Sirens Hangover

Hello, Reader! I'm currently in pajama pants (laundry is way overdue), eating candy corn (who can resist that sugary wax as it coats your teeth?), and trying to wake up. I've been trying to wake up ever since I returned from Sirens.

Between the constant buzzing of my brain during every moment of the conference, and complete lack of sleep, I'm exhausted. My husband and I have been leapfrogging each other in travel, too, which doesn't help. Everything in my life--inside my head and out--feels cluttered.

I'm still processing everything from the conference. Most importantly, it was awesome. It was awe inspiring. Let me just list a few amazing moments that keep flashing through my mind:

- Ellen Kushner grabbing my purse--which my twin sister made--and telling me how much she loved it. I really liked Ellen. She was so blunt and down-to-earth. I always feel more relaxed with people who speak their mind because they can't be anything but themselves.

- Discovering part way through the shuttle ride to the hotel that not only was Cindy Pon, author of Silver Phoenix, sitting behind me (I recognized her at least) but so was Malinda Lo, author of Ash, and Holly Freaking Black!!! And they were so smart and normal and real. Like you and me. Just riding a bus. Chatting.

Revelation: authors are REAL PEOPLE, you guys. For some reason, this always shocks me. Maybe it's because authors are so important to me. They are the ones who unlock the doors, who write the passports that let us enter new worlds.

Cindy Pon and Malinda Lo were incredibly humble. It was clear I considered them bigger book stars than they did. I finished Cindy's first book Silver Phoenix on the plane ride over and really liked her main character Ai Ling. Lo's book Ash generated a lot of buzz and is another book on my To Read List. Both are YA and as you know I've been trying to seek out more adult Urban Fantasy but it's hard to avoid all the fantastic stories in YA right now.

- Delia Sherman. Just Delia. Everything about her is lovable. She has such a light touch with everything from guiding a panel, to handling people, to the thoughtful way she speaks. You can tell she cares very much about stories and about the people in her life. I'm so very glad she was a part of the conference. Now I have to read all of her books (somehow I haven't read her work before)!

- Terri Windling...Where do I begin? Hearing her key note talk was amazing. I actually had to hide a couple tears and I know another woman who excused herself because it was so emotional. Her talk really resonated with everyone in the room. I don't know if I can write about Terri yet without exalting her as a Priestess of Imagination, and Shepherdess of Stories. But she is so humble and thoughtful, that I don't think she would be comfortable with these roles. She will have to be a post unto herself.

- Hanging out in the hot tub with Juliet on the last day of the conference while the world was still waking up. It was so great to talk about publishing with her and just revel in the hot water. Of course the water set off my super sensitive skin so I ended up looking like a demon but Juliet was nice and didn't mention it.

- Walking by myself every morning of the conference. So many thoughts were running through my head that I couldn't chase them all. It was nice to walk in silence, soaking in the yellow leaves and white birch bark. I couldn't get the song "Silver and Gold" out of my head. Colorado really is starkly beautiful.So much more to say about the conference, but I will stop for now. I'm still struggling to get my regular life back together and of course, I'm anxious to return to my revisions.