Feeling a little overwhelmed. Last week, I was finally feeling whelmed for the first time in a while, with my grades in and the semester over. But we’re heading into a busy period.
Last year, Benjamin Rosenbaum and I scheduled the next SLF week-long writing workshop for May 29 – June 3, figuring it’d be nicely after the semester finished, and would be a good lead-in to the Nebulas, which are happening in Chicago this year. We figured we could teach the workshop, and encourage interested attendees to come with us to the Nebulas, so we can introduce them around to folks. (Ben and I have actual things we’re doing at the Nebulas, but I’m a little unclear on whether they’re supposed to be secret things, so you’ll hear more about that later.)
(SIDE NOTE: Oof, the Nebulas are expensive this year. $300 for the ticket and $150 for the banquet on top of that. We really need to work on more scholarships and other funding for the field, so we can make important events like this more economically accessible. The Nebulas are aimed at professional writers, but it’s not like a professional conference for doctors — most pro writers are still working a separate day job, and not making enough from their writing to live on, much less spend a thousand dollars or more (factoring in hotel, food, flights, etc.) to attend a conference.
I’m not sure what the best way would be to address that — maybe setting up some kind of Nebula attendance fund that people could apply to? I’d be hesitant to invite contributions from tech companies in today’s climate, given the potential ethical conflicts — WorldCon had some issues at one point with taking funds from a defense contractor, if I’m remembering right. Something to ponder.)
(SECOND SIDE NOTE: I’ve been reading the nominees, and just finished Daryl Gregory’s When We Were Real, and I strongly recommend it, even if you’re more of a lit fic reader who doesn’t read a lot of SF. It’s very relevant to the present moment, and per usual, Gregory’s prose is lovely.)
Okay, back to my main point. We’d scheduled this workshop, opened to submissions, started accepting people — and then the What’s Blooming on Harrison festival got scheduled (biggest annual festival in the Arts District, where my store is located), and it’s this same weekend. Oops!
So this Saturday, I’ve got my studio to staff, a booth at the festival, and I was trying to figure out how to do both of those AND the workshop and panicking more than a little, but Ben told me to calm down.
He’s going to take the morning on Saturday, Connor Nevitt will handle ordering Chicago pizza and salad for the workshop’s lunch, Alec Nevala-Lee is going to be our fabulous guest speaker on Saturday afternoon, so they’ll be well taken care of during the day.
I’m inviting the attendees to come out to the festival in the evening, with a wine-and-cheese at my studio to kick that off, so if they decide to do that, they’l get a nice taste of Chicago summer street festival culture. One of the music stages is right next to my shop, and the bands are supposed to be great, and the food and drink vendors are right there too, so that should all be fun for the workshop folks. It’s all good.
But I’m still feeling a little frantic prepping for both! I’ve got Jennifer Bolino and Izzy scheduled to staff my booth Saturday, and I’ve been working hard on making lots of stock, so there should be plenty of stuff to sell at both store and booth, and I’m going to schedule cleaners to come to the house tomorrow, and I’ve scheduled a local teen to come detail my car, and two other local teens to come do some last minute clean-up in the garden, and yes, I’m throwing money at the problem, and grateful to have the option of doing that, because otherwise, I think I might completely lose it. (The credit card bill is a problem for future Mary Anne…)
Anyway. That’s where I am. Fun times!
It will be, once all the prep is done. But I may collapse a little at the end of it all!
(Pic from previous festival!)
