So,

Have any of you been to the party at Book View Cafe? www.bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/

We've launched our shiny new platform and want to share the slickness. So to launch the baby into the big world we're having a party with prizes. Go on over, poke around. See what you like. Did you find a book you'd like to own? Doesn't HAVE to be one of mine, but... The eligible ones are marked with a gold star. You can leave a message there, like everyone else, or come back here and tell us which book you'd like as a gift and why. I'll choose one commenter at the end of the promotion at midnight June 8. And we'll send you a coupon for that book.

I don't have as much traffic on my blog as some of my comrades so you have a better chance of winning here.

Go look. It's fun. It's easy. It's free.

Oh, and this week all the anthologies (except for Breaking Waves which we did for charity) are 1/2 price.

Haven't been uphill to tell for sure but around here this is the only bear grass blooming. Usually if one plant blooms, the whole mountain blooms. Once or twice in a 10 year cycle. In 16 years on the mountain this is the 4th time!


And my white lilac. I love this shrub.

So I've been hiding inside my laptop for the last few weeks, getting stuff done.

Good thing because me schedule just exploded, again.

First a quiet event. June 23, 2012 from 2-4 PM I'll be attending a book club at the Tualatin Public Library (OR) to discuss "Guardian 0f the Balance" followed by a public reading and Q&A. Here's the library website http://www.ci.tualatin.or.us/departments/communityservices/library/ Give it a couple of days to get my event listed.

And then...
July 7, 2012 I'm presenting a one day writer workshop, concentrating on novels but applicable to short work as well in Richland, WA. Cost is $75 and the first 6 entrants can have part of their manuscript critiqued on Sunday morning.

Details:http://brazospublishing.com/Page_4.html

There's a book signing at the Richland Hastings and the Barnes and Noble in the Tri-Cities area over the weekend. Details when I have them.

Things have been busy over at BVC. Behind the scenes. We've moved the book store to a new platform. It's bigger, brighter, easier to use. We have a shopping cart, we have coupons. And it works without crashing the servers. Good thing because we are adding new titles every week.

To celebrate we're running a special promotion. Here's the official announcement.

http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/grand-opening-celebration/

Grand Opening Celebration

To celebrate the launch of our new online bookstore, we're giving away books, and offering a limited-time discount on BVC anthologies. The Grand Opening Giveaway runs from June 1 to June 7—here's how it works.

1. Browse through the bookstore and find the book you'd like to win. Eligible works are marked with a gold star.

2. Leave a comment at the bookstore or at any of the author blogs listed below telling us which book you would like and why (both are needed to qualify). Multiple comments will be disqualified.

3. At the end of the promotion, the commenter who posted closest to a date and time we've already chosen will win the book of his or her choice (omnibus editions excluded).

4. You can visit the member sites listed below and enter in the same way. Participating members may choose the winner differently.

5. If you're a winner, we'll send you a coupon for the book of your choice, so be sure to enter a valid email with your comment—it will not be displayed.

6. By entering, you agree that your comment may be used for promotional purposes.

In addition, during our Grand Opening, all BVC anthologies are available at half price (except Breaking Waves--it's a charity fund raiser and the Gulf Oil Spill still needs help).

Here are BVC author sites where you can enter for additional chances to win:

Maya Kaathryn Bonhoff http://mayakaath.tumblr.com/
Chaz Brenchley http://desperance.livejournal.com/
Patricia Burroughs http://planetpooks.com/?page_id=3189
Jeffrey Carver http://starrigger.blogspot.com/
Amy Sterling Casil http://asterling.typepad.com/
Laura Anne Gilman http://suricattus.livejournal.com/
Lois Gresh http://loisgresh.blogspot.com/
Kit Kerr http://aberwyn.livejournal.com/
Katharine Eliska Kimbriel http://alfreda89.livejournal.com/
Kelly McClymer http://facebook.com/kellymcclymerbooks
Vonda N. McIntyre https://www.facebook.com/vonda.n.mcintyre
Nancy Jane Moore http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=656759433
Linda Nagata http://hahvi.net/
Pati Nagle http://patinagle.livejournal.com/
Steven Harper http://spiziks.livejournal.com/
Phyllis Irene Radford http://www.facebook.com/phyllis.i.radford
Patricia Rice http://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/
Madeleine Robins http://madrobins.livejournal.com/
Deborah J. Ross http://deborahjross.livejournal.com/
Sherwood Smith http://sartorias.livejournal.com/
Jennifer Stevenson http://www.facebook.com/JenniferStevensonAuthor
Judith Tarr http://dancinghorse.livejournal.com/
Dave Trowbridge http://www.davetrowbridge.com

Go Look. Please. Then come back and tell us which book you want a chance at and why. Share the love and your experience in our virtual bookstore.

After much needed sleep and caffeine and a long walk and restocking the pantry I feel like I'm returning to normal. Kinda. Sorta. What about my life is normal? Baycon is always special because of friends and family. This year was better than most; from filk concerts to watching my grandsons play hockey, to readings by friends, to full panels, and a chance to touch base with fans.

Yeah, it was a good one. You know, 3 days isn't quite long enough for a con. There is always one more friend to talk to, one more panel, one more concert... But 4 days is too long. I slept on the plane home. I never sleep in a moving vehicle while sitting up. Except this time. I think that's a good measure of a successful con.

I have con-brain. I'm home, I think. In much need of more sleep and caffeine. Which tells you something about how successful Baycon was. I measure the success of a con by the number of comatose bodies the last morning. Count mine among them.

More later. Spent time with lbb and his family. Talked myself hoarse. If anything really important happened that I need to know about, please send me a message or comment here. I'm not likely to have enough coherence to read all the posts since Thursday.

Off for a nap.

I'm making lists of things that HAVE to go into the big suitcase and other stuff I'll need in my carry on. Tomorrow I'll drag out the suitcase and carry on and start filling them. With help form Mr. Chessie of course. He loves pulling out what I just put in.

On the other hand I'm thinking I may start a new project today. Just thinking. Not committed. Something to noodle on in airports and hotel rooms. Not that I expect much time to write at a con. Baycon is a con after all.

There's a discussion of my latest release "Chicory Up" by Irene Radford here on LJ http://dawbooks.livejournal.com/ We're doing a random comment raffle. Leave a comment and you could win a free, autographed copy of Chicory. US mailing only please. Answer the question posed in comments and you could win a copy of both "Thistle Down" and "Chicory Up". Again US mailing only.

Looking forward to hearing from y'all.

In case you've forgotten how beautiful the cover is:




The link to the DAW books discussion group again: http://dawbooks.livejournal.com/

Saw one of these guys, a red breasted sap sucker (image is from Google image gallery not my own) in the back yard making a new critter restaurant on the alder trees. He was pecking away at the bark, making the sap run. He'll dine on some of the sap and leave some to attract ants and other bugs which he will add to the menu for himself and others. I've seen his work and heard his jackhammer work, but not seen one before.

The Broken Dragon is finished. Or at least the first, short, out of order, ugly rough draft is done, done, done. Typed "The End" about 15 minutes ago. Came in at 82000 words, looking toward a contract 100,000. I always add stuff on subsequent drafts. It's my process. I have dozens of post it notes on my scene cards that will be dealt with.

But not today. Or tomorrow. Or even a couple of weeks while the story stews in my lizard brain.

For the rest of the day I will do something else totally unrelated to writing.