Heigh Ho, Heigh HO!

Okay, other matters have sort of overshadowed this, but Im actually leaving TODAY and I’m SOOOOOOOOOO excited.

I’m going to Yaoi-Con.

Now I know I don’t write and illustrate manga graphic novels featuring young male/male romances–I am aware that I write fiction, and that it’s very different, but my publisher and a lot of other m/m publishers are having book signings in the media room, and, well, I’m going to be signing books tomorrow.

Uhm… SQUUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

It’s gonna be SO weird– the last time I spent a night away from my family, it was for a wedding, and I wasn’t prepared to spend the night, but for those of you who remember Jack & Teague? Teague’s unlamented father dies by driving his car off of Mokolumne Hill–and I was inspired by the very real Mokolumne Hill not to drive home in the dark. So, it was sort of impromptu, and not very fun, and I was REALLY lonely but this is gonna be different.

For one thing, I’ve got a roommate!

I’m so excited– now I’ve blogged with a lot of you for over four years, and I’ve longed to meet you all in person, and I’m waiting for the day when we can sit down for a soda and a chat and a knit. You know that. I think it goes without saying–your e-buddies are your buddies, and you want to see them in real life, and give hugs and hear the trill and timbre of voices and see expressive hands used in place of expressive pens. And now, I REALLY GET TO DO THAT!

Mary and I have been chatting since I ended up on the Dreamspinner author group, and not only do I get to MEET her in person, I also get to meet Chris and Ariel and Elizabeth and Lynn, the ceos of Dreamspinner Press and all sorts of people that I’ve only met on line and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m so excited. I have to sign books tomorrow (first shift–it’s like 11a.m.-2p.m or something like that–I’m pretty sure Mary knows, which is good, because I have comPLETELY forgotten! And she’s spending the day hanging with Ariel, who is sort of in charge of DSP at the con, and we all have the same time slot so I think I’ll be there on time) and other than that? It’s Mary (who is also being cut loose from her family) and me, running around the con like school-girls cutting class. We may actually go out to eat with other adults, and have drinks (I’ve been promised a shot of Ketel One, at the very least) and…

Oh, brother, do I need to go eat, drink, and be merry with grown-ups. I mean… it’s sort of becoming a soul-deep necessity, if you know what I mean. I’m going to miss Mate–he’s my social safety net, usually, because, yanno, if I’m too socially inept or, well, a complete dorkfish, then he’s there, to assure me that he’ll love me even as I chase verbal corndogs through an ocean of chat, but Mary and I have promised that we’ll be each other’s safety net. We even have plans to watch Supernatural in our jammies with a bottle of alcohol and snacks if nobody wants to hang with us tonight–and you know what? That STILL sounds like one hell of a night! (*Note to self, though–must bring a season of SPN in case we do end up in the hotel room for a night. A glass of rotgut, Sam & Dean, & thou, Mary– we’re gold!)

Anyway, so… that’s where we’re going. We’ll both be back in time for Halloween with our family… tired, hungover, and, I hope, very, very happy. *ahh* bliss.

And for those of you still uncertain as to what yaoi-con is, I have this quote from Chicken, who reads the milder yaoi graphic novels. She was flipping through a new book from the library, uncertain whether it was yaoi (m/m) or shojo (m/f romance) and looking for a picture to show her what she was getting into.

“Okay… maybe it’s not yaoi. Maybe it really is a regular romance set in an all boy’s school, where all the boys are incredibly pretty and nobody is gay at all.” *finds page she’s looking for* “NOPE! It’s yaoi!”

(Chicken is going to school today dressed as Paige Foxbtw. She has capri pants, a sweatshirt, and a stuffed iguana hanging from her ponytail. The real genius of this costume is that all of her friends know EXACTLY who she’s supposed to be!)

Oh– and the picture? The picture is from Squish’s soccer banquet, which was wonderful and fun and held at Chuck E. Cheese’s, which is a place we had avoided taking our children for most of their lives. It’s okay–the most tightly wound kid on Squish’s soccer team ripped off Chuck E.’s nose, and then followed him into the bathroom as the poor stuffed rat tried to set himself to rights. I promptly reported this to the boy’s mother, and all of the mothers on the team– and you get pretty tight as soccer moms–laughed our collective arses off. High comedy, good fun.

Squish’s best moment (for me, anyway) was when she came howling to me because “Mom! I dropped a quarter!” Now, my approach to this would have been to say “It’s okay, honey, you have lots more!” But there was another mother there (whom I am learning to adore!) who promptly reached over with another token and said, “It’s okay, honey. We found it.”

“Already?” Squish asked, her big wet pansy eyes big with appreciation.

“Yeah, honey,” said Michelle, winking at me. “Here it is.”

“WOW!” Said Squish, and then she took her ‘quarter’ and ran off into the melee.

*happy* Yeah– it’ll be fun at yaoi-con, but yanno, I do have some seriously fun reasons to come back.