On The Road - Again

We’re in Peoria, Illinois, on our way to Indianapolis for Bouchercon, the country’s biggest mystery convention. It’s a little late and I’m tired, but trying to compose my post for tomorrow – when you should be reading this. Somewhere a little west of Cedar Falls the “check engine soon” light came on. The car seems fine except for a very faint whirring or clickety sound, but we’ll have it checked in Peoria before continuing.

Our little GPS is working very well, warning us of upcoming exits and keeping us on track. We’re taking a fairly complicated route, coming down I-35, then onto Iowa 18 and 218, then I-80 and now I-74.

We left a city covered in snow – the second snowfall so far this October! The first one, on Saturday, was more a dusting, but this one left more than two inches on the ground. We often get a little snow towards the end of October up in the Twin Cities – one year we had a blizzard on Halloween, but that was a rare exception. Snow this early is not unheard of, but it’s rare. What made it odder this time is that a lot of trees not only still had their leaves, but they were still green.

This past weekend I was a guest at Gaylaxicon, a GLBT sci-fi convention. I write mysteries, so in that regard I was a little out of place. On the other hand, there’s Goddy. He’s a major running character in the Betsy Devonshire mysteries and he’s very, very gay. Plus the newest entry in the series features Leona Cunningham, who is a witch. She casts spells, uses charms and is suspected of using a curse to murder a man who has been making her life miserable. The book is called Blackwork and I think it’s pretty good.

The con itself was very like other sci-fi cons I’ve been to over the years. A high percentage of young computer and science geeks, who are by and large intelligent, educated people, made up the attendees. I sponsored a beer tasting seminar which was not as well attended as I’d hoped, and so our larder is now well-stocked with exotic beers. Raspberry limbec, anyone?

I think Bouchercon is going to be great fun. I’ve got a panel with fellow authors Juliet Blackwell, Maggie Sefton, Kate Collins, and Madelyn Alt. We’re going to talk about how we weave the problems and joys of owning a retail store into our mystery novels. And, I’m teaching a class on making a counted cross stitch bookmark. Plus my publisher is holding a reception for all Berkley authors in attendance. Look for a report about the con next Wednesday.

CHALLENGE!

I am facing an amazing challenge, the kind that strikes terror into the heart of anyone who has ever faced a deadline. I thought, when I had to do a major re-write of Thai Die, that everything to follow got pushed down the time line a couple of months. That though the original deadline for Blackwork was the end of 2008, it would now be due in February or even March.

Then I was invited to debut Blackwork at a science fiction convention called Gaylaxicon – and you don’t have to be a detective to understand what the focus of that con is. The person running it in 2009 is a good friend of mine, someone I’ve known for probably close to thirty years. And it will be in Minneapolis, a first for this convention. Gaylaxicon will be held October 9 – 11. The reason he wants to debut the novel is that he is a sort of Godfather to Godwin, the gay man who is my sleuth Betsy’s sidekick, mentor, advisor and good friend.

I thought it wouldn’t work, as now (in my mind) the due date for the completion of the manuscript should now be too late for that pub date. To confirm, I asked my editor at Berkley when the pub date for Blackwork might be. Well, she said, we’re talking October 2009. I told Don that it looked good for debuting the novel.

And at the same time I felt a little trickle of fear. It takes time for a novel to go from manuscript to finished product. March, or even February, to October is awfully short a time in the normal course of events. When, I inquired, is the ms due to you? And the reply came: The end of this year.

I’m on Chapter Six. Well, Seven if I split that one long chapter in two.

Part of me is in a mild state of panic – but another part of me is exhilarated by this challenge.
So watch this space! And if anyone has any advice or encouragement to offer, please feel welcome.

The coundown begins now