Boy, I haven't done one of these since . . . Forever.  Let's just agree on Forever, shall we?

Good.

So, this is how it went.

We left home, eh, earlyish on February 16, after a fond farewell to the cats, stopped in Augusta to eat breakfast, and motored the slow way down to Brunswick, still arriving early for our train.  I dropped Steve and the luggage off at the Visitors Center/Amtrak Station, parked the car and walked back.  Had time to complete a Wordle before the train arrived, and we boarded, business class, or as Amtrak likes it: Businessclass.

An uneventful trip until Haverhill, where we switched out of the train onto the bus, which took us the rest of the way in to North Station, which is Greatly Transformed from Former Days.  In all the time I have been going through North Station, I have never seen it without some kind of large or middling construction going on.

The construction is done, and it looked very classy, and completely unfamiliar when we debarked.

Happily, our friend was waiting for us, and we started for his car, when it became apparent that this part of the project would go faster if he went to fetch the car and drove it to us, rather than us going to the car.

As a Plan, it seemed Fine, only . . . the Entrance to the Underworld Parking Garage -- was an entrance only.

We waited long enough to become worried for our friend's safety, whereupon my cell rang.  Our friend was trying to find his way back to us, but -- Boston Traffic.  He was in front of the CVS.

Of all the things in Boston that have changed, the CVS on the corner across from North Station remains steadfast.  Steve and I cut through the station to the other side.  As I said -- a pristine and constructionless place, this new North Station, with electronic turnstiles that will only allow people with the proper barcode to enter OR exit -- met our friend, and we were off.

Arriving at the hotel, we unpacked, took a small walk down Summer Street, went back to the hotel for dinner.  The hotel was filling up nicely with familiar faces, and we went to bed, anticipating the morrow.

We were unscheduled for the early part of Friday, which gave Steve scope to solve a Unexpected Problem. The posters for Salvage Right and Scout's Progress hadn't arrived, and, as a frantic phone call to the publisher established, weren't going to arrive, having been mailed by the printer to -- well, we actually don't know where the printer mailed the posters.  They're not here, and they weren't in Boston.  Possibly they were sent to Sherman's in Topsham, the last place we signed, and where posters were needed.

In any case, Steve marshaled Forces, getting the electronic files from Baen, negotiating with the FedEx Business Center in the Westin, which produced posters in record time.

Phew.

After the rescue was put in train, we crashed the dealer's room during set-up, and signed books for Sally Kobee, and for Mind's Eye, and scored our badges and schedules a little after 2.  At 4pm, we attended Reading Your Own Work Out Loud, which managed to be interesting, informative, and entertaining.

At 5:30, Steve had his first panel -- Building Fandom and Community; and at 8:30, we read a small scene from Salvage Right, to a full room.

Saturday started with the Friends of Liad Breakfast -- surprisingly well-attended.  We had told the Sauciety people we were coming, but they no longer take reservations, and -- well, they set up a table for 8.  And then another table for 6, and another table for 6, and, a third table for 6.  It was a lovely catch-up time for everyone, and then we were off -- Steve to his first panel of the day, Worldbuilding from the Ground Up.

My first panel was at 4:00 -- Writing Romance Across Genres, and it was -- lively.  Yes.  The panelists had a great time, and, judging from the laughter, so did the audience.

Then, it was time to go downstairs to the Book Party, where we signed Even More books.  Steve, who keeps track of these things, assures me that we signed at least 100 books during the con.

After the Book Party, I was wanted on my last panel of the day, A Muddle of Mad Scientists.  Sadly, I had misunderstood the thrust of this panel, so was not as informative, or as entertaining as I (or, let's be realistic, someone else) might have been.  But my co-panelists, and the audience were very well-informed.

Sunday at 11:30 was my last panel, The Shadow of the City, which was interesting and entertaining, and the audience engaged.

Last event was at 1:00 -- Lee and Miller kaffeeklatsch, full table, much hilarity.

Soon after, we retired abovestairs to recuperate and pack for our return to Maine, on Monday.

Wherein lies a tale.

All during the convention, we had been breakfasting at Sauciety, as one does.  On Sunday morning, our server was one of the several who had assisted in the Friends of Liad breakfast.  We made a pleasant breakfast, signed our meals to the room, and departed on our day.

