Back from the Great Beyond
Thursday, July 19, 2007
My darlings! I know you thought I'd been eaten by a tarantula, but here I am and promise to check in on a regular basis. Life has been insane, as always, but here are a few random thoughts.
1. Writing is glorious and publishing sucks. Some editors are divine, some are aptly named Bitch Queen of the Eastern Seaboard. Life, however, is too short to pay attention to slights and insults, and I Shall Rise Above It All.
2. The RWA conference is a zoo, a crazy time, and loads of fun if you approach it with the right attitude. Full of beautiful young women (Roxanne St. Clair, Christie Ridgway, JR Ward and Lisa Kleypas among many others) and gorgeous slightly older women (Carol Prescott, Kathleen Eagle, Curtiss Ann Matlock and a dozen others). Then there are the old bats like me, but at least we're colorful.
3. If it's not fun, why do it? Words of wisdom from Ben and Jerry. The thing is, there are lots of things that we have to do anyway. The trick is, make it fun.
4. Macs are better than PCs. My daughter won't speak to me since I've turned my back on PCs, but I've fallen deeply in love with my brand new Macbook Pro (named Lagoud after my late, darling baby brother Dougal who was a Mac addict and technician). Lagoud is sleek, fast, cheery and very very smart.
5. Summer sucks in Vermont when it's cold and rainy. I can only take joy in the fact that the summer people with too much money who are busy buying up land around our lake and putting up McMansions are having a miserable time as well.
6. I'll write till I die. No matter how stinking the business is, no matter how many chances are missed, no matter how many works of astounding brilliance are lost in the vast wasteland of too many books, I'll still write. No matter how many people I innocently manage to piss off.
7. Reno, the yakuza punk samurai, is the hardest hero I've ever written. And I'm giving him a virgin! Jeesh, why not make it a little easy on myself.
8. Oh, and according to the posts on Smart Bitches, even with a quarter yard of quilt fabric tied around my forehead I'm still "lovely." Maybe I fit in the Kathleen Eagle category after all.
Naaaaah.
This is my crazy summer. I have to write 350 pages by September 1st, and I'm travelling. Just back from Dallas, and next week I go down to NYC to play with Lani Diane Rich and Jenny Crusie. We're going to raise hell at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Mesopotamian area, natch) and drink mojitos (whatever they are) and I'm going to drag everyone to Kinokuniya (the Japanese book store). I promise updates.
And then Jenny and I go to New Zealand and Australia, where I expect to see beautiful men and great fabric (I don't know which excites me more) and basically bring the former British Empire to its knees. Since I'm taking Lagoud with me you'll hear more from the road. Or the bush. Or wherever.
In the meantime, Reno and I are wrestling, and I only wish he was real and I was thirty years younger. Sigh. In the meantime at least I get to enjoy him vicariously.
Next week I'll beguile you with tales of New York City. We're going to have a blast!
1. Writing is glorious and publishing sucks. Some editors are divine, some are aptly named Bitch Queen of the Eastern Seaboard. Life, however, is too short to pay attention to slights and insults, and I Shall Rise Above It All.
2. The RWA conference is a zoo, a crazy time, and loads of fun if you approach it with the right attitude. Full of beautiful young women (Roxanne St. Clair, Christie Ridgway, JR Ward and Lisa Kleypas among many others) and gorgeous slightly older women (Carol Prescott, Kathleen Eagle, Curtiss Ann Matlock and a dozen others). Then there are the old bats like me, but at least we're colorful.
3. If it's not fun, why do it? Words of wisdom from Ben and Jerry. The thing is, there are lots of things that we have to do anyway. The trick is, make it fun.
4. Macs are better than PCs. My daughter won't speak to me since I've turned my back on PCs, but I've fallen deeply in love with my brand new Macbook Pro (named Lagoud after my late, darling baby brother Dougal who was a Mac addict and technician). Lagoud is sleek, fast, cheery and very very smart.
5. Summer sucks in Vermont when it's cold and rainy. I can only take joy in the fact that the summer people with too much money who are busy buying up land around our lake and putting up McMansions are having a miserable time as well.
6. I'll write till I die. No matter how stinking the business is, no matter how many chances are missed, no matter how many works of astounding brilliance are lost in the vast wasteland of too many books, I'll still write. No matter how many people I innocently manage to piss off.
7. Reno, the yakuza punk samurai, is the hardest hero I've ever written. And I'm giving him a virgin! Jeesh, why not make it a little easy on myself.
8. Oh, and according to the posts on Smart Bitches, even with a quarter yard of quilt fabric tied around my forehead I'm still "lovely." Maybe I fit in the Kathleen Eagle category after all.
Naaaaah.
This is my crazy summer. I have to write 350 pages by September 1st, and I'm travelling. Just back from Dallas, and next week I go down to NYC to play with Lani Diane Rich and Jenny Crusie. We're going to raise hell at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Mesopotamian area, natch) and drink mojitos (whatever they are) and I'm going to drag everyone to Kinokuniya (the Japanese book store). I promise updates.
And then Jenny and I go to New Zealand and Australia, where I expect to see beautiful men and great fabric (I don't know which excites me more) and basically bring the former British Empire to its knees. Since I'm taking Lagoud with me you'll hear more from the road. Or the bush. Or wherever.
In the meantime, Reno and I are wrestling, and I only wish he was real and I was thirty years younger. Sigh. In the meantime at least I get to enjoy him vicariously.
Next week I'll beguile you with tales of New York City. We're going to have a blast!
posted by Anne Stuart at 4:04 PM
7 Comments:
Anne:
When you go to NY, get to Book Off, if you can (41st St. opposite the NYPL); it's got loads of used English books, immaculately clean, well-priced, and a ton of Japanese books, too.
Yes, yes, please continue writing. I love your books and I am looking forward to Reno's story.
I will also write til I die and I will read your novels til I die too. As a third world author, we are even more ignored than you, but it is in the blood. I enjoy your books. They give mine depth of emotion. You are my favourite writer. From a little African girl called Tambu who writes because it is the very essence of her soul.
Tambu -- what a lovely post! You've made my week, month, year!
Hi Anne,
I'm the chick who brought the fat quarters to the literacy booksigning. I was so thrilled to see the photo of your new headband at the awards ceremony!
Just like Tambu, I'll write till I die. I look forward to reading your books for the rest of my life, too. I'm also obsessed with Peter Madsen, and I'm hoping he'll be showing up in several more books in the future.
It was so great to meet you.
-J
The Smart Bitches definitely think you're lovely. Someday you will meet Candy and she will tell you why precisely she adores you and your books, and you will likely blush to the roots of your hair.
I'm not kidding.
Enjoy New York! I am seething with jealousy over your spiffy new macbook.
-SB Sarah
Hey Anne - there's a Kinokuniya in Sydney as well!!!
Also this really great ice bar....
Looking forward to seeing you next week.
DUG
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