So we went to our first con in nearly four years (the first "real" con, in a way, since WorldCon is so vast it doesn't compare to any other con I've heard of), and it rocked! We got to hang out with interesting people who happen to have written great books, I filled up my arms with used fantasy novels from the Dealers' Room, and (drumroll!) I am now a book reviewer for Interzone! Woohoo! On a very minor level, that is. I may be reviewing one book per bimonthly issue, which is exactly how much commitment I want to make to it. In other words--one free fantasy/SF book every two months! Woooohooooo!

And for once, now that I'm back in Leeds with my loot, I'm actually in the position of having several awesome-looking fantasy novels to read, and not being sure which one to read first...

And I came back to nice news, too. Some Girlfriends Can has gotten an Honorable Mention in the Strange Horizons Readers' Choice Poll for 2004. How cool! And even nicer yet, I came back to lots of emails telling me so. Getting those emails--especially right after a lovely weekend hanging out with other writers at Eastercon--made me realize just how much my life has changed in the past four years. I feel like I've actually found my place in a writing community, and it feels wonderful. I've been very, very lucky. I was a writer all my life--and I knew I wanted to be a "pro" writer ever since I was seven years old--but I never found a community of fellow writers until I went to Clarion, four years ago. Having that sense of community, which has expanded massively over the past few years, through the net and through personal meetings, really does make an incredible difference.

So it's been a good weekend. :)