Monday morning, we were greeted by the hostess with wide smiles, placed at a large table in view of the door.  Our server was the person from Sunday, who remembered what we had ordered the day before, down to remembering the tea we had used.  She was there the second one of us looked up, and anticipated those things we would need.  Honestly, I have never been served so well in a restaurant.

Some time during the meal, it occurred to us that Monday was a holiday, and also that we were going to be traveling at lunchtime.  We had intended to get a sandwich from the deli on D Street, but it existed to serve the office building it lived it, which would be closed, see holiday.

We asked our helpful server if the restaurant made sandwiches to go, explaining our problem.

Sauciety does not normally make ham and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat to go.  But she made us two sandwiches, threw in a large container of fruit, and was somewhat anxious that this would not be enough to sustain us on our journey.  We assured her that we would do well, and thanked her for her care.

Soon after, it was time to leave.  The bellman hailed us a cab and we were off through nearly deserted Boston streets, to the door of North Station, where we showed the turnstiles our barcodes and were shortly on the train home to Maine.

Wrapping up:  Great con, terrific to see everyone.  Hope to do it again, next year.

For decades now, and whenever possible, Steve and I have hosted a Friends of Liad Breakfast during the conventions we attended.

This pleasant custom fell by the wayside due to cancer, plague, and, oh, plague.

Steve and I will be at Boskone in-person next week, and we will be hosting a Friends of Liad breakfast at Saucity inside the Westin, on Saturday, February 18 at 8:15 am, and we hope you'll be able to join us.

Please read the information below.

WHAT THE FOL BREAKFAST IS NOT:
1  The Friends of Liad Breakfast is not (NOT) a convention event
2  The Friends of Liad is not (NOT) a free event

WHAT THE FOL BREAKFAST IS: An informal gathering of friends and fans of the Liaden Universe®, its characters and/or its authors (or their cats).  We gather together for a meal, in order to catch up with each other, and to reaffirm ourselves as a community (which sounds a lot more formal than it actually is).

HOW IT WORKS:

1  Sharon and Steve warn the good folks at Saucity (who have done this many times before) that we will be expecting to breakfast with a dozen, possibly more, friends on Saturday starting approximately at 8:15 am, and that those friends would be looking for THE FRIENDS OF LIAD BREAKFAST.

2  We will all be seated together (caveat: there have been a couple times when the group was so large we weren't all able to be seated at one table.  Satellite tables were then arranged.  The staff at Saucity is very good at what they do).

3  Everyone will order, or otherwise gather their breakfast, and everyone will pay for their own breakfast.  This includes Sharon and Steve.

4  We eat, we talk, we laugh.  Hopefully, we have fun.

5  We disperse (this year) in time for Steve to get to his 10:00 am panel

We do hope to see you all there.  If you'd like to attend, consider letting us know ahead of time so that we can give as accurate a report as possible to the staff at Saucity.

Boskone 59 starts today! 

Steve Miller will be participating as a virtual panelist.  Here's his schedule:

All times are Eastern Standard.

VIRTUAL: Unhappy Endings Format: Panel
18 Feb 2022, Friday 8pm – 8:50pm, Marina IV (Westin)
Jane Yolen, Steve Miller, Julie Czerneda, Paul Di Filippo (M), Ada Palmer

Tragic plays from Shakespeare, Sophocles, Aeschylus, and Euripides are still with us … hundreds, even thousands of years later. Not all stories let the protagonist triumph — sometimes they lose; sometimes they even die losing. Some science fiction and fantasy writers’ unhappily ending stories are quite popular. Why do they succeed? Why do other such stories fail — even fail so hard their authors never try to write unhappily ever after?

VIRTUAL: My Favorite Character
18 Feb 2022, Friday 9pm – 9:50pm, Marina IV (Westin)
Olav Rokne, Jen Gunnels, Steve Miller, David Marshall, James Moore (M)

Google once estimated that humanity had published 129,864,880 books. If about half were SF/F/H trilogies — never mind, let’s ask it this way: from all the speculative fiction stories ever published, who’s your favorite character, and why? Heroine, villain, sidekick, romantic interest, alien bystander? Would you like to meet, have dinner with, or be that person? What does your choice say about your own character?

