Why the Kaffeeklatsch?

While I was at Worldcon, I attended three kaffeeklatsches. There were also beer gatherings available.

For those of you who don't know, or who go to cons that don't have these, kaffeeklatsches are small gatherings, just the pro and 20 fans. The quality of the kaffeeklatsch is more intimate, the questions are more direct, and the stories are also less general.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Lee Harris from Angry Robot, Eddie Schneider from JABberwocky, and John Scalzi from...um...John Scalzi.

Each klatsch had its own idiom.

Lee Harris spent a lot of time talking about the history of Angry Robot, their new imprint Strange Chemistry, the open call for books that they do, and their genre combining ways. I enjoyed Harris's sense of humor and learned a lot more about an up and coming publisher.

Eddie Schneider talked a lot about what agents do, what kind of thing his agency looks for, how agents work, and what agents want from authors. Also, there was some insightful conversation on why he became an agent and some conversations about specific book deals he'd done.

John Scalzi was his usually entertaining self. He shared information on his upcoming projects, recent discussions in fandom about creepers and harassment, his role as SFWA president, and The Old Man's War movie.

Even if it's illusory, the 'klatsch makes me feel I've spent a little more time getting to know someone better, and I certainly get to participate in a different kind of discussion.

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Three more Worldcon posts to go!

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.

Little Betas (Not the Fish)

This week, I am being sucked into the black hole that is my job. Lots of late night meetings, essays due, and the beginning of teacher evaluation season. This means little writing this week. And I'm hot to do some, so that's frustrating.

I will be off training teachers today. While that's happening, I'll be thinking about how I'm not getting orientation around.

But next week? Next week I get some of the time I'm giving to the college this week back. And I will type and type and type.

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The burning, soap operatic question--Will Abigail Rath be ready for my self-imposed deadline? Yes, it will. Just like Miranda Suri's Absent project, October will be International Rewrite Abigail Rath month. I am about halfway through the 3rd draft. It looks doable. Then, the book goes out to betas in November.

I need betas, by the way. I already have some nice enthusiastic adult readers, but I would like to find a couple more kids than the one I have. So if you have a daughter or son who would like to test drive a middle grade novel about vampires and monster hunters, please let me know. I'd take anyone between the ages of 10-13.

All right. Gotta go help our Ryan set up the workshop, and act like a coordinator. See you on the other side of that.

Mirrored from Writer Tamago.