Wiscon

Wiscon was fine, as usual. I was a bit hyper, I think because I was doing a writers' retreat after the con. My first ever. It added up to nine days of interacting with people I don't know well. Usually, I plan two or three social interactions a week, mostly with people I know well. Fewer and I get squirrely from solitude. More, and I feel I'm not getting enough quiet time.

The best meeting in many ways was Pat Murphy's midcareer writers gathering. (This is an annual gathering of people who have at least a few books out and are dealing with the problems of being midlist.) Toward the end, the question was asked, why do we write? We went around the room, and everyone said why he or she wrote. To express oneself. To understand the world. To change the world. To get attention. My answer was, "All of the above."