My husband Mark is an angel.
I came into 2025 at a low point. I’d been searching for a job for fourteen months, and although I’d had a number of great interviews, the answer was a “no” every single time.
Things worsened over the next few months, and two jobs I thought I had a great shot at faded away without even an interview.
And then a few potentially really good things happened. I can’t share two of them yet – don’t want to scare them away. But suddenly my writer path has grown brighter after ten years in the business.
The third one was the Sacramento Book Festival, which fell into my lap in the winter. I ended up running it along with a great team Of dedicated friends and authors, and it succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. It reminded me that I am still capable of doing amazing things, a needed ego boost.
I had booked a table at WorldCon 2025 in Seattle back in the Spring, but was on the verge of cancelling it. Then things started happening.
So I sat down with Mark and talked things out. He has been amazing in support of my quest to be an author, but I know I have pushed it with all the events we’ve attended – BayCon, Sac Pride, Davis Pride, Placer Pride, Castro Valley Pride, Sac Anime Summer, Sac Anime Winter, Sac Anime Roseville, and Sac Comicon. It’s a lot – even typing all of those tires me out.
But given that this WorldCon is drivable this year (a long drive, but still doable), and that it’s basically right now, I thought that maybe I should reconsider the cancellation.
It’s a challenge, to be sure, both financially – the con itself is not cheap, and there’s transportation and swag and books and hotel costs and meals – and logistically. It’s a bit overwhelming.
But after a long discussion, Mark and I agreed that I should go. If I’m going to try to break out, to reach a larger audience before I die, this is the time.
See? I told you he was an angel.
I’m going to WorldCon!
I wish I could say I was bringing him with me. But aside from some of my work, Star Trek, and a little Star Wars, Mark is not a big SFF fan. He would be bored to tears alone at a five day convention while I was flitting about. So I’m hitching a ride with my friend Steven Radecki at Water Dragon Publishing (my Dragon Eater publisher) and we’ll share a room there.
I am beyond excited about the possibilities. Now I have to do the hard work of figuring out what to sell, who to try to contact and how to make the most of this opportunity. It will also be a dry run for WorldCon 2026 in Los Angeles.
So stay tuned for more news (good, I hope) and if you’re going to be at WC25 in Seattle, let me know so we can meet up!