• Created a website for a new novelist: CateCampbell.net.
• Made a new website for my good friend and talented photographer/filmmaker, Patrick Roberts…which isn’t quite done yet.
• And, ta dah, overhauled my own site, EugieFoster.com

Was getting pretty tired of having to keep patching up the hacks I made to my last theme, and WordPress has implemented some nice functionality in the recent upgrade series that I hadn’t been able to take advantage of, like drag-n-drop custom menus (!), so it was time. Streamlined the backend of my site’s organization as well to make it faster to update.

Shiny?

Okay, enough with the excuses. Back to the stare down with my current story deadline…

• “Sex and Romance in SF” -The existence of sex/romance in SF in an overt fashion is relatively new. If there’s too much is it still sf? Too little? Fri 10PM, Greenbriar (Hyatt).
• “Race in SF and Fantasy” – An examination of the way ethnicity is used in science fiction and fantasy literature. Sun 4PM, Fairlie (Hyatt).
• “Short and Not So Sweet Stories” – Help for short story writers from the pros. Sun 7PM, Embassy D-F (Hyatt).
• “Future of Speculative Fiction” – Pros discuss the future of fantasy, SF, paranormal, urban fantasy, and other genres. Mon 4PM, Embassy D-F (Hyatt).

Looking forward to seeing folks there!

Herein my panel schedule (download the complete schedule booklet.) :

• “Fairy Tales, Myth and Psychology” – What is the deep attraction of fairy tales and what do they mean to us? (Subtitle: Grimm, Cambell and Jung Walk into a Bar…) With Andrew Greenberg (m), Honora Foah, Dea Mozingo, Ted Friedman, and Bill Bridges. Sat. (6/16) 10:30AM.
• “Fae in All Their Guises” – The fae is just one term for these beings. What names, forms and meaning do they take around the world? With Honora Foah, IK the Troll, Eugie Continue reading → ]]> I’ll be a guest at Faerie Escape: Atlanta this weekend (June 15-17) for a “celebration of all things fae.” It’s a fun little convention with impressively eclectic programming, including panels on fairy tales, workshops on everything from costuming to building faerie houses, parties, and gaming.

  Herein my panel schedule (download the complete schedule booklet.) :

  • “Fairy Tales, Myth and Psychology” – What is the deep attraction of fairy tales and what do they mean to us? (Subtitle: Grimm, Cambell and Jung Walk into a Bar…) With Andrew Greenberg (m), Honora Foah, Dea Mozingo, Ted Friedman, and Bill Bridges. Sat. (6/16) 10:30AM.
  • “Fae in All Their Guises” – The fae is just one term for these beings. What names, forms and meaning do they take around the world? With Honora Foah, IK the Troll, Eugie Foster, Dea Mozingo, and Bill Bridges. Sat. (6/16) 1:30PM.

  Hope to see folks there!

  ]]> http://www.eugiefoster.com/faerie-escape-2012-schedule.htm/feed 1 http://www.eugiefoster.com/the-glamorous-writing-life-drugs-unhealth-and-not-drugs.htm http://www.eugiefoster.com/the-glamorous-writing-life-drugs-unhealth-and-not-drugs.htm#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 13:19:51 +0000 Eugie Foster http://www.eugiefoster.com/?p=5210 There’s something I’ve beep shying away from posting publicly about. I dunno, but I kinda feel like if I mention it in public, it gives it more credence or tangibility or something, plus I’m hyperaware that I might be overreacting or experiencing a hypochondriac medical-intern effect. But then, what’s a blog for if not for over-sharing every now and again?

  Basically, I’ve felt for a while now that I’ve been losing my words. Beyond a motivation or story flow issue, I feel like I’m perpetually groping to communicate anything. Frustrating beyond belief, yes. And also utterly terrifying.
  
