its been a dahlonega time since we've geeked out in publick

Today, Sherri and I took a "day off" to enjoy ourselves at the Dahlonega Literary Festival. It didn't start auspiciously, as we woke up late and it was unusually cold for the end of March (in the low 30s F). The drive, however, was picturesque and pleasant.

We arrived in Dahlonega to discover that there were two events going on... the Literary Festival and the Trail Festival (which included 5k & 10k trail/road races). This confused things for us as we found we could not actually get to the literary festival because the streets to get there were blocked off for the morning races. We made it to the first panel about 20 minutes after the start, but enjoyed the discussions of creating great characters none-the-less.

Zeus was essential for the success of our day at the festival. Sherri's anxiety and problem with crowds make conventions and festivals unpleasant at best and impossible at worst. Zeus did his job admirably, keeping quiet, staying with us, not acting out, and charming everyone. Standard poodles RULE, and our boy is no exception.

One of the activities we were looking forward too was the lunch with the authors... we were displeased to discover that we were not beforehand enough to reserve space to have lunch with Kevin Hearne, Undaunted, however, we did snag seats for lunch at the Bourbon Street Grille with three talented and beautiful authors:

Cherie Priest

Erika Marks

Renea Winchester

Sherri spent most of lunch trading pet stories with Cherie, while I talked Maine, Clemson, and Muses with Erika and Renea. Zeus spent his time between Cherie and Sherri, quietly and happily being spoiled with nibbles of bacon and steak.

The second panel Beneath the Surface: The Scope of Fantasy was a hoot. Delilah S. Dawson, Molly Harper, Kevin Hearne, Kathryn Hinds, Ann Hite, and Cherie Priest kept us laughing and enlightened us for an hour. Afterwards, we fan'd-out, bought books, and got them signed. Zeus spent much of the time being pet by George Weinstein and Ann Hite, but spent some time under the signing table with Delilah S. Dawson (nothing untoward, we swear) while we talked with Molly Harper. We came home with a huge bag of books, purchased from FoxTale Book Shoppe, signed and begging to be read.

What's the haul?

The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell
Dreadnought by Cherie Priest
Fiddlehead by Cherie Priest
the Five Destinies of Carlos Moreno by George Weinstein
Ganymede by Cherie Priest
Ghost on Black Mountain by Ann Hite
Hit by Delilah S. Dawson
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper
The Inexplicables by Cherie Priest
The Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig
Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harperr
Plot Perfect by Paula Munier
Wicked as she Wants by Delilah S. Dawson
Wicked as they Come by Delilah S. Dawson

In other words... it was a wonderful (and expensive) day!

(re)Turning to something New

It's been a long time since I've had a general-personal blog. I've been rather circumspect since I entered into higher academia, but I think I may have gone too far... locking nearly everything away behind privacy settings.

So, I'm starting back up again.

This blog is dedicated to nothing more than what ever captures my fancy at the moment.