Imminent Anna sightings!

For Seattle-area locals, hey, I’m going to be at Norwescon! Not in a professional writer-type capacity, but I WILL be there, and I’ll be easily found providing assistance to Dara during the music concerts! And just in case anybody wants one, I will also be bringing my few remaining print copies of Faerie Blood. And I’ll have some special CDs as well with ebook copies on ’em, offered at a special price for con attendees! Look for me if you want either of these things, or both!
And NEXT week, of course, I will be happily boinging up to Vancouver to see Le Vent du Nord perform with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra! This time, I am taking the TRAIN. Because I am NOT trusting our car to be driven any farther than the distance necessary to get to and from work. And if the train should encounter any difficulties, you may rest assured that I am FULLY PREPARED to fight my way through any zombie apocalypses that may overwhelm the tracks. Because nothing, I repeat, NOTHING is going to stand between me and seeing a show which is going to look and sound a LOT like this:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-aoShC8EW4&w=420&h=315]
You may also rest assured, O Internets, that I am sternly reminding myself that no, it is NOT socially acceptable for me to shove the VMO’s piccolo player into a closet so I can steal their seat. No matter HOW much I want to see whatever sheet music they’ll be using for the evening! Likewise I will be sternly reminding myself that as this is a symphony venue, it will NOT be really acceptable to jump out of my seat and start dancing or singing the response lines at the top of my lungs, no matter HOW great the urge.
(Though I’m tellin’ ya, Internets, with inspiration like this, this is going to be a hard, hard test of my fangirly willpower!)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YwzFzrqnQY&w=560&h=315]
And at this show I’ll be seeing Susan, who, as I have expressed on previous posts, IS made entirely of awesomeness. And I’ll be staying with Geri, who is ALSO made of awesomeness. And I’ll be seeing fellow GBS fangirls Kate and Angela, with whom I have every hope of carrying out shenanigans the day after the show. Possibly also hijinx, and maybe even mischief!
Any of the rest of you who are also in Vancouver, if you want to meet up, let me know! I’ll be in Vancouver from the afternoon of April 4th through the evening of the 6th. I still have time free on Saturday for possible brunch or lunch!

Norwescon 34: Made of epic and awesome

So here’s a super-quick summary of the various awesome things about Norwescon 34, this past weekend:

  • At least a couple people seem to have taken my Faerie Blood cards off the freebie rack, because two more people have added me on Goodreads. Thank you, Goodreads adders!
  • I did actually sell one of my Faerie Blood CDs, on Sunday afternoon while I was waiting for ! Thank you, nice lady in fairy dress who stopped to talk to me in the lobby, and I hope you enjoy the book.
  • Dara got props from the Seattle Geekly podcast for the awesomeness of her music programming!
  • I discovered that nerdcore is, in fact, pretty cool.
  • My and Dara’s friend took Best in Show for her Na’vi costume at the Masquerade! Go Torrey!
  • (Mira Grant) up for Best Novel Hugo for Feed! BOOYA!
  • I volunteered officially for the first time ever. I got over 15 hours helping Dara by running water to various performers, and by helping man the merch table as well! This netted me several free books and a shirt. Go me!
  • Stood in line for nearly two hours to get books signed by and his wife Shannon. Worth EVERY MINUTE. Also got to get a book signed by the awesome , and said hello to Mary Robinette Kowal as well. Told her I very much looked forward to reading my copy of her book.
  • Bought several awesome shirts, including one of Jayne’s shirts from Serenity and a new Matt Smith Doctor Who shirt!
  • Got a mass market copy of ‘s (Benjamin Tate’s) Well of Sorrows, bought directly from him after a great panel on ebooks. He very kindly signed it for me right then, too! Thanks, Joshua!
  • Had the pleasure of meeting Heather Dale and her husband Ben, and watching them do a joint double set with and and and . Bought a couple more of Heather’s CDs and a shirt, and she very kindly signed a CD for me as well. Her song about Sedna, the Inuit goddess of the sea, was GREAT. She is now clearly part of the ongoing conspiracy to make all my favorite music Canadian. :D
  • My and Dara’s favorite Barcon quote: VODKA OF THE RIGHTEOUS! APPLE TINIS OF THE JUST!

All in all this was a very, very enjoyable convention and I look forward to doing more Actual Volunteering next year! And maybe doing some actual readings or something. ‘Cause, like, I have a book and stuff.

Hello Norwescon!

Taking a moment to put up a post before having dinner, just to say that I’ve left assorted business cards on the freebie table and the flyer rack here at Norwescon. If anybody happens to pick one up and comes by this site to visit, hello and welcome, and I hope your convention is being awesome so far!

If you HAVE come by because of Norwescon and you’re interested in buying my book, arrange to find me before EOD on Sunday and I’ll sell you one of my small number of Faerie Blood CDs. That will get you an ePub AND a PDF of the book, both DRM-free, along with a free short story, “The Disenchanting of Princess Cerridwen”. I’m offering Norwescon attendees a special price of $5 per disk!

So say hi if you are at the con and you see this, and tell me how your con is going! Better yet, find me and do it in person. :)

Off to Norwescon this evening, find me there

Not doing anything in any sort of official “writer” capacity–but I’ll be showing up at various panels out of basic interest, and hope to see any of y’all who might be reading this there. :) Look for me in particular at any panels where the redoubtable and are involved!

I’ll also have the last six Faerie Blood CDs with me, so if anybody who’ll be at the con wants one, bug me about that! And I’ll leave a lot of my business cards on the freebie table as well.

Please also do bug me if you want to meet up for a meal or a snack or something. Those of you who I know locally anyway probably already have my cell number for texting purposes. But if you don’t and you want it, shoot me an email with how I can reach you, and we’ll meet up! (Gmail is my preferred email address, annathepiper as always.) I’m busy early Thursday evening, when I’ll be having dinner with . Then I’ll be playing backup guitar for my beloved later that same evening! But other than that my options are fairly open.

See you all there, I hope!

If anyone will be at Norwescon…

… and if you might happen to see me, please feel free to say hi. I won’t be doing anything formal-like related to the convention, I’m just attending like everybody else, but I’m in the mood to maybe see and talk to new faces. I’ll be seeing if I can show up at any e-pub related panels that might happen to be going on; failing that, I’ll probably be hanging out in suitable places to people-watch while I try to poke at words, either on my iPhone or my black MacBook. I’ll be the blonde chick in the dark blue-and-green velvet cap with a leaf pin on it. Chances that I’ll be wearing a Doctor Who shirt with David Tennant on it are extremely high!

So yeah. Hope to see some of you at the convention this weekend!

Signal boosting for ART!

Hey folks, the lovely and fantabulous userinfomamishka has been asked to be the director of art programming for the next Norwescon! And she’s looking for swaths of feedback about what artists she should consider inviting to the convention as well as ideas for panel topics.

So if you’ve got particular SF/F artists you like for whatever reason, or if you’re itching to see a panel on a particular art-related topic, go visit Meems here and tell her all about it!