VIRTUAL: Solo Reading
19 Feb 2022, Saturday 12:30 – 12:55, Marina IV (Westin)
Steve Miller

So, here we are in 2020.  I've been warned not to date checks with just /20, because some Bad People could just add, oh "19" to that and steal my check.  I'm sure that's good advice, but, really I hardly write checks anymore, and when I do, I always date them fully, to wit:  "January 4, 2020," because old habits die hard, if they die at all.

In related news, many-to-all (depending on your news source) of the credit unions in Maine are off-line as the result of mysterious "connectivity problem."  This is not as much fun as it may at first seem.

We here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory are clinging to our last few precious Not-Sundays.  There's writing to do and writing being done, as well as chores, of a sort, but it's all being done in a soft bubble, almost a "deadline free zone," which we all know there's no such thing, but -- it's been pleasant to pretend for a week or two.

Deadlines and doctors appointments return Monday morning, quite early, so we'll be getting back into the Daily Push realsoonnow.

My first-in task today is to clean the so-called Boy's Bathroom, and to steam clean the kitchen floor.  After that, there's the final sweep at the WIP.  After much banging my head against various metaphorical, logical, and fictional walls, I have figured out how to straighten the last kink in the last scene.  Go me.  The entire corrected manuscript ought, I think, be on its way to Madame by the end of the week, and then?  I won't have anything to do.  [Cue laugh track]

Looking ahead, Steve and I will be attending Boskone in mid-February, and!  We will be Guests of Honor at NarniaCon, aka the Coat Check Con.  NarniaCon hosts a scavenger hunt within Boskone entire; this year's hunt will be based on the game of Clue.

. . .and that's where we stand at the moment, still inside the bubble, with the cats napping inside, and the sky grey with snow clouds, outside.

Today's blog title brought to you by one of my hometown bands, Talking Heads:  And She Was.

As mentioned elsewhere, Steve and I (that's Steve Miller and Sharon Lee) will be attending Boskone 56  February 15 through 19, at the Westin Boston Waterfront.  This is what our Official Con Schedule looks like.  You'll also likely see us in the art show, the dealers room, and in the hallways or the Big Living Room, reading (Sharon) or talking (Steve).

FRIDAY

The Hopeful Future in Science Fiction
15 Feb 2019, Friday 2:00 - 2:50, Harbor II (Westin)
Science fiction can tend toward grim futuristic realism that is either technology-based or post-apocalyptic. Are these the futures we want to write for ourselves? Or read? In light of all the possibilities, where can we find the bright and shining moments? What current fiction gives us hope for the future? And how can we stay positive while still being realistic?
James Patrick Kelly (writer) (M), Muriel Stockdale, Gene Doucette, Fonda Lee, Steve Miller

The Long View (of a Writing Career)
15 Feb 2019, Friday 5:00 - 5:50, Marina 3 (Westin)
How do you keep the fiction and art fresh after 10, 20, 30-plus years in the business? A few streaks of gray here; a few wrinkles there ... but we're still here, contributing to SF/F literature and art and the fandom that embraces them. Our panelists take a look down memory lane at their careers — and how things have changed since they were young, eager creatives, struggling to find their place in the field. Stories will be told, advice will be shared, and a few laughs (and tears?) will be shed over the good times and bad that come with walking the long road of writing.
Ginjer Buchanan (M), Sharon Lee, Jeffrey A. Carver, Steve Miller, Allen M. Steele

Shared-Universe Worldbuilding
15 Feb 2019, Friday 6:00 - 6:50, Marina 3 (Westin)
Authors can cooperate in a variety of ways: co-authoring, writing a sequel to another's work, extending/finishing a series started by another, etc. Shared worlds are purpose-built for different authors to (more or less independently) set their own stories. How do you make a sandbox for multiple writers to play in? What are some pitfalls? What prevents the world from degenerating, or tying up its authors in knots while trying to maintain mutual consistency? Let's look at successful shared universes, and what keeps them worlds ahead of the rest.
Steve Miller, Victoria Sandbrook (M), Lauren Roy, Barry Lee Dejasu, David Anthony Durham

SATURDAY

Friends of Liad Breakfast with Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 8:30 - 9:30, Sauciety, Westin
This is a family event for fans of the Liaden Universe®, the Cat Farm Cats, or, yanno, whatever.  This is not a convention event; it's a group of friends getting together to catch up over breakfast.  You are expected to pay for your own breakfast.  Sharon and Steve will be paying for their breakfasts, too.  Hope to see you there.

