A little this, a little that…

WHERE I WAS LAST MONDAY… thanks to those of you who emailed asking where my Monday blog was last week. I was flat on my back with a bad head cold, which I (and evidently a bunch of others) caught (or shared) at RWA National in Dallas, TX. Nyquil does have amazing restorative properties but it tends to knock me out cold. Monday (and a ton of laundry) slipped by whilst I snoozed.

WHAT I READ ON THE FLIGHT…a screenwriting book I bought at RWA National. Not that I have an interest in writing a play but I’ve long heard screenwriting how-tos are good for a novelist’s soul. This one had a cat on the cover so I bought it (if you don’t understand why then you’ve never read my books, been to my site or read this blog before). It’s called SAVE THE CAT!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder. It’s less a how-to on screenwriting craft and more of a what to think about when writing and pitching your story (in any form). I’m discussing my take on the book on my Yahoo Group right now, so if you’re read it and want to comment, do join (gee, ain’t I sneaky?)! Go HERE to join my Yahoo Group. By so doing you not only get to fling your opinions on the book onto the loop but you’ll have access to all kinds of goodies, from sneak peeks of my upcoming novels (yes, more than what’s on my site) to the ORIGINAL VERSIONS of my older books (yep, the ones that go for huge bucks on eBay). Sometimes the group goes high volume on posts so digest is recommended for those of you (like me) who are perpetually on deadline.

I’M BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE MY MIDDLE NAME IS “IN TRANSIT”… In April I was in Houston for the RT conference.

May was Denver and RWA’s Romancing the Rockies. June I was in Ohio (twice) for various book events and July in Dallas for RWA National.

First week of August I’m in St Louis (well, Collinsville, IL) for ARCHON, which this year is also the NASFIC site. In the midst of all that I’ve gone through edits and galley edits on THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES and am trying to write (with no rousing success yet) CHASIDAH’S CHOICE (sequel to GABRIEL’S GHOST). If you dropped me a bit of fan mail (I SO do love getting those!) and it landed on my laptop, be aware that I tend to forget laptop email when I get home to the main PC (a big honking Dell Dimension). So if you wrote me and I didn’t answer within ten days, drop me a nudging note, keeping in mind it may end up on my laptop again when I’m in ARCHON.

(Photos: LEFT: Yours truly and author Isabo Kelly at RT Houston. Note MY coffee cup is already empty... MIDDLE: My agent, Kristin Nelson with yours truly in Denver. RIGHT: RWA National, Dallas, Literary Booksigning.)

SPEAKING OF ARCHON…Here’s my schedule. If you’re in or around the St. Louis/Collinsville IL area, PLEASE come to the conf and say hi to me!

Thu, Aug 2nd, 3:00pm GC - Marquette A Do You Torture Your Characters Enough?
GC - Marquette A Do You Torture Your Characters Enough?: Carol Berg, Linnea Sinclair, Barbara Hambly, E.E. Knight, Beth Meacham, Cynthia Ward

Thu, 5:00pm GC - Ballroom D5 Let Me Hear You Whisper
GC - Ballroom D5 Let Me Hear You Whisper: Sheila Finch, Linnea Sinclair (M), John Kaufmann, Paul Chafe, David Marusek, Elonka Dunin

Fri Aug 3rd, 1:00pm HI - Ballroom B What do Aliens Mean in Popular Culture?
HI - Ballroom B What do Aliens Mean in Popular Culture?: R.M. Meluch, David Marusek, Lou Antonelli, Paul Chafe, Sheila Finch, Linnea Sinclair, Deborah Chester

Fri, 2:00pm GC - Ballroom C3 Hook 'Em Dano
GC - Ballroom C3 Hook 'Em Dano: Linnea Sinclair

Fri, 3:00pm GC - Ballroom C3 Workshop - Crossing the Genres Fantastic
GC - Ballroom C3 Workshop - Crossing the Genres Fantastic: John Dalmas, Linda Donahue, Alexis Glynn Latner, Rick Wilber, MaryJanice Davidson, Linnea Sinclair, Laurell K. Hamilton

Fri, 4:00pm GC - LaSalle Lobby (Autographs) Linnea Sinclair, Gene Wolfe, Laura Underwood, Nick Pollotta

Fri, 7:00pm GC - Ballroom C3 Which Comes First, the Plot or the World Building?
GC - Ballroom C3 Which Comes First, the Plot or the World Building?: Jean Lorrah, Linnea Sinclair, Linda Donahue, Rob Chilson, Mark Tiedemann

Fri, 11:00pm GC - Ballroom D6 Censorship Takes a Holiday
GC - Ballroom D6 Censorship Takes a Holiday: Laurell K. Hamilton, Linnea Sinclair, Alexis Glynn Latner, Daniel Kimmel, Carolyn Ives Gilman (M), Kelly McCullough

Sat, Aug 4th, 10:00am HI - Ballroom A How to Create Unforgettable Characters Workshop
HI - Ballroom A How to Create Unforgettable Characters Workshop: Carol Berg, Richard White, Joy Ward, Linnea Sinclair, Janni Lee Simner, Elizabeth Moon

Sat, 11:00am GC - LaSalle Lobby (Autographs) Barbara Hambly, Linnea Sinclair, John Dalmas, Selina Rosen

Sat, 11:00pm GC - Ballroom D5 Alien Sex - How Do They Do It?
GC - Ballroom D5 Alien Sex - How Do They Do It?: Paul Chafe, Ruth Souther, Robin W. Bailey, Richard Lee Byers, Carol Berg, Linnea Sinclair, Don Sakers

Sun, Aug. 5th 10:00am HI - Ballroom B Editing and Critical Thinking for Writers Workshop
HI - Ballroom B Editing and Critical Thinking for Writers Workshop: Alexis Glynn Latner, Linnea Sinclair, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Barri Bumgarner, Julia Mandala, Jean Lorrah, Janet Deaver-Pack, Joy Ward

Sun, 11:00am HI - Ballroom B Sleuth Facts - Real P.I. Procedures for Your Plot
HI - Ballroom B Sleuth Facts - Real P.I. Procedures for Your Plot: Linnea Sinclair, M.R. Sellars, Laurell K. Hamilton

Sun, Noon GC - Ballroom C3 Creating Convincing Characters Workshop
GC - Ballroom C3 Creating Convincing Characters Workshop: Linnea Sinclair, Carol Berg, Stacey Klemstein, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Rachel Caine, Michael Flynn

Sun, 1:00pm HI - Ballroom A Plots that Work Workshop
HI - Ballroom A Plots that Work Workshop: Linnea Sinclair, Stacey Klemstein

Yep, you might recognize a few other names in that listing, like Jacqueline’s and Stacey’s. Oh, and Laurell K’s and…yeah, it’s quite a line-up. Keep in mind that panel structure is subject to change. This is the final schedule but from what I understand it's not really finalized. Take that as you will.

Hope to see you there (can I say, Meet Me In St. Louis?).

Hugs all, ~Linnea