Scarlet Letters

Oh, Midsouthcon. I love you even though you gave me confluenza. I love you even though the most horrific panel of my life happened this weekend. I loved you when we were at the Airport Hotel, and I loved you when we were in the Escher Hotel, and now that we're in a giant beer can I love you even more. (It helps that you buy my books.)   FRIDAY We can never just go to con. There’s always something we forgot, or some last brilliant idea. In this case it was both: I forgot contact lens solution and I realized I needed a shiny laminated sign for the Blackfire package deal. So we left the Tylers, thanking them mightily for hosting us when Extended Stay America left us sad by the side of the road . On to Walgreens and Kinkos, and only twice was asked by a random stranger if I had accepted Jesus in my heart. Really, Memphis? I’ve missed you, but I thought my years in the choir got me off the hook. On to the con, where the Spawn helped me unload and set up the booth. This goes muc...

Oh, Extended Stay. We had a good run, you and me. You were all seductive, with your kitchenettes that made it possible for me to eschew budget-killing restaurants and your awesome $35-a-night prices. I've done half my tours from your hotels, rather uncomfortable but still with the cheap. So as has been my practice, I booked a night in the local extended stay place for the night before the show, saving myself $60 by not adding a night to my stay at the Hilton. QED. Except on my way to Memphis today, I called the hotel to tell them we were running late and they told me they had no reservation for me. Whahuh? No reservation? But you've already taken my money! I saw it deducted from my account this morning! No, that reservation was for two days ago, and you were a no-show, they told me. That may be what their computer says, but I know what day I clicked. Too bad, they're full up tonight, they said. So I found myself twenty minutes from the author kaffeeklatsch and with no...

What, you don't get enough of my yammering here? Too bad! • I'm the first guest in a two-parter for DragonTalk Radio , talking to the inestimable Jon Klement about zombies, The Cold Ones, the con lifestyle, zombies, Literary Underworld, Blackfire and zombies. Jon is, as always, a very genial host and a lot of fun to chat with. Even if I end sentences in prepositions and he forgets the name of the author cooperative in which he is a MEMBER. (No, Jon, ain't lettin' it go till I see you and smack you.) • I was the guest commenter with the Back Seat Producers a few weeks ago, when they spent the hour discussing Jaws. I think I did a good job defending Bruce the Shark and Mr. Spielberg himself. As per usual, the conversation... uh, wandered. (The shark as a metaphor for male impotence?) This might have been helped along by the excellent rum served by Tony Mast, who is zookeeper of the BSP. Seriously, I had a lot of fun and would gladly return the next time they'r...

Hello denizens! I've got so much stuff going on I need to make a list to keep track of it. So how could I possibly expect YOU could keep up with it? Thus, this helpful post. • First, I'm going to be on Jon Klement's DragonTalk Radio show tomorrow night! (That's Thursday.) You can listen to the show live as we record it, or check it out later for the recording. We'll talk zombies, the con life and how much I'm going to kill him for forgetting the name of the Literary Underworld during his interview last week with Jimmy Gillentine. • We'll also have a reader chat on March 16 beginning at 7 p.m. CST in the Wilderness Chat Room . It's been a while since we did this, so as usual there will be ridiculous trivia questions, door prizes and nonsense for those brave enough to show up. Be there! We'll be chatting until 9 p.m. or until I'm the only one left in the room, so come join us! • The Infinity novella is now available in Kindle, PDF and c...

Coming out at the end of the month: Blackfire, the sequel to my bestselling zombie novella The Cold Ones. And we really want you to preorder this book, so we're offering a whoooole bunch of freebies. • Order Blackfire before March 30, and you'll receive a free emergency zombie kit! • Order both The Cold Ones and Blackfire , and you'll also receive an autographed chapbook of the chilling novella Infinity. And you'll get them for less than cover price – only $15 for all four items. Preorders are only available through The Literary Underworld . Buy today! Don't miss this deal! Sara Harvey just wanted to be left alone, listening to the voices of the sea. Washing the blood from her hands. But duty calls her back, to a new team still learning to fight the things that go chomp in the night. They will give Sara one last mission, one way to quiet the voices. One chance at redemption. It should have been nothing, a minor problem on the dark cobblestone wharf...

Boy's class is studying Greek mythology. They're going to show Clash of the Titans and thus we had to sign a permission slip because it's PG-13. They're showing them the new one. BOY: Mom! ME: What. BOY: Why did you write this on my permission slip? ME: I wrote my name. BOY: You said, "Under protest! Too bad it isn't a good movie!" Smiley face, Elizabeth Donald. ME: That's right. It was a sucky movie. BOY: It was not! ME: It was too! It was even bad mythology! Release the Kraken my ass, the Kraken was Norse mythology! You can't teach good mythology with a bad movie! BOY: It was a bad movie. But we can't watch the original. It had nudism. ME: Oh my goodness! You might see... boobies! Gasp! BOY: *helpless giggling fit* ME: Go to school. And don't tell them I said that. (Yes, I know the original also replaced Ceto from the Greek myths with the goddamn Kraken. I didn't say the old one was a good movie either.)