Ken McConnell and I will be signing copies of Barren Worlds at BookPeople, the local independent bookstore in Moscow, Idaho.  My husband and I met him for dinner tonight, and had a great conversation.  The schedule will be pretty hectic for the next day or so.  Tonight, I work graveyard shift.  Get home at about 6:30 tomorrow morning.  Get a couple hours of sleep, and then get ready for the book signing.  Do that for about two hours, go home and sleep again, and then go to work for another graveyard shift.

So I'll be tired, but I'm excited about the signing!

Well, and 'I'.  Pickles, popcorn, and ice cream.  This baby is so weird.  But I think I'm starting to be able to tell the difference between the baby's movement, and the hunger pangs, and gas.  Before, it all felt the same.

Munchkin started soccer today.  He loved it!  I hesitate to say he loved it more than baseball, but that may apparently be the case.  Sigh.  At least he's having fun.  And speaking of my precious, innocent, darling child:  Yesterday we were talking about which of his friends he wanted to practice his soccer with.  I suggested one friend, and my son replied, "I can't, he'll kick me in the balls!"

Did I mention he's six?  I don't think he was referring to soccer balls, either.  He saw the look on my face and quickly amended his statement:  "I mean nuts." 

He's six, people.

And I've had to give up my jewelry.  Now I know that sounds like a very vain statement.  You need to understand something.  Any jewelry I wear is not for vanity's sake.  I had to give up the necklaces my husband and son gave me, because I was so busy with morning sickness that anything around my neck made me very sensitive.  And now, I've had to give up my wedding  ring, and a graduation present ring my sister gave me.  Swelling fingers.

There is silver lining, though.  This Saturday, Ken McConnell and I will be attending a book signing  for Barren Worlds at the local independent bookstore in my home town!   Yeah!!  Friends have been putting out the word for me, and I have some posters to distribute. 

I could go on all night with all the anecdotes and funny things that have happened this week, but tomorrow is a rather busy day.  My thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by Hurricane Ike, as well as the current financial crisis.  How long has it been since we've had major natural disasters and financial collapses all in the same week that were independent of each other?  I forget.

Hello to my family in their various locations.  To family in Florida and the midwest, I hope Ike didn't kick your ass too much!

Ken McConnell and I were in Boise last weekend for a book signing for Barren Worlds.  It was hosted by Rediscovered Books.  Their friendly staff were very kind to us!  But I'm already getting ahead of myself.  My husband and son joined me on this trip, and we met Ken and his family for lunch.  He has a wonderful family, and our kids got along famously!  We then followed Ken as he drove to Rediscovered Books.  I found out that Ken is a member of not one, but TWO writing groups.  (And I had worried that 18 copies of the book wouldn't sell out!)  So Ken had called in the troops for the reading.  We had a great turnout.

Since I was the out of towner, I read first.  Despite the fact I had done this before, I still had the nervous breathing problem!  I was able to relax a bit when I looked up during my reading, and there was my son.  In the very back, behind the audience, waving his arms and making goofball faces at me!  After I was done, it was Ken's turn.  This was his first public reading, if I'm not mistaken.  He did very well.  His wife and a friend of his took pictures during the whole thing.  My husband was also clicking away.

After our readings, there was a question/answer session.  Most of the audience were obviously members of Ken's writing groups, and they asked very good questions about how the ideas came about, our research methods, and advice for other writers.  My initial response to that question was "Uh, advice, from me?"  But we answered the questions to the best of our ability.  After the Q/A, the group broke to browse the store, and we talked to people during the signings.  All 18 copies of the book sold OUT!!!  Ken almost lost his contributor copies he had brought along for me to sign.  It was a close call, but he managed to find them and get them back under his wing before they were mistakenly sold!

And the proof I have a great kid:  After the Q/A, my son ran up to me at warp speed, shouting, "You did great, Mommy!"

I have pictures, but haven't had a chance yet to try to upload them here, so please check out Ken's blog for those.  The bookstore, besides being so nice to us, gave each of us a card, a bookmark, and a small bar of Yucatan chocolate, with the bookstore's logo on the wrapper.  Good stuff!  We then went to Ken's house for social time, and then on to a bbq being held as a meet n' greet for members of the local speculative fiction writer's group that Ken belongs to.  They were a very nice group of people, and it was a pleasure to meet them all.

Sunday, we met some friends for lunch, and then was the long drive  home.  Today, I'm exhausted.  And I still have to go to work!  Bummer!

Congratulations to Ken on his first signing, and thanks for letting me tag along! 

Well, not right away.  I'm sending out a reminder to everyone out there about my next book signing.  It will be in Boise at Rediscovered Books at 2pm this Saturday.  A fellow author in Barren Worlds, Ken McConnell, will also be there, talking about his story, "Ocherva", while I talk about "Tiger's Eye View."  Any of you with friends in Boise, please spread the word!  If you live in the Boise area, hope to see you there!

On a down note, our lodging plans for the trip got tanked.  We were making arrangements with some friends who live in the Nampa/Caldwell area to stay with them.  Well, then we get this email from said friend, saying her parents asked if they could stay at the house that weekend.  Naturally, we said we'd find a hotel room.  Kind of a bummer, because we were really looking forward to seeing some good friends, but no WAY were we going to put out the parental units!  So instead, we're going to try to meet up with them for breakfast or something.

Now about the title:  I am more enthusiastic about the impending baby than before.  I just figure everyone (including me, sometimes) will be getting tired of reading about the pregnancy.  The first pregnancy, I gave everyone in earshot the literal play by play, whether they wanted it or not.  I'm trying not to do that this time!

