Day: March 2, 2010

Above you’ll see the official election ballot for the SFWA board elections (well, you mostly see the cover letter, the ballot is underneath that), which I have duly filled out and will send back tomorrow. I am not ashamed to say I voted for myself for president. As it happens I am running unopposed this year (as is Mary Robinette Kowal, who is running for Vice President), but most other races are contested. As Mary and I came in as part of a slate, I naturally voted for our slate mates Bob Howe (Secretary) and Amy Sterling Casil (Treasurer). Sean Williams, who is also on our slate, I was unable to vote for, because he’s running for Overseas Representative and I am not overseas (he is also running unopposed, however, so I have a good feeling about his chances).

In the region I do live in, however (SFWA’s South/Central region) I cast my vote for Diana Rowland, who although not officially a member of the Scalzi/Kowal slate is the candidate for that position whom both Mary and I have endorsed; Diana will be a great regional director.

If you are a SFWA member, I do encourage you to vote, and consider voting for our slate (and for Diana, if you live in the South/Central region). Our policy positions have been included with the ballot — that’s the white sheet there — so you’ll know what we stand for. A good turnout would be a good thing.

w00t, five minutes before I have to do something else. So, quickly:

1. If you ordered The God Engines from Jay & Mary’s bookstore a couple of weeks ago, you’ll be glad to know they just got their copies from Subterranean, and I just signed them, so they’ll be on their way presently. In one of those weird coincidences, the store owner opened the box of books pretty much exactly the same moment I happened to walk into the store to see if the books had arrived for me to sign. They had, and I did.

2. If you’re curious as to what previously unscheduled travel I have just done, well, yesterday I got an e-mail from Joe Hill, who is on a book tour, saying “Hey! I’m in Pittsburgh! Is that anywhere close to you?” To which I replied back, “It’s 280 miles and five hours away, so, no.” To which he wrote back. “Oh, well.” And then of course I got into a car and drove 280 miles and five hours so I could sit in his audience without him knowing, and wait to see how long it took for him to figure out I was there. Because messing with people’s heads is my kind of fun.

How did Joe take it? You may read his report of my random appearance here. For my part, it was great to see Joe and to get to hang out with him a bit. He rocks. What also rocks: His new book Horns, which is funny and creepy and weird and great. If you happen to be in the Seattle area, incidentally, he’ll be at the University Bookstore tonight. Swing by and tell him I sent you.

And now, back to the things which are keeping me away from here until later. Later!

I’m returning from a previously unscheduled trip and then catching up on work and then running errands, so the chances of me updating today until much later are pretty slim. So until I get back, please feel free to chat amongst yourselves. As a conversational starter, here’s a question:

What’s the longest distance you’ve traveled to see an author?

Meaning that you traveled specifically to see that author, not that the author happened to be at a convention that you traveled some distance to get to.

Have fun with the question, and catch up with you all a bit later.