As hard as it is to believe, the long, crazy Redshirts tour is finally coming to a close with two more events, one in Lexington and one in Louisville. After this I go home and have to, you know, start living like a normal human again, including writing books and doing SFWA stuff. I don’t know how I will handle the adjustment.

Be that as it may, here’s what all y’all need to know about the last two events.

Lexington, Thursday, June 28, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 7pm. The final bookstore stop, so please come. As usual, I’ll have readings, special guests, Q&A, and the signings of books. It will be fun, and if everyone in Lexington does not show up, I will wallow depressively in complete and abject failure. You don’t want that, do you, Lexington? Of course not. So it’s all on you. Show up every other single town I have been to! You have the power!

Louisville, FandomFest, Friday – Sunday. I’ll be doing panels, Q&As and signings at FandomFest. Here’s my schedule.

Saturday 1 PM Humor in Speculative Fiction (Beckham Room)
Writers’ perspectives on the employment of humor in writing speculative fiction, tips, advice, etc.  Some great co-panelists here such as: Ernest Cline, Jim C. Hines, Laura Resnick, and moderator Lee Martindale.

Saturday 2:30 PM Spotlight John Scalzi  (Jones Room)
Moderated/guided by Michael Cruikshank of Joseph-Beth Booksellers, this session will focus on my work and career, with some questions fielded from the audience.

Sunday 11:30 AM  Exploring Genres Science Fiction  (Beckham Room)
Open panel discussion on science fiction, ranging from space opera to hard science fiction, in terms of where it is now and where it is heading in the near future in the writing/publishing world.  Co-panelists include Timothy Zahn, Debra Dixon, Stephanie Osborn (a writer who had a career working at NASA) and moderator Lee Martindale.

Sunday 1:30 PM Guest of Honor Signing (Expo Area/Joseph-Beth Booth)  
A full hour and a half reserved  to sign/meet and greet fans.  The signing area is by the Joseph-Beth Bookseller exhibit, and they will be stocking all of my titles for the attendees to purchase.

And then I go home. Forever. Or until ComicCon. But never mind that now.

So: Lexington! Louisville! See you soon. Very soon. Like, uh, in 24 to 48 hours soon. Yes, that’s it.

The headline says it all (SEO mavens everywhere must be proud). Here’s the Patrick Phillips Show Web site, which will give you all the details, including how to listen to the show. You can even e-mail in some questions you want him to ask me.

Every time I see that some jackass out there is positing that women aren’t actually funny, I think about Nora Ephron and I laugh at their stupidity. Nora Ephron was funny, and was funny in multiple media, and was funny in a way that most people can’t be. She wrote great, smart and observant essays, novels and films, and as an extra added bonus, directed some of the latter as well. Ephron was marvelous with characters, with words and with how to break audiences’ hearts and mend them again. She could have a bitter edge when she wanted to, mind you (see: Heartburn). But most of her film work, at least, was pitched more warmly than that. She wrote two of the great romantic comedies of the last quarter century — When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle (which she also directed). Anyone who look at either of those and say, yeah, that’s not funny loses any standing to tell anyone else what is funny. The deli orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally is flat out one of the best bits in cinematic comedy history. Guys, think you can write a funnier scene? Prove it.

Goodbye, Nora Ephron. You were funny. You were smart. You will be missed.

I have left my MacBook Air at an airport. AGAIN.

(sighs)

Boy, I tell you, if I did not have a contractual work due, a family and people I love, a moral sense that recoils against self-abnegation and a sense of proportion about the tragedies of this life, I would totally kill myself right now. Because I am that much of an idiot.

Anyway. Lost and found reports filed with both the airport and the airline, the Air remotely locked with my contact information provided, and I’m currently working on the Acer, i.e., the temp laptop I bought the last time I lost my MacBook Air. Now we wait — again — to see if it shows up — again. If it doesn’t, then in a week or so I will file an insurance claim and then somehow try to find the strength to move forward. We’ll see if I make it.