November 1, 2012. As usual, I began with good intentions to get daily
exercise. At home, I typically exercise for half a hour before breakfast, and
then get in a walk later in the day. So Friday morning I wended my way to the
hotel fitness center. The treadmills, my torture of choice, were equipped with
headphones and leeetle television screens. After flipping from one channel to
another (which reminded me emphatically why I do not watch television), I
discovered a program of videos made by Japanese children in the wake of the tsunami
and then a year later. They were lovely, poignant, generous, joyful,
grief-stricken, honest as only children can be honest. I wanted everyone to see
them. They were all the more powerful in the context of Hurricane Sandy.
November 3, 2012. Writers workshop went well yesterday.
Likewise my reading, which was well-attended considering it was 5 pm on Friday.
I believe there were a number of snafus with other readings, so I felt grateful
that mine actually took place where and when it was supposed to. Today’s panels
went really well – as moderator for all of them, I happily accept my fair share
of credit. Topics were: what authors influenced you (and what do you see as the
wave of the future, which none of us were interested in talking about, so we
ignored); gender (as if writing the other); is publishing obsolete. The latter
two drew large, engaged audiences, always a nice thing for a panelist. I
particularly enjoyed the gender panel; we started with the issue of whether/how
we write opposite-gender characters and progressed to larger issues of gender
fluidity, gay/queer characters, tolerance in general and how fiction informs
and infuriates various audiences. I usually keep my own book pimpage to a
minimum (no “wall’o’books” for me!) but I did get to talk about creating a
gender-fluid race for my sf novel, Collaborators
(forthcoming from Dragon Moon Press, May 2013). The panel gave rise to some
pretty amazing connections.
