?

Log in

No account? Create an account

A moofable feast.

Be brave enough to burn and you'll be brave enough to fly.

Some random stuff.
polar bear 2
alexandraerin

Okay, so.

My phone is dying. Definitely dying. It’s doing this thing where it will randomly start rebooting itself and then get stuck in a loop, burning up 10 or 15 percentage points of its power each time. It has only done it a whopping total of 3 times, one of them on the way home from WisCon. Jack’s phone (an LG G3) did this a few months back, much more consistently. That was apparently a firmware problem, and they gave him a G4 to replace it. I don’t know if this is a similar issue that can afflict G2s, or something else. This is on top of general flakiness regarding the software keyboard, and other issues.

This is more inconvenient than anything, as I have a protection plan. I was hoping I could just move my phone service onto the household account when my individual contract is up in July; when I’ve had to use file for a replacement in the past, they’ve made me re-up. I’m not sure if that’s still true, particularly as I think AT&T has moved away from the contract model? The point is I’m probably going to have to deal with this, in some fashion, and to put it bluntly: I don’t wanna.

My bluetooth keyboard is already dead. Don’t know what’s up with it, but it won’t pair/communicate with any device. Tried recharging it and everything. Well, I tried recharging it. Replacement is already on its way, should be here today.

The confluence of these things—phone not working, tablet not having a physical keyboard—have slowed my writing down a bit. They’re why my tweeting fell off during the con. Things will get a bit better when the replacement keyboard arrives. I would rather have a phone that functions over a tablet, but I can write better and faster with a physical keyboard than a touch device, regardless of what the device actually is.

My birthday is in just under a week, on June 10th. I’m turning 36, which is an especially pleasing age because it’s a perfect square with a lot of factors. If you would like to do something to help me mark it, suggestions would include:

  1. Throw money into my con travel fund (it’ll go to the WorldCon hotel at this point, as I have airline tickets and will be buying memberships when the money next settles in my account): http://www.gofundme.com/ae2worldcon
  2. Get something off my Amazon wishlist. http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3K5TGO7OL84A8/
  3. Become a monthly sponsor on Patreon (get one free short story and a zine version of my writing output each month). http://www.patreon.com/alexandraerin
  4. Sponsor Tales of MU chapters on Patreon. http://www.patreon.com/talesofmu

 

Originally published at Blue Author Is About To Write.

This entry automatically cross-posted from http://alexandraerin.dreamwidth.org/730292.html. Comment hither or thither. Void where yon.

Tales of MU 10th Birthday Party: Next Year In Madison
polar bear 2
alexandraerin

Okay, so.

Back in June of 2007, I started a serial story on Livejournal to see how that would go and the answer was, it went. Nine years later, it’s still frequently going strong even at times in my life when I am not.

I’ve always resisted the idea of doing “fan events” at cons and such because I didn’t see them as necessary. Like, I’m just a person, right? When I go to WisCon, I’m a registered member like everyone else, including the people who come up and tell me that they love Tales of MU, or who tell me later that they wanted to do so but were to shy… something that happens every year, and so every subsequent year I do more to try to make myself approachable so people don’t feel they can’t come up and squee with me.

This year, I apparently had a banner year for being approachable, because more people than ever came up… to tell me, frequently in so many words, that they still found me too cool to talk to. This is not a problem I ever anticipated growing up.

It was at one point when there was a thread mutual appreciation pinging around the room and I realized that we were all sort of standing there in awe of each other that it hit me that fan events really are necessary. It’s not about self-aggrandizement. It’s not about putting yourself above the people who like and appreciate your work. It’s about what I’ve been trying to do, which is making yourself accessible. An event creates a context in which people know that it’s okay to approach you. It gives them something of a script to follow, if they need one. It makes sure they won’t be the only one doing so.

So next year, at WisCon 41—held, as always, over Memorial Day Weekend in downtown Madison—I am going to be doing two things I have never done at the con. Chronologically second and less ambitiously, I am going to be participating in the Sign-Out, where authors and artists sit at a table in a big hall so that people who haven’t had the chance or the nerve to shake their hand or say a few words or get something signed can come up and do so. First and more boldly, I am going to throw a party: a 10th anniversary party for Tales of MU. (Hat tip to Jack for pointing out the upcoming milestone and suggesting it as a theme.)