  Now, my human suit is less than hale and robust. I have an autoimmune disease (MCTD/lupus), a painful extra rib in my neck (thoracic outlet syndrome), and a slew of minor annoying and inconvenient health issues (allergies, insomnia, heart arrhythmia, Continue reading → ]]> There’s something I’ve beep shying away from posting publicly about. I dunno, but I kinda feel like if I mention it in public, it gives it more credence or tangibility or something, plus I’m hyperaware that I might be overreacting or experiencing a hypochondriac medical-intern effect. But then, what’s a blog for if not for over-sharing every now and again?

  Basically, I’ve felt for a while now that I’ve been losing my words. Beyond a motivation or story flow issue, I feel like I’m perpetually groping to communicate anything. Frustrating beyond belief, yes. And also utterly terrifying.
  
  Now, my human suit is less than hale and robust. I have an autoimmune disease (MCTD/lupus), a painful extra rib in my neck (thoracic outlet syndrome), and a slew of minor annoying and inconvenient health issues (allergies, insomnia, heart arrhythmia, and occasional bouts of asthma). And this year, I had the worst MCTD/lupus flare-up I’ve had in over a decade, one that I’ve still not fully recovered from.

  So I’m batting away my knee-jerk “Early onset Alzheimer’s!” panic on principle. And yes, medical intern hypochondria concerns stem from here, as in my master’s degree in Developmental Psychology. But the panic-terror-dread remains, a niggling concern I don’t want to look at too closely. And even without the Big A, I can’t escape the fact that I’m just not functioning, cognitively, as well as I used to.

  On the don’t-be-a-hypochondriac front, both scientific and control freak methodology advises me to break it down and examine the variables. Is it age? After all, I did turn 40 this year. My general state of unhealth? Sleep deprivation and sickness are certainly viable culprits for perpetual muzzy brainedness. Or the meds I’m on to combat said state of unhealth? I take Imuran to dissuade my immune system from becoming a giant, green rage monster, Adderall to fend away the fatigue due to either the Imuran or my immuno-hulk (or both), and Tramadol, Hydroxyzine, and Albuterol on an as-needed basis.

  So my word shortage could be due to many things. But here’s where the methodology falls apart. I can’t manipulate most of the variables. Love to de-age, but can’t—not even if I had a Tardis. Ditto, can’t trade in my human suit for a better functioning model, much as I’d like to. And can’t quit taking my meds.

  Well, actually, that’s not completely true. Adderall, Tramadol, and hydroxyzine are not life-support priorities on the human suit triage, with the most obvious candidate to remove being the Adderall (as I don’t take the Tramadol or the hydroxyzine on an everyday basis). But I’ve been loathe to take that step. Adderall combats my fatigue, keeps me from sleeping upwards of fourteen hours a day, and so heads off clinical depression. To whit, without motivation or energy, I can’t write or be productive. If I can’t write or be productive, I become depressed. (Can’t believe it took nearly ten years for me and my p-docs to figure that out. Also that antidepressants make me tired. Note the scary-evil vicious cycle?)

  But, of course, without my words, I’m neither writing nor productive and therefore courting depression anyway. Also, the Adderall exacerbates my insomnia. Once I looked past my “Don’t wanna! I neeeeed it!”, I realized this really is a two birds, one stone thing. So I’ve been off the Adderall for a week now.

  • Sleeping better: Check
  • Energy, engagedness, and motivation: Jury’s still out
  • Flowingness of Words: Ditto, awaiting jury
  • Productivity: Well, this is my second proper blog post this week. (If folks hadn’t noticed, my blogging has been pretty Spartan and content-low of late.) But I haven’t made much story progress. Let’s call it another still-out jury.
  • Emotional equilibrium: Surprisingly high.

  ‘Course, even if I see definitive results from this extended Adderall holiday, there’s always the placebo effect issue to contend with. What I really wish I could do is make a couple hundred clones of me and run scientific trials against a control set. Stupid still-in-infancy cloning technology.

  So yeah. Waiting (and seeing) is.

