We flew into Madison yesterday, and immediately felt at home. When we arrived at the Concourse Hotel, we saw friends in the lobby. Twenty minutes later, I was hugging my brother Ben hello for the first time in nearly a year, and we all went off to dinner at the pan-Asian fast food joint. An hour and a half later, we walked into Karen's house, got hailed by good friends we hadn't seen since last year, and I became totally happy. I love Wiscon! Last night I got to talk about dogs and dog-sitting, Dorothy Sayers and Gaudy Night, Jane Austen, Middlemarch (and the romantic warning-lessons of both Willoughby and Casaubon), and of course the joys (and perils) of Clarion. I felt like a duck finally and ecstatically back in water after a year spent high and dry.

This morning when we woke up at Oh-God-Thirty (jet lag is still not improving!), we headed out for an early breakfast at Espresso Royale (mmmm, my favorite for lattes), then on to Jamba Juice (energy boosts, yes!) and then, most dangerously, to Avol's Books. I was very proud of myself for coming out of the shop with only one book in hand (Cecilia Holland's The Lords of Vaumartin - I've heard so many Cecilia Holland recommendations lately, and this one looks delicious). Then, of course, I had to spend the morning resting...but since Ben had brought along the first 3 issues of Buffy Season 8 (the comic-book season), lying down for a couple of hours was no great martyrdom.

One of the best things about coming to Wiscon every year is how excited I always get about writing, just from the vibe of talking to so many cool, fun, interesting people who all write such wildly different stuff. I'm starting to finally feel ready to start the next round of revisions on Congress of Shadows - and, of course, to get started on Chapter Thirteen of Kat.

And maybe I'll get just one more fruit smoothie to carry me through...