Autographing: Jonathan Hunt, Sharon Lee, Dan Moren, Steve Miller, Rebecca Roanhorse
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 10:00 - 10:50, Galleria - Autographing (Westin)

The Great Escape
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 1:00 - 1:50, Burroughs (Westin)
How do you extricate your characters from sticky situations? Felix the Cat has his bag of tricks, Batman has his utility belt — but heavy-handed rabbit-pulling is passé these days. So what's it take to orchestrate a believable, savvy escape? Or a whole series of them, when your plot keeps putting your protagonist in peril? Let’s consider some great SF/F/H escapes, and discuss how the writer pulled them off.
Sharon Lee, Brad Abraham, Brendan DuBois (M), Brenda W. Clough , Laurence Raphael Brothers

Economics in SF/F Worlds
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 2:00 - 2:50, Burroughs (Westin)
Whether you deal in coin, platinum, electronic credits, or chickens, all societies rest upon an agreed-upon economic foundation. However, fantastic fiction rarely features a reference to any body that establishes and monitors a financial system. How important is it to see a working (or failing) economy in an SF/F world? Can you realistically have a cashless society (Star Trek) or a civilization run by orcs (LOTR)? What are the economic drivers that keep these worlds turning? Fellowships that cross multiple borders to throw away precious metal objects so rarely pay well. How do our heroes and villains survive without visible incomes of any kind?
MR Richardson (M), Fonda Lee, Karl Schroeder, Steve Miller, Walter H. Hunt

The Middle Book Syndrome
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 4:00 - 4:50, Marina 4 (Westin)
The first book of your series was amazing: solid story; compelling characters; great reception by publisher, critics, and fans. Now, the hard part: living up to all the high expectations. Or maybe the first book had a less receptive reception, but you still need to produce that second volume? Plus there’s the rhythm problem — first book, thrilling beginnings; last book, satisfying conclusions; middle book, recaps and repetitions … How do you deal with the pressures of a multi-book contract and impatient fans?
Juliana Spink Mills, Fran Wilde (M), Kenneth Rogers Jr., Sarah Beth Durst , Sharon Lee

The (r)Evolution of Military SF
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 4:00 - 4:50, Burroughs (Westin)
The tools of war change: shouldn’t fiction about fighting also evolve? Even as weapons in the real world are approaching science fictional levels of lethality, the spirit of military SF hasn’t changed much since the age of swords. Let’s look at how technology, fiction, and the military intersect and interact.
Alan Brown, Vincent O'Neil (M), Paul Di Filippo, Steve Miller, Errick Nunnally

The Impact of Fandom
16 Feb 2019, Saturday 5:00 - 5:50, Marina 4 (Westin)
Fandom is a many-splendored (and terrifying?) thing. As fandom accompanies SF/F into the mainstream, what’s its impact on the genre’s creators? Do fans actually save shows? Influence creative directions? Drive innovation? Or demand more of the same? What about when fans become creators themselves? Looking ahead, what more might we fans do for our beloved genre?
Janice Gelb (M), Dave Weingart, Jim Mann, Steve Miller, Brad Abraham

SUNDAY

Kaffeeklatsch: Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
17 Feb 2019, Sunday 11:00 - 11:50, Galleria - Kaffeeklatsch 2 (Westin)

Reading by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
17 Feb 2019, Sunday 1:00 - 1:25, Griffin (Westin)

Playing catchup here.

Left the Cat Farm at O-Ghod o'clock on Thursday, to catch the 7:00 am train out of Brunswick.  We had a pleasant, which is to say non-eventful trip, watching the scenery go by while we ate packed-in baloney-and-cheese sammiches and drank high-test Amtrak coffee.  How do they consistently get that slightly burnt undernote in the coffee, no matter what train you happen to be on?

