World Fantasy was… well, it was WFC. It was an odd one for me, coming on the heels of the tension and stress of Sandy, and while most of my brain is focused on the launch of my mystery self next week…. I woke up Sunday and had my usual thought of “ok, did I network properly this weekend?” and then realized that it didn’t matter. I wasn’t there to drum up work: if any comes my way because of conversations, that’s great, but it wasn’t a goal, or even a concern.
Mostly I hung out with (new and old) friends too many to name-check individually, went to a few readings/panels, had a lot of impromptu state-of-the-industry discussions, and enjoyed matching people up (and Kate had better have that manuscript done by next year, considering she now has TWO agents willing to look at it). I also got writing done. Not enough, but some. And since we were driving up, I had brought along some Very Nice Wines from my cellar to counter the expected paucity of the hotel bar, and that turned into a pleasant evening with like-minded folk.
It was a professional conference, absolutely. But it was a very different one than in the past, and not only because some of the players were storm-absent. I need to think on this a bit, and figure out what it’s telling me.
And then there was the drive home, which quickly turned into a rather stress-filled and Rashamon-like adventure, when one of my traveling companions fell ill and ended up in a Canadian ER for 5 hours, and then was too ill to travel…. Yeah. But everyone made it home, hooray.
So that was that.
One of the interesting results of recent events, though, was the somewhat bemused realization and acceptance of the fact that at some point in the past decade or so I became a self-confident, competent adult. And that I operate on that fact, rather than the old mid-20’s mindset that says I’m faking it and praying nobody notices. Huh.
Also: “I really don’t give a shit” is a fine answer to many things. Especially when you don’t.
And now that adult has to buckle down and deal with the 101 things that she does give a shit about, and are about to crash down on her head. Wheeeee?