Small World by Laura Resnick

Welcome to our newest additions to the Mad Genius Club (Writers Division): Pati Nagle and Jennifer Stevenson! Jennifer will be blogging on alternate Sundays. (And I gather that on the other Sundays, we'll have naked dancing boys. Or possibly just guest-bloggers if we can't book the dancers.)

And Pati and I will be sharing this slot, i.e. each of us will blog alternate Fridays from now on. It took me only two Fridays in a row as a Mad Genius to realize I couldn't possibly do this every Friday.

I owe books to three publishers, I owe short stories, I owe a monthly opinion column, I owe a master's thesis, I have my own website, I blog monthly on Ninc.com's blog (which blog Pati and I helped create), I'm still president of Novelists, Inc., I travel a few times a year to do public speaking, and—oh, yeah, I almost forgot--I actually have a personal life, too (which also includes traveling). So I can't also blog weekly here. I'm not Super Woman. (I'm not even Adequate Woman. I am Befuddled And Overwhelmed Woman.) But rather than drop out, I asked Sarah Hoyt a.k.a. She Who Must Be Obeyed, if I could share my Fridays with someone who also can't participate every week. Enter, La Nagle!

I know Jennifer Stevenson from an sf/f e-list that I founded a few years back, and which she joined. I subsequently turned over ownership of the e-list to someone else and left, after belatedly remembering that I can't stand writers. Jennifer and I finally met in person when we were both at the same mass-signing for authors at an RWA National conference in Dallas. I don't really remember anything, though, after Jennifer told me that there was a margarita in her travel mug. I instantly became obsessed with also getting a margarita and don't recall anything else we discussed that day. I think that the same sf/f writers e-list may also be where I originally know Pati from... but I know Pati from so many places that memory fades. I also know Pati because we were signed with the same publishing house for a while, and working with the same editor for a while. Pati's former literary agent represents a friend of mine, and I've known Jennifer's former literary agent (which agents are not the same agent) for years. I myself am way ahead of these two writers, as I have four former literary agents. (As much as I can't stand writers, it turns out I can stand agents even less.) But I digress. I know Jennifer's current editor, and Jennifer and Pati are currently at the same house, though I can't remember if they have the same editor. One of my current editors at another house used to work at the house where Pati and Jennifer currently are, and my dad was under contract at that house for a while (where his editor was the ex-spouse of an editor who acquired some of my old reprints for another house).

I also know Pati and Jennifer from Novelists, Inc. (Ninc), which I'll blog about next time. I'm the 2008 president of Ninc. Pati Nagle is co-chair of the website committee and therefore in co-command of Ninc.com, the organization's website (which we have recently launched after a massive redesign, restructure, and update of the old site, so go check it out). Jennifer is a member of Ninc, though I don't think I've yet got around to roping her into any volunteer duties there. (But, again, memory fades. I've wrestled so many people to the ground in Ninc, their names and faces have become a blur by now.)

Sarah a.k.a. Queen Of The Mad Genius Club is also a member of Novelists, Inc. But that's not where I know her from. I think I originally know Sarah from another sf/f writer e-list, which was founded years ago by Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. But I know Sarah from sooooo many places, I'm not really sure. I also know Sarah from the sf/f writers e-list which I founded and then abandoned. I know Sarah's former agents and her current one. I know several of her editors. She and I have a number of mutual friends (and probably a number of mutual enemies). I know her from Colorado Springs, where I've spoken a couple of times (and where I am returning to speak again, in April/09), and where she and her esteemed spouse have taken me site-seeing. I know her from the short fiction anthology she edited and was kind enough to invite me into, Something Magic This Way Comes. I've also been in a couple of anthologies that her talented and handsome husband, whose taste and judgment are above reproach, invited me into: Fate Fantastic and Better Off Undead. And I know her from the various late-night emails we exchange.

Writing is kind of a small world, as you may have gathered.

And now, thanks to Sarah, I've also made contact with the other Mad Genius clubbers: Dave Freer, Louise Marley, Rowena Cory Daniells, and John Lambshead! Laura Resnick www.LauraResnick.com

Out and About

Laura Resnick

I spent this past weekend in Huntsville, Alabama as a guest of Con*Stellation, an annual regional science fiction/fantasy convention hosted by the North Alabama Science Fiction Association (NASFA).


Over the years, I've spoken at sf/f conventions, romance conferences, multi-genre conferences, bookstores and libraries, colleges and universities, writers groups and writing workshops, writers retreats, high schools, readers groups, museums, and civic associations. I've done panel discussions, chat-with sessions, formal speeches, informal Q&As, I've lectured and taught workshops, I've done readings, and performed some MC duties. I've done public appearances all over the U.S., in Canada, and also in France and Israel.

Many writers are (go figure) shy, bookish, private people, and learning to do public appearances is an adjustment for them. Others are more gregarious and enjoy meeting readers, as well as seeing their colleagues at conventions and other public venues. I'm very gregarious and my original professional aspiration was in acting, so both aspects of public appearances appeal to me: getting out to meet people and working with an audience. I always learn something from my colleagues and from readers at conventions; I always learn something from doing readings, giving formal workshops, and participating in panel discussions; and I always enjoy meeting readers, who are the people who spend their time and money on books--without readers, I wouldn't have a profession, after all.

There is an unofficial jungle-drum system among writers about which events are worth our time and what the pros-and-cons of various venues are. In general, "worth our time" means that the venue is book-friendly; there are some conventions, for example, where all the attendees seem to be interested in everything but books (ex. movies, TV shows, video games, comic books, costuming, movie stars, TV stars, etc.), and a novelist winds up completely squandering 2-3 days of writing time and/or her private life by appearing there. There are also conventions that are so disorganized or so clueless that writers who've appeared there warn their friends, and word gets out (ex. your workshops or panels are all scheduled to occur before your flight arrives or after your flight leaves; no one ever booked your hotel room; your name appears nowhere in the program book; etc.) And there are v-e-r-y occasional groups that stiff you (ex. the group doesn't fulfill the fiscal agreements they made with you).