Our room was ready for us when we hit the hotel -- a very nice room, high-ish up, with a view of the harbor and of the planes coming in to Logan.

We napped and set up Field Headquarters, chatted with a few other early arrivals, gathered up our convention badges, and crashed early.

This morning, we had a pleasant extended breakfast with Christie Meierz and Jeff Mierzejewski.  Afterwards, we toured the facility, started an early pile of books behind Larry Smith's table, and retired to field headquarters to do some work before lunch.  Lunch having now been achieved, I'm taking this opportunity to catch y'all up before The Con Gets Real.

Still no word on the Friends of Liad Breakfast -- we're still shooting for a Sunday morning event, Saturday's schedule being what it is.

I would be a Bad Cat Mom if I did not mention that today marks the 6th anniversary of the birth of Kelimcoon's Belle of the Ball.  We plan to have a belated celebration  when we get home again to Maine.

Also, Number Ten Ox, running Linux Mint, version Cinnamon, is performing without nary a stumble nor a stagger.

Y'all have fun; I'll check in as I can.

As previously advertised, Steve and I will be at Boskone (February 19-21, 2016) in Boston, MA for New England's longest running science fiction and fantasy convention. It's going to be a fun weekend filled with books, film, art, music, gaming, and more, and we'd love to see you there! For more information about Boskone, check out The Boskone Blog, Twitter, and Facebook. Visit the Boskone website to register.  The Full Con Schedule may be found here.

Our schedule for the weekend is below.  Also look for us in the Art Show, the Dealer's Room, and sitting around the lobby, chatting with friends.

As in previous years, we intend to host a Friends of Liad breakfast at Boskone.  Since our Saturday is rather full, and in addition begins with a 10 a.m. Kaffeeklatsch, we will be aiming for a Sunday morning breakfast.  For those who are new to this tradition -- the Friends of Liad breakfast is an informal, extra-con event, where Friends and readers of Liad meet to catch up with each other, and with the authors.  All are welcome.  Everyone pays for their own breakfast, even Steve and Sharon.  As soon as we've made arrangements with Saucity, the Westin's in-house restaurant, we'll put out the word regarding time, and day.

Hope to see you at Boskone!

Boskone Schedule:

Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

FRIDAY

Collaboration: Writers, Artists, and More!
Friday 6:00 - 6:50, Harbor III (Westin)
Creative collaboration is an endurance event. Each experience is different, whether working in a shared universe, co-writing a story, or working word by word with another author. Whatever the scenario, it can be an immensely rewarding experience. However, personalities can clash and the final decision isn't always mutual. If you're curious about creative collaborations and want to find out where to start or how to avoid the most common missteps, this panel is for you.
Steve Miller (M), Julie C. Day, Teddy Harvia, Stephen Hickman, Sharon Lee

SATURDAY

Kaffeeklatsch 2: Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Saturday 10:00 - 10:50, Harbor I-Kaffeeklatsch 2 (Westin)

Foppish Fiction: The Dandy in SF/F/H
Saturday 11:00 - 11:50, Harbor II (Westin)
The Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro both hid their secret identities behind foppish appearances. We'll explore their descendants, both male and female, in speculative fiction. Then there's the effete ruler of a decadent empire as a trope (or is that a meme?) of our genres. And what about the sidekick with a flair for fashion? Why are our protagonists all Winters in jewel tones, and none of them Autumns in burnt umber?
Sharon Lee (M), Ellen Asher, Debra Doyle, Grady Hendrix, Walter Jon Williams

Reading: Steve Miller & Sharon Lee
Saturday 12:00 - 12:25, Griffin (Westin)

How You Get the Word Out: Starting and Running a Successful Podcast
Saturday 2:00 - 2:50, Harbor III (Westin)
Podcasting gives us an outlet to share our thoughts and ideas with the world, and everyone seems to have something (perhaps a lot) to say. But is podcasting right for everyone? How do you go about "bootstrapping" a podcast? What do you need and what do you need to know? How do you attract and keep an audience? Where do you find a place to host your site? Successful 'casters pass on their secrets.
Steve Miller (M), Kate Baker, C.S.E. Cooney, Don Pizarro, Brianna Spacekat Wu