  ]]> http://www.eugiefoster.com/the-glamorous-writing-life-drugs-unhealth-and-not-drugs.htm/feed 21 http://www.eugiefoster.com/the-glamorous-writing-life-girlie-squick-moment-in-the-shower-leads-to-baby-opossum-inspiration.htm http://www.eugiefoster.com/the-glamorous-writing-life-girlie-squick-moment-in-the-shower-leads-to-baby-opossum-inspiration.htm#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 14:44:06 +0000 Eugie Foster http://www.eugiefoster.com/?p=5175 People often ask me where I get my inspiration. Here’s the true tale of today’s inspiration:

  I normally don’t have a problem with creepy-crawlies. I like rats and mice, I’m fine with spiders, and I think bats are adorable. But I can’t deal with things that squish. Earthworms send me gibbering for cover, leeches petrify me, and maggots on a TV show make me blanch and the little hairs on my arms quiver. So when I realized the little smear of tan-orange on the shower door—which I initially thought was soap scum or mildew—had antennae and was oozing its merry way across the glass, I leaped, dripping wet, out of the shower and shrieked for the slumbering husband to save me.
  
  To his credit, Matthew did indeed shamble, bleary-eyed and groggy, into the bathroom with shoe in hand. However, what really squicks me about wormy things Continue reading → ]]> People often ask me where I get my inspiration. Here’s the true tale of today’s inspiration:

  I normally don’t have a problem with creepy-crawlies. I like rats and mice, I’m fine with spiders, and I think bats are adorable. But I can’t deal with things that squish. Earthworms send me gibbering for cover, leeches petrify me, and maggots on a TV show make me blanch and the little hairs on my arms quiver. So when I realized the little smear of tan-orange on the shower door—which I initially thought was soap scum or mildew—had antennae and was oozing its merry way across the glass, I leaped, dripping wet, out of the shower and shrieked for the slumbering husband to save me.
  
  To his credit, Matthew did indeed shamble, bleary-eyed and groggy, into the bathroom with shoe in hand. However, what really squicks me about wormy things is their squish. So I sent him away with another terrified shriek of, “Wrong! No! Not with that!”

  So Matthew shuffled off with the horrifying shoe device and came back with an envelope, which he used to gently dislodged the slug and cart it outside to liberty and peace, away from the hysterical madwoman.

  No longer in the proximity of the horrifying nightmare creature, I felt pretty silly. And also, in retrospect, I realized it was kinda cute—about the length of my fingertip, with little antennae nubbins and sporting a delicate pattern on its body. Made me curious what it was as well as how it had gotten into our shower.

  “Must Google,” I thought.

  But searching on “slug”+”Georgia” retrieves images of guns and bullets. (Erm, not touching that.) So I tried “little brown slug”+”indigenous to Georgia.”

  Mistake.

  I did indeed find images of little brown slugs. In Georgia. I also triggered a primal urge to stand on my desk with my skirts gathered around my knees (I’m wearing slacks, btw) and shriek.

  So to cleanse my visual and emotional palette, I Googled something cute. Ergo, this baby opossum from babyanimalz.com:

  

  Word on the street is that people think opossums are scary. I think they’re adorable. And now I want to write a story about opossums. Possibly vanquishing evil slug monsters.

  ]]> http://www.eugiefoster.com/the-glamorous-writing-life-girlie-squick-moment-in-the-shower-leads-to-baby-opossum-inspiration.htm/feed 2 http://www.eugiefoster.com/outlantacon-2012-yoga-and-balancing-the-writing-life.htm http://www.eugiefoster.com/outlantacon-2012-yoga-and-balancing-the-writing-life.htm#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 18:02:15 +0000 Eugie Foster http://www.eugiefoster.com/?p=5164 Had a great weekend at OutlantaCon. Got to be on panels with fabu folks like Kayelle Allen, Kiernan Kelly, Dennis Upkins, Kage Alan, Paul Bright, and Shae Connor—some of whom I’ve known for years and some I met for the first time. I’m bummed I wasn’t able to catch up with Lee Martindale, though. Somehow, the stars never aligned.

  Did have something of a hectic, panicky morning on Saturday, though. Lying in bed at 9:20AM, idly scrolling through the OutlantaCon schedule app on my phone, I realized I’d somehow missed being added to a panel: “Social Networking.” That day. At 10AM.

