Down on the West Coast they got their icons

I'm back! Back from a most excellent (if exhausting) week in New Mexico, that is. While there, I had a wonderful and jam-packed time of reading, signing - and subjecting myself to interviews, parties, and other shenanigans. Upon arrival, I was picked up by my assigned cultural attache, Leah - who isn't actually a personal assistant, but would be a fantastic one for somebody, I swear. Throughout my time in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, she got me where I needed to be, when I needed to be there; and she made sure I had everything I needed, right when I needed it.

And she fed me a lot, which I very much appreciated. Oh - also, she loaned me a hat. I'm not usually a hat person, but this one was pretty damn foxy.



Come Wednesday, we trekked out to the Jean Cocteau Theater for the aforementioned hootenanny. Said hootenanny was hosted by the inimitable GRRM, who interviewed yours truly and Joe Abercrombie - and provoked us into reading from our most recent/upcoming projects.

There may have been drinks. Okay, there were definitely drinks. Which is why I look a little goofy in this after-party selfie.



I'm not sure why Joe looks so sinister. Like basically EVERY BRITISH DUDE I KNOW, his avatars and other assorted photographic appearances all make him look like a serial killer - but in person, he's really quite friendly and charming. WHAT IS WITH YOU GUYS? I mean honestly, now. Sweethearts, the lot of you. Not that you'd have anyone know it.

Anyway. It was a marvelous evening, even if I was wearing a dress and sitting on a bar-height chair positioned on an elevated platform, so I was terrified to cross/uncross my legs - lest I flash the entire theater. I am told that no actual flashing occurred, despite the drinks.

I hope I was not lied to.

(There will be pictures at some point - when I am made aware of them, I will link the crap out of them, rest assured.)

In other Stuff I Did Whilst Off The Internet news, with the help of Leah I toured the nifty old bits of both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, and if you're the sort who's keen on shots of very old churches, then feel free to go scrolling around in my Twitter media feed. Because you will totally find some there.

Like this one:



Right! So. Then there was BuboniCon.

Really, it was a very smooth event, and I'm glad I got to go - despite a hotel that could best be described as "kind of poltergeist-y."

Never mind all the weird noises in the night from mystery stompers in the stairwells and the peculiar alarms that kept going off on my floor...but I'm reasonably certain that when elevator doors open, you should not be greeted with a gushing deluge of water that floods the lobby and soaks anyone unfortunate enough to have been standing in front of said elevator doors.

Anyone like, um, me. Seriously. I don't even know.

But like I said, it was overall a very good weekend, wherein I got to catch up with both halves of James S. A. Corey - and meet/greet with a whole host of other nifty folks as well. (If I start trying to link everyone, I'll leave somebody out - I just know it.)

The panels were fun and well attended, my fellow guests were a fabulous lot, and Leah kept refilling a flask of rum and slipping it into my bag. Like a CHAMP.

And now I'm home! It was a long trip back, and I arrived to a bunch of packages, bills, cards, and all the assorted whatnot that piles up when I've been gone for a week. Not least of all, there was laundry (both bins, overflowing). So today has been a day of unpacking, slogging through my inbox (both virtual and literal), and repeatedly running the washer and dryer.

Also, it has been a day of being shadowed by a couple of furry, needy cuties who track me from room to room - lest I try to leave them again.



Hm...what else? Let's see. Oh yes - I also got a surprise in the mail, when all the envelopes and boxes were finally opened: Maplecroft cover flats! You can't really see it, but the title is embossed all sexy-like ... and I'm tickled stupid to have them. My baby! She's almost a real book!



And I think that brings everyone up to speed - more or less, anyway. Now I need to grab some supper, take a shower, and settle in with the signature sheets for the special edition of Rogues (coming soon, via Subterranean). There's only a thousand of them. I think? It sure looks/feels like a thousand. Maybe more, I don't know. It's a lot, and it's going to take me awhile to sort them out, that's my point.

I'm going to do it while catching up on TV tonight, with a drink and the husband by my side. Takes the edge off the cramping wrist, I tell you - and I need to kick these back into the mail ASAP. Which means tomorrow.

So. I'm finished rambling for now, but I'll be back - working on the Jacaranda proofs/revisions and probably posting more pet pictures or something.

Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you around tomorrow.
I bet.