Romance Across Space and Time
Saturday 3:00 - 3:50, Marina 2 (Westin)
Romance shows up in the unlikeliest places: from prehistory to the far-flung future; from pole to pole; from fantasy and science fiction to horror. Must it be a guilty pleasure? Or should we proudly proclaim the heart of the matter: wherever they may find it, all the world loves a love story!
Darlene Marshall (M), D L Carter, Mary Kay Kare, Steve Miller, E.J. Stevens

Writing: Pinning Down Your Plot
Saturday 4:00 - 4:50, Marina 3 (Westin)
Complicated plots need proper handling. Writers who lose control of a twisty tale can confuse and/or alienate their readers. But just how do authors manage a complex story line? Come hear their tips for keeping track of the trickiest of plots.
Steven Popkes (M), Ken Altabef, Sharon Lee, Christie Meierz, Vincent O'Neil

Boskone Book Party
Saturday 6:00 - 7:20, Galleria-Stage (Westin)
Join us for Boskone's Multi-Author Book Party, see what's new from authors you love, and discover new favorites. Boskone is also launching three NESFA Press books tonight: The Collected Stories of Poul Anderson Vol 7, Conspiracy!, and The Grimm Future. (Authors and publishers with a new book and a current Boskone membership are welcome to take part; contact program@boskone.org for details.)
D L Carter, Tom Easton, Grady Hendrix, Carlos Hernandez, E. C. Ambrose, Judith K. Dial, Sharon Lee, Steve Miller, Cerece Rennie Murphy, N.A. Ratnayake, Erin Underwood

SUNDAY

NESFA Book Club: Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee & Steve MIller
Sunday 11:00 - 11:50, Griffin (Westin)
This February, the NESFA Book Club hosts its monthly meeting at Boskone. Join us as we discuss Conflict of Honors by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, who will join the group halfway through the discussion in order to lead a Q&A. All members are welcome and newcomers are encouraged to attend.
Michael Sharrow (M), Sharon Lee, Steve Miller

Autographing: James Cambias, Sharon Lee, Steve Miller
Sunday 12:00 - 12:50, Galleria-Autographing (Westin)

Take Me To Your Leader
Sunday 1:00 - 1:50, Harbor II (Westin)
Does SF/F get leaders all wrong? How do leaders in large organizations actually act? Are leaders creative? What motivates them? Let's compare character archetypes from page and screen to real-world leaders.
Stephen P. Kelner Jr. (M), A.C.E. Bauer, Vincent Docherty, Sharon Lee, Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Exoplanets Are Out There
Sunday 1:00 - 1:50, Burroughs (Westin)
Did you ever expect to view exoplanets from Earth? SF writers since Doc Smith seemed to assume we’d discover planets only when we approached the stars they orbited. Now astronomers have confirmed 2,000 exoplanets and counting; they’re designing new devices to resolve their spectra and hint at their habitability. Was this a failure of imagination, a choice to build drama, or an unexpected success of astronomical instrumentation? Didn’t any writers get it right?
Charles Gannon (M), Jeff Hecht, Beth Meacham, Steve Miller, Mark L. Olson

Bright and cold today; tomorrow?  Snowpocalypse.

You'll recall that I mentioned the Sylvan Investigations Kickstarter campaign owned and operated by Laura Anne Gilman.  That campaign goes over in a scant few hours, and is still just a leeeeetle bit short of the goal. Have a look, why not, and let's see if we can push this thing over the top.  Here's your link.

Speaking of Kickstarter, Streets of Shadows: A Noir Urban Fantasy Fiction Anthology is about halfway to its goal, with twelve days to go.  The ToC so far includes Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kevin J. Anderson, Tim Lebbon, Seanan McGuire, Brandon Massey, Tom Piccirilli, and Lucy A. Snyder, which is worth the price of admission right there.  Here's that link.

In regard to Snowpocalyse, Our Plan at the moment is to get up at Omighod tomorrow, so I can drive Steve to the train station in Brunswick, then deliver the tax paperwork to the accountant and get home before Shit Gets Serious.  There is a fire laid in the woodstove, and I'm in the process of charging the Big Batteries.  We have put in stores of Mozart's medicines, cat food, yams, onions, wine. . .all the essentials, in other words.