  I woke Matthew with a yelp and chaotic scrambling ensued. I did make it to my panel on time—with five minutes to spare, even—but, of course, had absolutely nothing prepared.

  Then again, I actually did some prep for my “Job By Day, Writer Continue reading → ]]> Had a great weekend at OutlantaCon. Got to be on panels with fabu folks like Kayelle Allen, Kiernan Kelly, Dennis Upkins, Kage Alan, Paul Bright, and Shae Connor—some of whom I’ve known for years and some I met for the first time. I’m bummed I wasn’t able to catch up with Lee Martindale, though. Somehow, the stars never aligned.

  Did have something of a hectic, panicky morning on Saturday, though. Lying in bed at 9:20AM, idly scrolling through the OutlantaCon schedule app on my phone, I realized I’d somehow missed being added to a panel: “Social Networking.” That day. At 10AM.

  I woke Matthew with a yelp and chaotic scrambling ensued. I did make it to my panel on time—with five minutes to spare, even—but, of course, had absolutely nothing prepared.

  Then again, I actually did some prep for my “Job By Day, Writer By Night” panel on Sunday but promptly forgot to bring up one of my talking points, which is ironic as it was on the importance of making time to do the little things like eat and sleep and exercise while juggling the myriad hamsters of writing and the day job so as to be able to maintain focus and productivity. So, yeah, unfocused. But my fellow panelists, Shae and Dennis, had it covered.

  Sorta been feeling blah for weeks now. All year, really. Between having the worst lupus flare-up I’ve had in ten years and the rigors of the legislative session, I’ve been utterly wiped, which has not done great things for my emotional equilibrium. But the session is well over, I started doing yoga again, and have a search party out hunting for my absconded motivation. Here’s hoping the rest of 2012 is better than its beginning.

  ]]> http://www.eugiefoster.com/outlantacon-2012-yoga-and-balancing-the-writing-life.htm/feed 1 http://www.eugiefoster.com/outlantacon-2012-this-weekend-my-panel-schedule.htm http://www.eugiefoster.com/outlantacon-2012-this-weekend-my-panel-schedule.htm#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 16:08:47 +0000 Eugie Foster http://www.eugiefoster.com/?p=5157 OutlantaCon 2012 is this weekend at the Holiday Inn Select-Perimeter, as in it starts today! OutlantaCon is always a fabulous time, full of great panels that are both entertaining and enlightening, and sometimes even bawdy. Hope to see folks there!

  I’m slated to be on these panels:

  • “Teen Fiction” – A discussion about the major players in the field; attendees are encouraged to bring up their favorite teen series as well. With Kiernan Kelly and Dennis Upkins. Sat. (5/5) 6PM, Board Room.
  • “Job By Day, Writer By Night” – How do our author and filmmaker guests juggle creating fantasy worlds and gay romances at night with computer support, database design, and other mundane careers during the day? There’s got to be some funny stories there. With Shae Connor, Paul Bright, and Dennis Upkins. Sun. (5/6) Noon, Board Room.
  ]]> OutlantaCon 2012 is this weekend at the Holiday Inn Select-Perimeter, as in it starts today! OutlantaCon is always a fabulous time, full of great panels that are both entertaining and enlightening, and sometimes even bawdy. Hope to see folks there!

  I’m slated to be on these panels:

  • “Teen Fiction” – A discussion about the major players in the field; attendees are encouraged to bring up their favorite teen series as well. With Kiernan Kelly and Dennis Upkins. Sat. (5/5) 6PM, Board Room.
  • “Job By Day, Writer By Night” – How do our author and filmmaker guests juggle creating fantasy worlds and gay romances at night with computer support, database design, and other mundane careers during the day? There’s got to be some funny stories there. With Shae Connor, Paul Bright, and Dennis Upkins. Sun. (5/6) Noon, Board Room.
  ]]> http://www.eugiefoster.com/outlantacon-2012-this-weekend-my-panel-schedule.htm/feed 0