Locus Awards, Seattle, WA

It's a month later and part of me still can't believe that I went to the Locus Awards as a finalist co-editor for Best Anthology. I will always refer to THE UNDERWATER BALLROOM SOCIETY, a magical anthology co-edited with Stephanie Burgis, as "the little anthology that could." It was that, and so much more.

I went, hoping the same slim chances that got us on the ballot would see me going home with one of those gorgeous Locus Awards, but no such luck. And it was really fine--to be in such august company on a ballot with a project we began just for the fun of it was indeed miraculous.

I was on a great panel on the Mechanics of Magic with C.L. Polk, Jasmine Silvera, and Tina Conolly, excellently moderated by Mary Robinette Kowal. I have honestly never been on a panel so well-moderated. I still feel Kowal should get some kind of award for her moderation--it is truly stellar. And I am still thinking about Amal El-Mohtar's very insightful question regarding how and why we set failure points in magic and how, in my estimation, the very best explorations of magic come when two (or more) very different systems collide.

The awards ceremony itself was one of the more hilarious I've attended. Connie Willis, due to her love of the show Primeval, was treated to being bundled by a coterie of tyrannosauri and a velociraptor, which I think most likely made her weekend. I was chosen as one of those with the best Hawaiian shirts (and I do think my Stormtrooper shirt had few equals) to be in the trivia contest. Though I didn't win that, either, it was fun playing along.

And then of course there was Seattle itself. It holds a dear place in my heart not just because of all the great memories from publishing my first series with Wizards of the Coast, but also because most of my writing group hails from there. We hadn't all been together since last October, so we made up for lost time as much as we could, eating delicious foods and confabbing at our favorite dive bar, the Cozy Nut.

I am so grateful to have these ladies in my life. They inspire me every day and have been some of the truest, most steadfast companions on this crazy writing road one could have. It was divine to be surrounded by their love and light, and it was over far too quickly.

Even Seattle itself is inspiring to me. I found myself taking pictures of sign everywhere--things like "Welcome to Your Happiness" and "You Are Made of Magic." The crosswalks were rainbows and there was just so much *delight*, which perhaps is simply my naive experience of it, but as one from a place where every other sign is telling you to repent or head to the strip club, I'm a fan of healthier subliminal messages.

I could not resist this little purchase in the Elliot Bay Bookstore. It's my new mantra.