But life gets in the way, what with suddenly starting the process of moving out of my current apartment and work being a maelstrom of chaos.


So instead, have some quotes.

You know in folk tales, evil has to play by the rules but good can cheat.

Nalo Hopkinson

Part of the male gaze is the shock that the female gaze exists.

Sarah Rees Brennan

UFOs are the fairy tales of our modern world.

Malinda Lo

Cultural relativism is understanding the logic behind a culture from its perspective. It's not about making it okay but understanding how it happens.

Marie Brennan

Every story is situated in conversation with the ones that came before it.

Malinda Lo

Fandom is high speed folklore.

Marie Brennan

Copyright has turned originality into a greater virtue than it used to be.

Marie Brennan

The West has influence everywhere, but we don't take back in equal measure. The flow of culture is not even.

Shveta

If you have the means and any interest in A) books B) fantasy C) fandom and/or D) social justice, you should definitely consider coming. Next year is our 5th year, and so the theme is "reunion". We're bringing back the themes from the past 4 years -- warriors, fairies, monsters, and retellings.

It's definitely not a cheap conference, but they're currently working on scholarships to get more people of color and international citizens.

While the queer representation is pretty good, it can always be better. I was really excited to hear talking about asexuality and people actually knowing what it is, but it would be great to have some (open) representation. And there was a discussion on gender identity and presentation that would have benefited a lot from genderqueer voices.


So join us next year if you can! If you click this link before November 1st, you'll get a (very slight) discount on registration.

I got an email from a young woman that consisted of nothing more than an attachment and the subject line "Crew position." Usually I ignore these kinds of things, but this time I responded & said that we don't consider resumes that don't come with some kind of cover letter, and it's generally good policy to introduce yourself and explain why you're interested in the position.



Dear arts schools: Teach your students how to apply for jobs. You're not doing anybody -- ESPECIALLY YOUR STUDENTS -- any favors if you don't.



But all is well. I'm currently sitting in Portland airport, waiting to meet up with all the other folks attending Sirens. I am going to spend the next four days gorging on books and it's going to be glorious. I'm already off to a pretty good start. I read The Dark Wife on the plane (verdict: extreme dislike, which merits its own entry), and will be plowing through more of the thus far delightful The Palace of Illusions once I wrap up some more things for work.

Thank goodness I opted to take today to recover. This year was fricking amazing. I went to so many amazing panels - here are a few highlights.

* Casey Blair had a great paper on why monsters matter, analyzing monsters throughout history and their social significance.

* There was an awesome round table discussion on monsters representing queer people, what that means and why that is

* Rachel Manija Brown and shveta_thakrar shared some awesome stories from Indian mythology and a lot of really cool monsters.

* There was a panel that basically turned into a round table on monstrous women and female monsters in anime and manga. I got the names of some new series to try out, a chance to discuss some of my favorite monster series, and I know a few people who weren't really familiar with anime/manga who wanted to read more by the end. Win/win/win!

* The round table discussion on using fantasy to address mental illness was probably my absolute favorite, though. It was really interesting hearing other people's experiences with depression and anxiety and other mental illnesses, how they dealt with that in their own writing and the fantasy novels that they felt handled it really well. It also gave me a new appreciation for Harry Potter. One of these days, maybe, I'll give it another go.

* Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan should be given their own stand up show. Their presentation on how they co-authored Team Human (whose release I am dying for) had me in endless stitches.

* There was also an awesome round table about e-readers and digital books. I really enjoyed hearing from people who are extremely attached to their paper books, and Katie Hoffman made some really neat points about the amazing things e-books are capable of (but haven't achieved yet).


It's hard to believe such a long list is just the highlight reel! As tradition, I have a notebook where I've madly scribbled quotes and phrases. The guests of honor - Nnedi Okorafor, Justine Larbalestier, and Laini Taylor - are amazingly funny and clever people. One of my favorite quotes is from Laini's keynote speech:

We only get to be one person; we don't even get to choose that person. By the time we get ahold of ourselves, we are pieces already in play.

She also had a great point about opportunity cost, and how if she chose to be a mermaid, she couldn't be a tap dancer.


A lot of talking, a lot of laughing, and countless amazing women and books. Introvert that I am, I am now completely exhausted and quite happy to spend today hermiting in my apartment… but I can't wait for next year!

Leaving tomorrow for Sirens! I am beyond ridiculously excited. I get to meet some new people (a rare thing for me, and therefore scary/exciting), see some old friends I haven't spoken to in awhile, and spend four glorious days completely dorking about fantasy novels. Is there anything better in life than that?

I have business cards, too. Dorky, adorable business cards that, while I feel a little silly carrying because why on earth would a young derpface like me have business cards, I feel really awesome about. I'm trying very very hard to get over my embarrassment about identifying as a writer, as opposed to someone who writes. (What write right have I to such a title?) A step toward that is slapping that word together with my name on a business card.

Also, emoticons. Because while I am perfectly capable of writing without them, they are an important part of how I naturally communicate and it would be silly to deny that. I am a 24 year old derpface; pretending to be a grown-up in anything but paying bills and rent is just silly and I refuse to do it.


I suppose there went all pretense of having this blog be serious. It was a cute dream while it lasted.


While I suffer through the ridiculously long hours until I depart, I will listen to this song on repeat.

Sometimes it lasts in love, and sometimes it hurts instead

Is it blasphemous to like a cover better than the original? I think Adele is a fabulous artist, but her style is rarely my thing.