Snowpocalypse also means that today?  Is devoted to the final ordering of the tax paperwork!  Tax paperwork is entertaining, for values of entertaining that include a tall drink with rum in it at the end of the day.  I personally adore how one place sends me a 1099 for a $103 payment, while another says, No 1099 needed for payments less than $600, but yanno?  It will Very Soon Now be Deb the Accountant's problem.  I keep reminding myself that she likes dealing with this stuff or she'd embrace another career.

A reminder for those going to Boskone -- Steve will be there, I will not.  Here's his schedule:

Friday, February 14

6:00 — 6:50
Bleeding Hearts
A Valentine’s Day panel about romance in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. What are some of our great love stories for the ages? What stories turned out to be tragedies — or worse? Panelists will discuss how love can turn a character’s world upside-down.
Darlene Marshall (M), Ellen Asher, Leigh Perry, Steve Miller

8 — 8:50
Good vs Evil: The Great Divide
Fantasy often incorporates pure goodness and pure evil, foregrounding them as serious character motivations or actually giving them bodily form. How does the battle of good and evil stay relevant in a world filled with shades of gray? What value does purity, for good or ill, lend to fantasy?
Jack M. Haringa(M), Jeffrey A. Carver, Steve Miller, Steven Popkes

Saturday, February 15

11 — 11:50
Autographing — Steve Miller and Charles Stross

12:00 — 12:50
Writers on Writing: Character Versus Characterization
The success of any story relies upon its characters. But writers can get confused between establishing a character and characterization. What’s observable? What’s hidden? What do we see on the page, and what do we feel when reading about this character as a whole? Writers discuss ways to more deeply develop characters, and how characterization can either get in the way or be used successfully.
Jeffrey A. Carver (M), Sarah Beth Durst, Steve Miller, Greer Gilman, Steven Sawicki

2:00 — 2:50
Kaffeeklatsche — Steve Miller

4:00 — 4:25
Reading — Steve Miller  (Reading from Carousel Sun and from Trade Secret)

5:00 — 5:50
The Long Series — How We Did It
Experts in the long multibook series share their secrets for keeping it alive and interesting. How do you prevent characters and storylines from feeling tired after the third or twelfth or even nineteenth book? How do you keep all those characters and histories straight when coming up with new ideas? Can fandom affect series development? Finally, when — and how — do you bring things to a satisfying end?
Ginjer Buchanan (M), Melinda Snodgrass, Steve Miller, Charlaine Harris

Sunday, February 16

11:00 — 11:50
Ezines, Fanzines, and Blogs, Oh My!
Fanzines, ezines, and blogs come and go, and return again in new and different forms. What is it about fanzines that gives them such resiliency when so many readerships remain in perpetual flux? What are the advantages of these forms? What do their readers — and writers — get out of each?
Steve Davidson (M), Joe Siclari, E. C. Ambrose, Steve Miller

12:00 — 12:50
Reboots: New Chances for Old Stories?
Are do-overs only for television programs, movies, and comics, or can we hit the dreaded reboot button on written fiction as well? Which classic stories should be preserved untouched in SF/F/H’s hallowed halls? Which might gain fresh life – and new readers — from judicious technological or social updating? Once you start changing things, how far should you go?
Steve Miller (M), Shahid Mahmud, Beth Meacham, Alexander Jablokov, Ellen Asher

* * *
Progress on Insert Working Title Here
20,283/100,000 words OR 20% Complete

"There is another risk, not inconsiderable, for what functions on a large scale also functions at the clan level. Since Korval was formed, it was yos'Galan's sense of propriety and ethics that guided the clan. For the first time in the clan's existence, we are in a situation that favors yos'Phelium's strengths over yos'Galan's."

Wow.  Except for moving it in and out of the driveway at the whim of the plowguy, I haven't driven my poor little car since the day before the Christmas Ice Storm.  This morning, I had to scrape the inside of the windshield, then rock the car gently to break the ice binding it to the driveway, before I could drive to town and walk across the glassy tundra that are Waterville's sidewalks, to go to gym, another badly neglected activity.

