Saturday was supposed to be a slow day.  It was three days till we fly to Denver and four till Worldcon starts.  I woke early and spent some quiet time out on the back deck, just reading, blogging and relaxing.  Charles and I spent the morning chatting about this and that, maybe do a little panel preparation, but nothing too demanding.

We had lunch up here at the house and then at 2pm Jeremy from Night Shade dropped by.  Jeremy’s a ball of energy so we got to talking, some drinks hit the table, and we went back and forth about all kinds of interesting stuff.  At 4pm I was due to participate in the Conflux Minicon, which was great (and you should GO to Conflux if you can).  Jeremy, Charles and I were sitting at a table on the Locus HQ back deck, drinks and nibbles around us, chatting while I answered questions.  Disturbingly, between a couple questions, I seem to have committed to two more editing projects.  There’s a lot to do before these become real, so I won’t say what they are, but it made my head spin a little.

Not long after the Minicon ended for me, Ellen Klages showed up.  There was much talking, laughing, and catching up.  Eventually we headed off to dinner at Crogans, where I broked my diet, and then came back to the house for more catching up.  It was a good day.

So, CHARLES is reading the blog.  We’re sitting in the back office at Locus, talking about the future of SF, reviewing etc.  He also reminded me he’s not Charles, he is, of course, CHARLES.

I always know that I’ve arrived in California when I get to sit out quietly on the back deck at Ridgewood Lane for the first time. It’s a peaceful place surrounded by tall pine and plum trees, covered in flowers, and with quiet places to sit and relax. I’ve been here for parties for 40 people, spent warm evenings drinking scotch and reminiscing with CHARLES, and seen off jetlag more than a few times. It’s a touchstone place. The air is softer and gentler than the air at home, and most times it’s cool and comfortable.

Right now, having woken early, I’m out here listening to music, reading a little and just unwinding. Later I’ll probably be out here with Jeremy Lassen from Night Shade. We have much to discuss and this’ll be a good place for a drink. Then, at 4pm, I’ll be online from here for the Conflux online convention. Depending how the weather goes, I might even end the day out here drinking scotch with Charles. I’m glad it’s still here.

…mind to follow.

Well, last year the good folk at Conflux, the science fiction/fantasy convention held in Canberra, held a very successful Virtual Convention online for people who were headed for the event, or who couldn’t make it. It’s a chance to come and chat online to some authors, guests at the real con, editors and others in the business.

I will be in sunny Oakland, sitting on the famous Locus back deck surrounded by wooded foliage, fat self-satisfied chirpy squirrels, the odd passing deer, and the occasional Locus staffer.

Here’s how:
Log on to this address (http://conflux.org.au/forum/) – find the section devoted to the author/celeb you want at the time scheduled for them – and chat!

Each has an hour allotted to them. You can throw them tough questions, tell them how much you loathed loved their books, ask what they are doing next, tell them how to write….whatever.

Here’s when:
Next Saturday and Sunday, Oz time. I am on at 9am Eastern Australian time on Sunday. (That’s 7 a.m. Sunday Western Australian/4pm Saturday Oakland time.)

Here’s the programme and the participants:

Saturday August 2

12 noon – Glenda Larke
1pm – Chris Barnes
2pm – Gillian Polack
3pm – Bruce Gillespie
4pm – Phill Berrie
5pm – Stephen Hunt
6pm – Peter Strong
7pm – Karen Miller
8pm – Fiona McLennan
9pm – Maxine McArthur
10pm – Sharyn Lilley
11pm – Karen Herkes
12 midnight – Ellen Datlow

Sunday August 3rd

1am to 6am – break
7am – Sherwood Smith
8am – Nicole R Murphy
9am – Jonathan Strahan
10am – Kaaron Warren
11am – Sean Williams
12pm – Kevin J Anderson
1pm – Cat Sparks
2pm – Jackie French
3pm – Jack Dann
4pm – Simon Haynes
5pm – Marianne de Pierres
*http://conflux.org.au/forum/

PS: Thanks to Glenda, whose post I mostly stole :)