Well, after a busy morning The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 2 exists in first draft form! Whew. That means I have clean copies of all of the stories, all of the interstitial material drafted, and a tentative running order. From here I’ve got to go over and clean up the main volume intro and add some very useful thoughts from Gary, and add various contributor changes to story notes. I’d love to have an actual single file with everything in it today, but more likely that will happen later in the week.  The good thing about today’s work is that it means I will definitely make my deadlines, which is a relief. I’ll have a final copy of the book by 24 October, and it’ll be with the publisher in time for the deadline on 5 November (who I know would like it earlier).  And that’s a relief!

Each year, for about a million years, Western Australian science fiction fandom has held a local science fiction convention called Swancon.  The current one, which will run next March is the thirty-third such event (which suddenly makes me feel old – I helped run the 17th and started attending back at the 11th). Swancons have been held at different times during the year, but for some time now they’ve been held over the Easter weekend.  I’ve come to appreciate over the past ten years what a bad idea this is. For whatever reason, chunks of Perth shut down for the Easter weekend. Restaurants and bars are closed, there’s nothing to see or do. Good Friday is especially bad, but Sunday isn’t great either. Unfortunately, the burden for this falls most heavily on people who visit from out of State, who are looking to enjoy both city and convention. I’m sure Swancon 33 will be a hoot, and I’ll definitely be there for the first time in some years, but I hope future Swancon committees consider running the event at another time during the year. For conventions, Easter sucks a bit.

As you know, I’m making a list of all of the original anthologies that I know are appearing next year. One of them is a new book of alternate history stories, Other Earths, that has been edited by my Locus colleague Nick Gevers and the indefatigable Jay Lake. Nick sent me a copy of the ToC for the book, and it looks very good:

• This Peaceable Land, or, The Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Robert Charles Wilson
• The Goat Variations, Jeff VanderMeer
• The Unblinking Eye, Stephen Baxter
• Donovan Sent Us, Gene Wolfe
• Winterborn, Liz Williams
• Csilla’s Story, Theodora Goss
• The Holy City and Em’s Reptile Farm, Greg van Eekhout
• The Receivers, Alastair Reynolds
• A Family History, Paul Park
• Dog-Eared Paperback of My Life, Lucius Shepard
• Nine Alternate Alternate Histories, Benjamin Rosenbaum

It’s coming from DAW next summer. Looks well worth keeping an eye out for.

A quick snap from our house. Cute, huh?

As readers of this intermittent journal will know, I’ve just returned from Conflux in Canberra, where I was guest of honour, and had quite a lovely time. Canberra’s a very nice town, and getting to spend time with so many friends is always a delight. Highlights included dinner with Jack, Janeen & Stephanie, catching up with Graham, seeing Ally for the first time in far too long, Nick’s birthday party, and helping launch Terry’s Rynemonn. Definitely a good time. Check out the cover below, and order a copy! It’s an important, and terrific, book.

Still, I’ve come home and I’m tired, stressed and definitely beginning to weird out. I have two projects to complete before I board Qantas Flight 574 for Sydney on Wednesday, 24 October. Thanks to Terry’s sterling efforts, The Jack Vance Reader is well progressed. The main introduction is nearing final draft, and we have two of the three book intros in hand. We still need to arrange the third intro, but that shouldn’t be a huge task. I’m a little more daunted by The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year. I have a final table of contents for the book, and thanks to the good offices of John Helfers at Tekno (the unacknowledged hero of these books) the contracts are all being arranged. I just need to write the intro and notes. If I can get time on Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, I should have a near final ms. by Tuesday, 9 October. If I can do that, then I can spend time cleaning it up, going over it and such, before sending it in to Night Shade in the first week of November. Until I have the draft complete, though, I’m going to be on edge about it.

On top of that, it’s my little Sophie’s sixth birthday on Sunday, 14 October. We’re having a small party for her on the day, and a big one on Sunday, 21 October (for 20+ of her closest friends). Both days should be very special, though the preparation is almost entirely falling on Marianne’s shoulders, which isn’t fair, but…

What else? Oh, I have to pack and stuff. I’m awful at this. I’m going to be away for two and a half weeks, with odd stops here and there, so I need to work it out. Blech. I’m also giving myself till Monday to decide whether I’m going to reschedule my trip and reduce the time away. It seems like a good idea, right now. I also need to organise clothes for the big Consulate thing, and be on deck for the WFC party. Busy, busy, business.

And, you ask, is he having fun? A year ago this would have been fun. Two years ago this would have tickled me pink. After seven years without a real break of any kind, and doing six books a year for three years (roughly), I am kinda looking forward to some quiet time at home with the family and without deadlines. sigh.

Oh, and as reward for reading through this meandering self-indulgence, you can read a brand new Kelly Link story, “Light”, in its entirety over at Tin House.