entire BEA scene. The place was just chock full of authors and celebs. They were all around, and knowing that tends to make ones eyes a little manic, jumping around, wondering who is who. Wondering if you'll recognize your favorite famous author when you see them in person (bearing in mind that some author photos are Biblically old or wonderfully flattering - which makes author ID potentially tricky).

After coffee Scalzi and me went over to the Tor booth to hang out a bit more. Cool sitting behind the Tor lines, watching passerby wondering who I was and how I managed to be on the other side of the barrier. Who I was (if they'd asked me) was kind of a goof. I must of been tired from the day before, because I didn't actually make the best use of my Tor booth time, see the following examples...

Cory Doctorow. I have to admit that I got a little weird with Cory. He's exploding just now, has a wonderful new book (according to the likes of Neil Gaiman), Little Brother, and is very much in demand and successful on tons of fronts. Scalzi introduced me to him at the booth. Thing is we were sitting there talking for a while and he asked me what my book was about. I said... "Oh, I don't know." He said, "No, tell me. It's been out a year, right? You must know how to pitch it by now." I shrugged and smiled and... didn't answer. He said, "You really don't want to tell me, do you?" I then directed him to John, saying, "Ask him. He's read it." But John was being devoured by some fan or another and couldn't really be consulted. So, end of story is that Cory left with no idea of who I am as a writer, probably convinced that I'm an amateur that never really lived in Scotland for five years, or anything else that I claimed...

In which case, you might ask me, "Why didn't you just tell him what Acacia was about?"

My answer... I was kinda hungover.

Uh... Other than that, I have - and still do - think it hard to explain 600 page books in sound bites. It's not really possible. When it's done it's marketing palaver. I'm not at all suggesting that Cory was asking for my pitch. I am saying that I'd seen/heard so much pitch madness that I hated the notion of pitching him. Anyway, I was in a mood.

I was still in this strange mood when Brandon Sanderson came by. I saw him standing there. I could read his badge... but I didn't say hi. Weirdness. I wish I had. I wish I'd said, "Brandon, dude... What's up? How you doing? You've got tons of cool things happening all at once! Okay, tell me true, is it a good thing to be finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series? I'm just saying - lots of folks think that's a dream job, but... it could also be a burden of unusual size." But I didn't speak, and then the moment passed...

When I left the booth I did the thing I said I wasn't gonna do. (Well, no, not the thing. Just one of the things...) I grabbed several of the Christopher Paolini Brisingr tote bags and began the harvest! Oh, there were books to be grabbed. There were lines to stand in. There were authors I'd never heard of to shake hands with. I circled and circled, and - despite the apparent physical activity - I got heavier with every lap. It was book weight, though. That doesn't count. By the time I was near to leaving I made sure to turn my name badge around and hobbled out covert-like. Good thing I'd packed light on the way there.

Oh, and on a random note... It needs to be said that Tim Holman, the Publishing Director for Orbit Books, is a good bloke. I just want that on the record.