Keynote, Shmeenote.

So I volunteered, in my usual overly pushy way, to fill in any gaps that happened at the Author Author festival.

Well, as I may have mentioned, Jennifer Baumgardner & Amy Richards, who were basically headliners, had to cancel their trip to greater LA. So the organizers said "Um, since you kind of do some of the same sorts of things (at least theory-wise) maybe you could fill in for them?"

So tomorrow, at 11, I'll be giving a speech on Women, Third Wave Feminism, and the Internet. The speech ranges from discussing Larry Flynt to Virginia Woolf. So. I'll put up a link after it's posted to Women Writers in a week or so. This is my second invited speech, you know. Next thing you know, I'll be a regular speechi-fyer.

I kind of rock, you know. :)

Independent Lil Old Me

This weekend, I'll be attending the first annual Shreveport Author Author book festival. They were excited to get someone who does web publishing-- most of what they have are the "old fashioned" sort of bookish type. :) I'll be on the main floor, though, with a killer slide presentation of my Women Writers website (since they don't have Internet access, this is the best way to show it off). My URL will also be on the little book bags they hand out to people, which is cool. I'm also planning to print up a small, bound version of a selection of poetry, fiction, and scholarship the website has had over the years.

Why, you ask, is this cool? Well, Jewell Parker Rhodes, who wrote the bestseller Voodoo Dreams will be there. Also, some third wave feminist authors are supposed to be there, and we're supposed to meet for coffee beforehand, but I just heard that they are cancelling. (Which is a bummer, but not the end of the world).

And the whole point of this is twofold. To get to know people who are into literary stuff here in Shreveport, and to possibly get myself and my work noticed by people who can help me with my goal of trying to get Women Writers published as an anthology/collection of works in a real, bound book. I know the web is cool and all, but it would be neat. A lot of the academic types would find that more impressive, and it could be good for my career. (I'm not saying WILL be good because it's weird the way these things work.)

So anyway. I don't think there are any readers of my blog in the area, but if you are coming to town this weekend, come see me! I'm trying to get a babysitter so we can attend the ball on Saturday, but my fairy godmother babysitters are all busy so far.

Excitement in the Swampland

Around here, usually our excitement comes in at watching the babies swim in the pool.

But yesterday, I went off with a friend to see the Sex and the City movie (which I liked) and also hung out at our local bookstore. At the bookstore, I found out there's a book festival/author festival coming soon to my little old hometown. Yay! So I'm in the process of trying to get my website, Women Writers, involved in some way in that. Self-promotion and fun, yes, but also a chance to meet some of my little old hometown area's writers & maybe even "mover and shaker" types. Try to get my website proposal to book format done before hand. I've already contacted a couple of folks who are coming to the festival for interview/meetup sorts of things.

Also, I found out that one of my favorite book series, the Charlaine Harris Southern Vampire series, is coming out as a series on HBO called True Blood. It looks kind of awesome from what I saw online. Some weird Southern accents, but that's normal. People hire a dialect coach if they're doing some accents but everyone and their sister thinks all they have to do is drawl a little and they're authentic Southern. :) Anyway. There's a couple of spots on YouTube-- I'll post the one I like most. Charlaine Harris actually lives around these parts, and the series is set in my hometown, and some details are very realistic. I like the looks of it and am looking forward to the premiere. I apparently missed the pilot, though. I hope it runs again soon.


So that's excitement for us. The fort is 90% done, the trip to FL is still on, friends and family to see, and today, I have laundry to do. And a cool TV series to look forward to. Sigh of happy.