I'm up early after a very good sleep. Hopefully body clock will let me feel a bit more awake today. I'm sitting here listening to a rat in the roof. We thought it was a possum but it's a rat. That gives you an indication of how big this thing must be. I had hoped it would be gone by the time I got home but no such luck.
On Thursday we arrived in Burlington, MA, after a lovely drive through Connecticut and Massachusetts. Lots of talking and laughing on the way. As soon as we entered the hotel, a sense of excitement descended. There were Readercon people everywhere, and some of them I knew. People called the foyer of the hotel the gauntlet, because it always took ages to get from one end to the other, stopping to chat with friends.
I checked into my room and felt tempted to just stay there. It was airy, there was a big TV, I was tired...but I didn't. Ellen Datlow had organised a reading of her new anthology Naked City in Cambridge, and I'd scored myself a ride there and didn't want to miss out.
Ellen and I sat in the back seat of David Riviera's car, with Matt Kressel riding shotgun and holding onto the GPS. There was a lot of traffic but we made it eventually. Was a good chance for Ellen and I to catch up on things after our trip in Western Australia together.
I saw the fashion outlet that carries the Karen Warren Clothing line but it was closed! I would have liked the circular self-referential vortex caused by trying on Karen Warren clothes.
The reading was fab: Kit Reed,Jeff Ford, Matt Kressel, Ellen Kushner, John Crowley and Caitlin Kiernan all performed their stories well. Jeff Ford's story makes me feel as if I've accidentally eaten a spider.
Afterwards we ate at a mediocre pub across the road, but I got to talk to Kit Reed, a brilliant and inspirational writer. Then back to the hotel, where I was so cold and tired I climbed into bed and watched crime TV. That was a kind of bliss!
I do wish that rat would stop scratching.
On Thursday we arrived in Burlington, MA, after a lovely drive through Connecticut and Massachusetts. Lots of talking and laughing on the way. As soon as we entered the hotel, a sense of excitement descended. There were Readercon people everywhere, and some of them I knew. People called the foyer of the hotel the gauntlet, because it always took ages to get from one end to the other, stopping to chat with friends.
I checked into my room and felt tempted to just stay there. It was airy, there was a big TV, I was tired...but I didn't. Ellen Datlow had organised a reading of her new anthology Naked City in Cambridge, and I'd scored myself a ride there and didn't want to miss out.
Ellen and I sat in the back seat of David Riviera's car, with Matt Kressel riding shotgun and holding onto the GPS. There was a lot of traffic but we made it eventually. Was a good chance for Ellen and I to catch up on things after our trip in Western Australia together.
I saw the fashion outlet that carries the Karen Warren Clothing line but it was closed! I would have liked the circular self-referential vortex caused by trying on Karen Warren clothes.
The reading was fab: Kit Reed,Jeff Ford, Matt Kressel, Ellen Kushner, John Crowley and Caitlin Kiernan all performed their stories well. Jeff Ford's story makes me feel as if I've accidentally eaten a spider.
Afterwards we ate at a mediocre pub across the road, but I got to talk to Kit Reed, a brilliant and inspirational writer. Then back to the hotel, where I was so cold and tired I climbed into bed and watched crime TV. That was a kind of bliss!
I do wish that rat would stop scratching.
I need your help. I'm sorry to disturb you so soon after you get home, but I'm stuck.
We posted our applications for Conflux in three weeks ago (24 June). Since then, I've received nothing from them, and the money has not been credited off my credit card. I emailed the members@conflux email and Karen Fernkes(?) replied and said she look into it. That was two weeks ago. I've tried emailing the Treasurer, but the email bounced. I've emailed the general Conflux account and no reply. Since I'm on a panel, I need to get this organised. I'm worried that they have lost the memberships and we will now have to pay extra. I have a lot on my plate at the moment (Dad is recovering from a knee operation, and it's not going well, plus work, Iain's play, etc), and I'd really like to get this sorted.
I am really sorry to ask you about this, but noone seems to replying to emails and there are no phone numbers I can ring. Do you know any one I can call about this? I need to make contact with someone to sort this out, and I'm hoping you know who.
Regards
Lynne Roberts
I'll email the contact I have, see if I can get through! Then we'll think of the next step.
Karen Herkes is the convener.
Secondly, thank you. Karen got to me today, (she's been in hospital)and yes we are registered. Payment will be settled at Conflux time. I will buy her flowers at Conflux time (no I will not nick them from Floriade).
Sorry again, I'm juggling a lot of balls at the moment, and at least I can put this one down.
(She wrote one of the best last lines to a short story I've ever read. I think the story was "Winter".)