Hey, munchkins! So go look, go look! It's here, it's really here! Oh, there's plenty of tweaking to be done, but thanks to the good offices of my fabulous staff, there's the beginnings of a magazine!
Oh...I'm nervous. Really really nervous. I hope people like it...
I am still bewildered by people's reactions to Aqua Erotica, btw. The Amazon reviews have been almost evenly split between 5's and 1's (4 5-star reviews, 1 2-star review, 3 1-star reviews). Weird. I guess this is one of those books you either love or hate...not sure I understand why. The best guess I can make based on the reviews is that people were expecting something much lighter, considering it was a 'bathtub' book -- that seems to conjure up images of light, frothy stuff. And I guess if you buy the book through Amazon, you don't get a chance to read the intro that warns you that a lot of the stories in the book are on the serious side. So I'll warn you guys right now -- a lot of the stories are serious, not fluffy. But I do think they're good...
Sorry -- trying not to take the reviews to heart. But it's sad hearing my baby called a 'dud'.
Anyway, had a nice day at the con yesterday. Stopped in on a panel on teaching sf writing, which was interesting, then had lunch with Suzy Charnas; yummy food at Heaven on Seven (Cajun/Creole/Chicago). Good talking to her again -- she was one of my Clarion teachers. Then more panels -- I went to one on different art markets 'cause I'm trying to educate myself, and met Margaret Organ-Kean, who I know slightly from a mailing list. Nice to meet her in person. After that I went to one on focal-point fanzines, again, to educate myself. There's a whole world of Fandom that I know very little about. Interesting.
After that was Todd and Debby! Met them at registration; so nice to see them again. We eventually decided on Papagus -- I think it's pretty tasty Greek food, even if Tasos (old roommate) sniffed at it as not authentic. Garlicky potatoes, taramosalata, spicy feta, spanakopita, and a little shared rice pudding with sultanas for dessert. Yum yum.
After dinner was starting to get tired -- stopped in at a few parties, then called Kevin to come get me. When we got back to Hyde Park, we watched a little tv while I was checking mail and tweaking site, then I crashed hard. Sleepy me! We talked a little this morning; after today I'll be staying at the con with Jed (who arrives this evening). Will be nice to see Jed, and it'll be better to be up at the con rather than down in Hyde Park...but will miss Kev. Ah well -- he's in full math mode these days, which makes it a little difficult to talk to him anyway -- very abstracted. We may coax him out to have dinner with us on the weekend.
Well, I should shower and dress and head up there. Fingers crossed -- I hope you all like Strange Horizons. :-)