Parafest 2013 Recap
I just got back from Parafest in Bethlehem, PA (where I was helping to (wo)man a Broad Universe table in the vendor hall) and It.Was.Awesome! That might just be the fatigue talking because Parafest as vendor is a long, long event, but I have never been to a fan convention like this one. It's probably not that much different than a comicon, but since I've never been to one of those, I will be using my full array of awe on Parafest.
So...where to start?
Celebrating Bloggers 2013
I’m thrilled to be participating in the celebrating bloggers blog hop today. Since the release of Hereafter, I’ve had the pleasure to not only learn about this thing called book blogging, but to also meet many wonderful bloggers. I have found bloggers to be wonderfully supportive, and I have been overwhelmed by their generosity and kindness.
Now, one way I had planned to repay the kindness was nominating my favorite blogs for awards during the Book Blogger Twitter Con (yes, they now hold conferences via Twitter and it was AWESOME!) that happened last week.
Making Connections Anniversary Blog Hop
The Making Connections group on Goodreads is celebrating it’s one-year anniversary during the entire month of February with a great A-Z blog hop. Today is my day to post, and my letter is “Y.” Be sure to enter the giveaway (leave a comment below for an easy entry)—prizes include a Kindle Paperwhite, Nook Simple Touch, and a Kobo Glo! And if you're a Goodreads member, be sure to check out the group--it's a great place for both autors and readers!
Boskone Art Show Recap
So I attended my first Boskone and I am hard pressed to say whether I enjoyed the mango cheesecake served at the reception the first night or the art show more—and while that might sound like sarcasm, it’s actually not. Both were excellent and both will live in my memory for a long, long time. There were many other highlights to the convention, too, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just that the art show and the mango cheesecake were EXCEPTIONAL!
Due to the bad weather, I didn’t attend the last day of the convention,
One Year Ends...
To know who needs help, you need only just ask” ~Old City Bar, Trans-Siberian Orchestra
I wanted to write a blog post about something today, but I’m not sure what, exactly. I knew I wanted it to be about Sandy Hook and #26Acts, about gift giving and how to support authors (and really, any service professional/artist/entrepreneur/small business owner), about my own “year in review” and my secret hopes and wishes for 2013, about losing and recovering my Christmas spirit this year, about joining Free Cycle and throwing out my childhood stuffed animals and just generally trying to declutter my life, on missing my mother and my grandmother more each year since their deaths, not less. However, I just couldn’t get it all to gel. I wanted to talk about giving, but I also wanted to ask for things. I wanted to talk about kindness and happiness, but I also wanted to talk about loss and sadness. In our hearts, these things can all mix together very naturally—great joy can often exist beside great sorrow; selflessness can be entwined with selfishness. Very often, in our heads, they go together as well—rationales and rationalizations for contrary ways of thinking and being. But on the cold, hard reality of paper (or computer screen, as the case may be), it’s harder to mask selfishness as generosity, sorrow as joy, and thoughts and feelings that make sense in my head all seem pompous, self-serving, disjointed, and crass. So, instead, I’ll simply wish you all a Happy New Year and hope that somewhere among these words and links you’ll find what it is I meant to say.
"When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." ~Khalil Gibran
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