My son had to stay home yesterday.  In the morning, he was complaining of his head and tummy hurting.  No problem.  He never threw up, so okay.  Well...later that afternoon his fever decided to spike to 101.3!  As a result, we missed Grandma and Grandpa's anniversary dinner.  Today he's a bit better.    Fever's down, so we might try to see some neighborhood kids today.

Have great day, everyone!

In checking out some of the blogs of my friends Will Couvillier, Kelly Green, Eric Reynolds, and Camille Alexa (sorry I can't do the links right now), everyone did a great job describing the reading event for all the Hadley Rille books in Reno on July 2nd.  So rather than go into a similar rant about how the night went and how fun it was, I'd like to give my take on the wonderful people I met.

First off, I didn't get enough time with them.  We met for dinner at the El Dorado, and had a wonderful time.  My husband was even able to jump in the conversations from time to time.  My only complaint about the whole night is that I didn't get enough time with anyone.  I would have loved to have one on one time with each person, compare writing lives and styles, what makes us tick, etc.  We were a rather eclectic bunch, I think, and yet we all got along brilliantly.  Will (the guy who set up the whole thing)  was a wonderful host.  Despite his nerves about the whole thing, he did great, and his experience had much to offer a newbie like me.  Thank you, Will!.

The impression I got from Kelly Green was that of the calm pro.  She had done this sort of thing before, and knew Will and Camille.  While listening to them talk at dinner, I desperately wished for a notepad, or a recorder, because they were throwing names around of people in the writing business or names of magazines or other writing markets that I had never heard of!  Her writing style and sense of humor were wonderful, and she is another one to learn from.

I didn't get to speak with Floyd Edwards much, but I did hear him say to my husband he was a Korean War vet.  My husband also is a vet, so they compared notes.  I loved his poem, which was a companion to his story in Desolate Places.

Camille Alexa...what to say about her.  Blue caffeine on wheels!  She was so energetic and vibrant, and shared that energy with anyone in range.  She and I did have lunch on Friday the 4th, and it was a good visit.  It was still cut short before we got a chance to get to the writing parts of the conversation (my hubby needed the car).  Although we had only met, we talked like old friends.

We also spoke with the publisher, Eric Reynolds, on the phone during the initial dinner on Wednesday.  Oh my!  I leaned over to Camille and whispered, "Oh my God, the publisher!  What do I say?"  She gave me this funny look and said, "Try 'Hello' ".  Just before his call, I had mentioned to the group about questions I wanted to ask him.  When I was on the phone with him, I got nervous and intimidated and kept the call short!  :P

The signing was great.  I think I signed more copies of Barren Worlds for my fellow authors than for audience members.  Which was fine,  except somehow I kept wanting to revert to high school days of signing annuals:  "Stay cool!  See ya next year!"

The rest of my weekend was pretty good.  The signing was Wednesday.   Thursday my family went to the Farmer's Market.  My son and I bungee jumped!  It was this huge contraption in the middle of the road, with stations for four jumpers.  We were attached to harnesses, and one guy pulled on a pulley rope, and we went flying!  My son had an excellent time, but I, though not usually prone to height issues, had to cut my jump experience a bit short.  I had a blast, don't get me wrong.  You can only scream and laugh so much before you stop breathing!  Friday I had lunch with Camille, visited with family, and saw the fireworks in Sparks.  Saturday we hung out with family, drank a goodish quantity of alcohol, and celebrated several family achievements.  We left Sunday.

Monday I found out I am pregnant. 

We got home the evening of the 6th from the big Reno trip.  I've just been catching up on my friend's blogs (please check them out), before I start one of my own.  In reading everyone else's blogs, I realized just how tired I am.  That, and the fact that it's 12:20 AM by my computer clock, so I really should hit the hay.  I will blog more about the big trip tomorrow.

I have, in the past, purchased Hadley Rille books from  Amazon.com.  Today, I got a wonderful notice from Amazon.com, advising that since I was interested in those books, perhaps I would like...

BARREN WORLDS, edited by Eric T. Reynolds.

IT'S OUT,  IT"S OUT!!!

I just checked the website, and they advise they are "temporarily out of stock".  But the book is out!!  Available!!  Get your copy now!!
I'm swinging between excited and panicked.  Tomorrow we fly to Reno to visit my family, and to do a book signing at the Sundance Book Store at 6:30 PM.  I've been trying to practice reading, and because I'm so excited, I'm short of breath, and I sound like I'm having a heart attack as I read!  I just need to put it all in perspective, and follow the examples of those who are better at this sort of thing than I am.

I'm looking forward to seeing the other authors I will be meeting.  I'm also looking forward to seeing my family.  One of my sisters keeps calling me a "famous author", which is hilarious.  If I were ever going to be famous, she'd make a fortune selling stories to the tabs about how she would put me in the corner for not eating my supper when I was a kid!  :P

Well, I must go.  The family is getting ready to go out, and I'm going to try to tag along before the overflowing laundry overloads my sanity!  Have a great 4th, everyone.  And buy the book!

Just got my pdf proof of BARREN WORLDS.  How exciting!  Frankly, I had avoided the story for so long, it was like reading it afresh.  But I am NOT cheating!  I won't look at the other stories until the print version comes out.  As tempted as I am to give some of my fellow HR/LJ authors early raves, I have decided to be good. (Whoda thunk?)

That, and the fact that I'm still trying to get things done before the big trip tomorrow.

Catch everyone Sunday!  Good night!