It's a bright, sunny day, 13F/-11C, with a breeze, so driving was pleasant, if walking was not.  I was glad to have remembered to wear my dorky fleece-lined ear-flap cap.

Fans of Mozart will be interested to hear that we are, at the suggestion of the vet, reducing his dose of pain medication to once a day.  We're only a day into this new regime, but he's already polished off one can of Fancy Feast and made serious inroads into a second.  I wish I knew what was causing the pain, but the vet seems to consider that a secondary issue.

Steve and I have received our schedules for Boskone, which is being held February 14 through 16 (Valentine's Day and President's Day -- two holidays bracketing an SF convention.  What's not to love?).  Guests of Honor are Seanan McGuire/Mira Grant, David Palumbo, Ginjer Buchanan, and Bill Roper, plus All of the Usual Suspects.  If you're on the fence about committing to Boston in February, allow me to persuade you to attend.  Boskone's always a good time.

For the purposes of planning, and also so I have this all in one place, here is the Lee-and-Miller Boskone Schedule:

Friday, February 14

5 -- 5:50
The Fine Art of Murder
What is it that fascinates us about murder mysteries? How do you create a captivating crime? Is it possible to make a satisfying whodunit or locked-room mystery in a setting where technology or magic eliminates too many constraints and presents the potential to do anything?
Sharon Lee (M), Leigh Perry, Dana Cameron, Charlaine Harris, Vincent O'Neil

6:00 -- 6:50
Bleeding Hearts
A Valentine's Day panel about romance in science fiction, fantasy, and horror. What are some of our great love stories for the ages? What stories turned out to be tragedies -- or worse? Panelists will discuss how love can turn a character’s world upside-down.
Darlene Marshall (M), Ellen Asher, Leigh Perry, Steve Miller

8 -- 8:50
Good vs Evil: The Great Divide
Fantasy often incorporates pure goodness and pure evil, foregrounding them as serious character motivations or actually giving them bodily form. How does the battle of good and evil stay relevant in a world filled with shades of gray? What value does purity, for good or ill, lend to fantasy?
Jack M. Haringa(M), Jeffrey A. Carver, Steve Miller, Steven Popkes

Saturday, February 15

11 -- 11:50
Autographing -- Sharon Lee & Steve Miller and Charles Stross

12:00 -- 12:50
Writers on Writing: Character Versus Characterization
The success of any story relies upon its characters. But writers can get confused between establishing a character and characterization. What's observable? What's hidden? What do we see on the page, and what do we feel when reading about this character as a whole? Writers discuss ways to more deeply develop characters, and how characterization can either get in the way or be used successfully.
Jeffrey A. Carver (M), Sarah Beth Durst, Steve Miller, Greer Gilman, Steven Sawicki

2:00 -- 2:50
Kaffeeklatsche -- Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

4:00 -- 4:25
Reading -- Steve Miller & Sharon Lee

5:00 -- 5:50
The Long Series -- How We Did It
Experts in the long multibook series share their secrets for keeping it alive and interesting. How do you prevent characters and storylines from feeling tired after the third or twelfth or even nineteenth book? How do you keep all those characters and histories straight when coming up with new ideas? Can fandom affect series development? Finally, when -- and how -- do you bring things to a satisfying end?
Ginjer Buchanan (M), Melinda Snodgrass, Sharon Lee, Charlaine Harris

Sunday, February 16

11:00 -- 11:50
Ezines, Fanzines, and Blogs, Oh My!
Fanzines, ezines, and blogs come and go, and return again in new and different forms. What is it about fanzines that gives them such resiliency when so many readerships remain in perpetual flux? What are the advantages of these forms? What do their readers -- and writers -- get out of each?
Steve Davidson (M), Joe Siclari, E. C. Ambrose, Steve Miller

12:00 -- 12:50
Reboots: New Chances for Old Stories?
Are do-overs only for television programs, movies, and comics, or can we hit the dreaded reboot button on written fiction as well? Which classic stories should be preserved untouched in SF/F/H’s hallowed halls? Which might gain fresh life – and new readers -- from judicious technological or social updating? Once you start changing things, how far should you go?
Steve Miller (M), Shahid Mahmud, Beth Meacham, Alexander Jablokov, Ellen Asher