Why not? There are a lot of people at WisCon who read or have read Tales of MU. It’s a seminal (tee hee) work in the area of web serials, its success directly inspiring such things as Cat Valente’s initial Fairyland fundraiser and Cecilia Tan’s still-extant Daron’s Guitar Chronicles. I think there’d be sufficient interest among regular congoers to justify a party, as even for people who don’t yet read it, I can’t really deny that my name and presence are becoming a draw for programming events. Then we throw into the mix any MU readers who haven’t yet come to WisCon but might for something like this.

Now, there are limited spaces and slots available for official parties. I’m going to make a pitch for one as soon as they’re open for requests. Apart from my ability to draw people to the party and the con, my party plans are being tailored to the evolving reality of the party/alcohol rules at WisCon. While some grouse that the new rules have destroyed the party atmosphere, I think a lot of people are looking for a different experience, and I’ve gotten really good at inventing drinks using flavor syrups. The MU party is going to have a “mock bar” serving flavored non-alcoholic drinks themed around MU characters and things. My boyfriend Jack will play the role of pretend bartender (or “pretender”, if you will). Our party’s fare will also be friendly for diabetics and people who are watching their carb intake or blood sugar levels for whatever reason.

WisCon parties are the responsibility of the hosts, and we’ve already sorted out most of the logistics re: catering this thing. It’s not pie in the sky. We have plans to make it happen. In the event that we are not awarded a space, though, the party will still happen. It might be a “room party” (a thing that also happens), it might be in borrowed space, we might crowdfund a party space offsite, though that would be less than ideal for accessibility reasons. I want everybody to be prepared for the fact that the actual details and level of officialness are likely to be up in the air until sometime early next year, but also to be aware that this thing is happening. I want to say now, a year out, that this is a thing that is happening, so that you all have a year to figure out how you can get to it.

If you’re a MU fan and WisConite, this is going to be your fan. If you’re a WisCon goer who has mainly known me through WisCon and not my most famous (non-meme) work, this is going to be your chance to get acquainted with my writing. If you’re a MU fan who has never been to WisCon, this post is a good place to start your planning: http://www.alexandraerin.com/2016/06/so-you-want-to-go-to-wiscon/.

See you next year!

Originally published at Blue Author Is About To Write.

This entry automatically cross-posted from http://alexandraerin.dreamwidth.org/730444.html. Comment hither or thither. Void where yon.

Lessons learned at WisCon this year.
polar bear 2
alexandraerin
  1. It is normal for authors to struggle, financially and creatively.
  2. Past successes are built on by subsequent successes, not eroded by slow or fallow periods.
  3. Every career is different. Every path is different.
  4. Taking the path I’ve taken means I have avoided certain entanglements and compromises that might otherwise have seemed necessary.
  5. The ability to recognize other people as a big deal does not mean that I am not also a big deal; big deals are big in different ways.
  6. Drink more water.
  7. People are far more likely to be touched that they are known/remembered/acknowledged than they are to be wounded that you would claim association with them.
  8. The Prayer of St. Francis provides a good structure for navigating complex social spaces as an awkward person with relative privilege. If you want to feel welcome, welcome others. If you want to feel included, be the one who includes others. It is in making space for others that we find the space for ourselves.

Originally published at Blue Author Is About To Write.

This entry automatically cross-posted from http://alexandraerin.dreamwidth.org/730737.html. Comment hither or thither. Void where yon.
https://alexandraerin.livejournal.com/2016/06/04/
alexandraerin.livejournal.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-43
183201
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:5NIV2Y47CAE3IVORCWYAT6XZASEATL2F
<urn:uuid:ffb5d096-720b-4a59-b64a-8aab6ad719d6>
2018-10-22T18:20:23Z
13.88.179.33
application/xhtml+xml
sha1:3NQLB5TWA2RFLD23RDK7RJSSW6VFZRY6
<urn:uuid:e64a1dd8-429a-4bd8-a7c8-c58726c5a134>
https://alexandraerin.livejournal.com/2016/06/04/
response
<urn:uuid:d1879dd8-13f3-4ec1-9942-a2441d698646>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-43
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for October 2018
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-79-243-28.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/