However, writers talk to each other just as much about the terrific venues we've attended, the places where we had a wonderful time, the groups that were a hoot to speak to, and the committees that went above-and-beyond the call-of-duty to make us feel welcome and comfortable. And Con*Stellation is certainly one such venue. Before I went there, people who'd been guests there before me, including Gay Haldeman (to whom novelist Joe Haldeman has to privilege of being married), told me what a great group it is and what a good time I would have there. And they were right.

The committee was regularly in touch with me for months before my arrival, making various travel, fiscal, and programming arrangements, and checking on my preferences for scheduling, free time, and food. The whole time I was there, almost everyone connected to the convention took time to introduce themselves to me, make sure I had everything I needed, and ensure that I was having a good time. Upon hearing that I wanted to learn more about a particular game, the committee found a volunteer from the gaming room to teach me a little about it, which information (for a new book project) I found very useful. The committee also made sure I had plans for every meal, so that I wouldn't ever wind up eating alone if I didn't want to (which can indeed happen to shy writers in a strange city where they don't know anyone else at the con). They flew the guests in the day before the con started, to ensure we'd all be there in plenty of time, and then took us site-seeing so we wouldn't be bored on our own in a strange place. As it happens, Huntsville, Alabama has one of the three Space Centers in the U.S., so there was plenty for us to see before the convention got underway! Huntsville itself is a small, friendly, relaxed city with a large historic district that was left undamaged by the Civil War.

The committee also fed us so much and so often that my clothes were rather snug by the time I left Alabama.

The con was divided evenly among various types of fans and activities, so there were always attendees enjoying every aspect of it: the art show, the dealers room, the anime films, the gaming room, and the writer discussions and readings. This year, the slate was somewhat "family" oriented: My parents, Mike and Carol Resnick, were also guests (and during our first car ride together, NASFA's treasurer threatened to separate us all; Resnicks can be a tad argumentative), as were writing spouses Diane Duane and Peter Morwood. The artist guest of honor, Bill Holbrook is married also married to a writer, a mystery novelist, though she was unable to attend. As is often the case, the biggest crowd was for Saturday night's masquerade, where my dad MC'd, and Morwood, Duane, and I read the committee's (very good) trivia questions to the audience while the judges deliberated. (Chocolate was thrown at audience members who answered the questions correctly.)

I had never been to Alabama before, and apart from my parents, I had never before met anyone who was at this convention. I like going to new places (as well as revisiting places I've enjoyed), and I like meeting cool new people (as well as reconnecting with old friends). The hospitality and conviviality I enjoyed among strangers last weekend ensured that next time I see all these people, I will think of them as old friends, and that I will pass on the word to my fellow writers that Con*Stellation is one of the speaking invitations you really want to accept.

Laura Resnick
http://www.lauraresnick.com/

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Genius

Laura Resnick here, surfacing from deadline hell and volunteer-work madness long enough to introduce myself on this new blog!

I started my career by writing romance novels under the pseudonym Laura Leone. To date, I've published fourteen romance novels with four publishers.

In recent years, my fiction career has been primarily focused on fantasy novels published under my real name. I currently write a traditional blood-and-glory, sword-and-sorcery, epic fantasy series, "The Chronicles of Sirkara," for Tor Books, the first three of which books are In Legend Born, The White Dragon, and The Destroyer Goddess. I started an urban fantasy series, the first book of which is Disappearing Nightly, a couple of years ago, then switched publishers; the second book in the series will be Doppelgangster.

I've written about sixty short stories, too. Mostly for original-fiction anthologies in the science fiction/fantasy genre. Some current and upcoming books which have my short fiction in them include: Witch High; Better Off Undead (edited by Sarah Hoyt's esteemed spouse, Dan Hoyt); Something Magic This Way Comes (edited by the esteemed Sarah Hoyt herself); Front Lines; The Trouble With Heroes; Enchantment Place.

I also write some nonfiction. In the 1990s, I crossed Africa overland, from Morocco to the Cape. (I was in South Africa for month, but neglected to visit David Freer.) In a thoroughly nepotistic sale, I subsequently published a book about the journey, A Blonde In Africa. I later became an opinion columnist for several years, for two trade journals: Nink, the monthly publication of Novelists, Inc. (an international organization of professional novelists); and The SFWA Bulletin, the quarterly magazine of the Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America. These columns were subsequently bought and published in a collected volume, Rejection, Romance, and Royalties: The Wacky World of A Working Writer (Jefferson Press, 2007); it's a good read (I humbly assert) for professional writers, for anyone who aspires to become a professional writer, and for book-lovers and readers who are curious about what it's like to be a career writer.

In my copious spare time, I decided to go to graduate school for a master's degree in journalism. While there, I won a scholarship to do my journalism internship with The Associated Press in Jerusalem (yes, that Jerusalem), which is where I spent part of 2006.

After coming back, I joined the Board of Directors of Novelists, Inc. in January 2007. And, for about another 12 weeks, I am still the current president of that organization--which you can find online at the BRAND NEW WEBSITE we launched a few weeks ago, Ninc.com.

I have a number of fantasy novels under contract, I still have to finish my #^$&@*! master's thesis, and I'm returning to writing a monthly opinion column for Nink in January 2007.

It keeps me off the streets.

You can find me on the web at http://www.lauraresnick.com/.

Welcome to the Mad Genius Club: Writers Division!

Laura Resnick