“I’m going to Kansas City.”
It’s something I never thought I would say. But here we are. Mark and I are heading to KC for GayRomLit in October – an MM romance conference that’s being held this year in the heart of the country.
We got here through the back door. Late last year, we took a look at Angel’s wonderful LGBT friendly Cons list on the QSF site.
Some of my writing friends cautioned against it. “It’s really hard to get in as an author. And you don’t want to go unless you get to be a named author for the con.”
Plus it’s happening not too long after the Portland Queer Film Fest, which we try to attend every year.
But then several things happened:
- The con was about a week later than the year before, giving us some breathing room
- My husband Mark piped up and said (surprise) that he’d actually like to see Kansas City
I made a deal with him. If I could snag a supporting author spot, we would go.
So a week ago Saturday, I was seated at my desk at 6:59 AM Pacific, credit card info in hand, logged into my GRL account. And as the time clicked over to 7 AM, I pounced.
And refreshed. And refreshed. And refreshed again.
After about the tenth time, I was in, woo hoo! I swear to you I have never filled out a web form so quickly in my life. By 7:02 AM, I was registered for GRL, and I was like “Who da man? I’m da man! Suck it, GRL website sign up form!”
In truth, it probably felt better than it looked in real life.
But we are going to Kansas City.
Then another wonderful thing happened, something unexpected. For months, Angel Martinez had been telling me she wouldn’t be able to go this year – it was just too expensive, and too hard to get am author spot.
But then we got a message from Laura at MLR Press, offering us the use of one of their tables for free. I was floored – and how could I possibly refuse? So it’s not just us going to GRL. It’s Queer Sci Fi too.
And as a side benefit, because I am nothing if not persuasive, Angel Martinez has agreed to come and help me man the table. So we’re going to KC – all three of us. Woo Hoo!
Anyone know if there’s anything good to do there? ;P
When are you getting here? What kind of thing do you want to do? When will you have free time? Will you have a car?
Not sure yet… maybe come early or stay after… we will make plans as we get closer.