(no subject)

Oogh. I suppose the upside to this is the damn thing waited till after I was a) away from the convention and the need to be cogent and sober and b) out of the tropical paradise. But, seriously? Having a headcold that makes me unable to hear clearly is annoying. Today, hearing is better, but my lungs are laboring under the truly insane amounts of mucus my body is generating. I think Slimer took up residence in my body.

Convention. Conference. One or the other.

Overall, the conference was amazing. The seminars were mostly pretty good, except for the nagging feeling that I knew half the information already. Every now and again I came across a seminar that had almost entirely new stuff (James Rollins's thriller seminar) or scraps of random information that I wouldn't have thought to ask anywhere else but turned out to be really, really helpful (Shane Drehs? and someone's editors/marketing seminar).

Consultations were fucking fantastic. A certain agent who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty was, in fact, as much of an asshole as I had surmised/guessed from a rejection that had absolutely no commentary on it. I felt guilty about wanting to chuck him in the koi pond (the hotel had a KOI POND!) on the basis of absolutely nothing, until I found out how he treated people in his consultation sessions. I.e. dismissively and condescendingly. Er. No. I don't care how important an agent you are, and you've only been working 4 years anyway. Not even as an agent all that time. You suck, Mr. Nameless. Into the koi pond with you.

But, yeah. My consultations? The editor who was interested in Pen Bryton actually remembered me. Gave me some very sage advice. Did not remember to who he'd referred me, which amused the hell out of me and made me feel better about being rejected by them. Said not to give up, to keep trying, I said I would. And he remembered me when we ran into each other later in the bookstore. I was very young and fangirlish. And then he remembered me by name again when I was at his seminar! Score.

The other editor from the publishing company did not remember me. Possibly because he'd marked my manuscript thingie as not interested, although he had good things to say about it. He did say "Well, I'm glad I liked it!" in this very self-effacing smiling way that made me laugh. He also had some very good advice on the genre of hard-boiled detective fiction.

And the agent who'd marked interested on Storms? Well, I had an early seminar with her, in which she said that she didn't do fantasy. Which made me blink. And that she preferred to work by e-mail, which also made me blink, since the note I got on the Manuscript Marketplace said to MAIL. But we straightened that out in consultation; apparently her assistant might have handled that one. Which, while flattering? Er. But I did pitch Pen Bryton to her, and she said she was interested in seeing more of that, and to e-mail her after the conference and remind her. So, yay!

There was one keynote speaker, Dorothy Allison, who was absolutely phenomenal. She talked about "the intersection of famous and despised" was what the blurb in the program read. To my mind, she talked more about working at a profession that a lot of people don't think of as actual work, and dealing with the stigma attached. And being belligerent and tenacious in the face of doubt and derision. Hah. I adore her. Also, her son apparently writes fanfic which she is not allowed to read. HEE.

I did an open mike which, next time, I will sign up earlier and damn the consequences. But I read the first page of Pen Bryton and it was really well received. People liked it, although they were surprised that I was writing hard-boiled detective fiction. Apparently I don't look like I would be writing it. Someone asked me if I was writing from experience. HAHAHAHAHno. Oh god, no. I wouldn't be able to stand it. But it was really well received, people loved it, and this one chick? Who was at the ticket-taking table for consultations, two days later. Remembered my face, my work, loved my work, said so, and said she remembered fragments (and did, almost word for word) and was very impressed. I was very flattered. And touched.

Bria enjoyed much success too, which I will let her detail. :)

There were NO FAST FOOD JOINTS WHATSOEVER. Food was farking expensive with what we had available, other than breakfast, which was health food bars. TIGER'S MILK BARS. I haven't had those in ages and I scarfed them down like crazy. Dinner was hamburgers. With funny hats. And occasionally lunch was hamburgers too. Next time, more money for food. Or for a car rental so we can get fast food. But it'll probably come out to the same anyway.

Right. Meds are kicking in now, so it's couch time for me. Catch y'all on the flip side.