Where to begin, where to begin? Here I am in San Jose again, sitting in front of the Crowne Plaza (the right one, not the one in damn Milipitas!) and just got done doing some more work on the Story that Would Not End For Another 4,000 Words Or So. Also known as "Space Mercs." It's going well. Maybe tomorrow I'll get some time to finish the last scene or two -- I just got to the "horrific" aspects of the story (I'm trying to do a combo of SF and horror, and we'll see if it works without becoming an "Alien" ripoff!). It's been fun. I'm looking forward to finishing it and then getting to work on the SF novel.

The con has been really good for getting me jazzed about SF again. Friday night and last night we went party-hopping, and ran into more cool folks. I was a bit disappointed in Friday's parties -- no beer until we found the SFWA suite, and everything was way crowded. I hung out a lot with Greg and David, and had to keep Greg from leaping into bed with Ted Chiang and Sean Stewart... (sorry, inside joke!).

Last night was the Tor party, which Greg found out the location of, and we got to hang out in the "window seats" in the suite and watch all the goings-on, admiring the hairdo of a certain SF writer and laughing at the way another SF writer or two kept sharing his insights with certain young ladies. Before the party we met up with Derek, Tim, and Heather (it was me, Greg, and David), and we finally got to eat wings and drink beer and talk about how we were going to change the face of Spec Fic in the next decade. We shared our admiration for "Strange Horizons" -- not the least of which was for publishing stories by me, Greg, Tim, and Derek! -- and said how SH was going to be seen in 20 years in the same light as Orbit and other groundbreaking magazines in the field. And we were all part of it! And I know that Heather and David will have stories there in the next year, I can just see it.

Lots of fun here in San Jose, even if I didn't get a chance to meet up with all the editor-types I'd wanted to -- I'm bad at schmoozing (makes me feel like a fanboy, and makes me break out in geek zits!). I'll try and meet up with them today. I did get to meet some of my favorite editors, though: the Strange Horizons editorial staff of Jed, Mary Anne and Susan (still haven't met the elusive and enigmatic Chris, though Greg and David are planning to write a story about Chris, the AI fiction editor).

Today I'm going to check out some panels after lunch, check out the Dealers Room, and then hit the Hugos. I'm getting ready to get back home. I had a nice long chat with Lizzie this morning, since I didn't get in touch with her yesterday, and she's been keeping busy and getting everyone up to speed on my current job status. It's always good to talk to my buddy. I miss her, a lot.

And she had good news! Looks like I have my paper route job!!! Yeehaw! I could probably start Tuesday morning if I wanted, but I think I'll hold off 'til Wednesday. I'll need the sleep. But knowing that I've got some work lined up for when I get back takes a lot of weight off my back. So I won't feel bad at all about buying some stuff in the dealers room for Lizzie and maybe for me. Things work out, you know? You just have to let them! Later.

Today's Quote:
Lit by the greenish lights coming from the shoulder lamps of Anda, Grunt, and Red, the five members of Jaret's squadron entered the cave in search of their missing three comrades, not to mention the missing remainders, wherever they were.

They didn't have far to look. Twenty paces inside cave, propped up against a rusted metal hatch, lay the body of the third Bob. Or at least, what was left of him.

Today's Words:
500

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