Slytherin Rules!

"You could be great, you know, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that."

The Sorting Hat

 So, I'm meandering around during one of the breaks at LTUE and I notice the Utah Valley University student association is having a Harry Potter party later that night. As part of the advertising, two young lasses were dispensing free samples of butter beer and offering participants to be sorted by the Sorting Hat.

Me, being the Potter fan that I am, I stifled my squee and sat promptly in the chair awaiting the wisdom of said hat. It was placed upon my waiting head (I just gotta say... that hat is not comfortable) and called out...

"Slytherin!"

The two girls gave me a sympathetic, "Ooooooh!" and sent me on my way. Consoled only by my butter beer.

Slytherin? Really? I mean, everyone knows I should be a Gryffindor. Nearly Headless Nick is my homeboy!

Feeling completely dejected, I met up with Jo Ann from my writing group and unloaded my lament. She gave me an appropriate laugh and said, "Well, yeah. I mean, look what you do to your characters."

Hmmm. Lemme see. So far in Blood of Mars:
Death Count: 5 (Counting Backstory)
Humiliating Vampire Bites: 2
Complete Isolation from Friends: 4
Humiliating World Domination: 1 (That you know of...)

Holy crap on a crap cracker. I'm a Slytherin.

Granted I'm not the one actually committing murder and dominating worlds. But is Slytherin really so bad? I mean, Dumbledor himself said Salazar Slytherin chose students with cleverness, resourcefulness, determination, and "a certain disregard for the rules." Something Harry himself had in large quantities. Of course, Slytherins have earned their heavy handed reputation.

But there was something else Brandon Sanderson commented in the 'Writers on Writing' panel that made me feel like it was okay to wear the green and silver. Brandon said he's seen lots of writers with excellent ideas for stories, but very few of these potential writers had the determination to actually BE a writer.

So, I guess it's not too bad to be a Slytherin. After all, for a writer, if there is one Slytherin quality to want, determination is it.

All That Swag

The Iron Throne Desk Chair

Any pirate loves his booty, so believe me, when I went to the Angry Robot panel at Worldcon and Lee Harris offered a pile of books up to the combined geek horde, I squealed like a little girl and hustled to the front of the room. I managed to snag one the copies of 'Slights' by Kaaron Warren based on the fact that it's suppose to be super scarey.

Thus started the geek in me looking for all that fan boy stuff.
Damn you, Lee Harris. (Call me!)

In addition to the initial Angry Robot swag, I managed to pick up three more books (one of them the Hugo nominated Feed, put out by Orbit Books), a bumper sticker, a t-shirt, a handout on blood splatter, publisher buttons and buttons from Game of Thrones on HBO. And don't even get me started on all the free munchies in the con suite.

Now, I really went to Worldcon to work. Wanting to be a published author, I needed to network with editors and agents who could help me learn how to get published. I had a stack of business cards and a limited time to meet everyone I could, so I really couldn't spend a lot of time dilly-dallying on the fun stuff. But the people and things I did get to see, really made me geek out.

For instance, when we first walked in to register for the convention, we passed the food court. Sitting at one of the tables, right out in the open, was George R.R. Martin. Currently the most popular Fantasy writer in the market, I've read most of his stuff and find his work and career fascinating. Needless to say I was poking my friend and saying, "Dude! George Martin!"

There were other authors there whose work I enjoy, such as Dan Wells, Larry Correia and Howard Taylor. I even got to see Brandon Sanderson for the first time in the flesh (I was beginning to think he was the great white buffalo).

And lets not forget the man who shaped my sense of humor, Dr. Demento. Who would I be as an adult if I hadn't grow up with the Monster Mash or They're Coming To Take Me Away? Would I even have been nominated for class clown in high school if I hadn't heard Fish Heads or Dead Puppies?

So what I learned was that sometimes, even when you're crazy-busy with work, you have to take a moment and enjoy the things that make you who you are. That little burst of joy often may be the only thing that helps you get through another day.

And as Jimmy Durante sang,
"Don't you know that it's worth
Every treasure on earth
To be young at heart?
For, as rich as you are,
It's much better by far
To be young at heart
And, if you should survive
To a hundred and five,
Look at all you'll derive
Just by being alive!
Now, here is the best part:
You have a head start
If you are amongst the very young...
At heart"

Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash. Wherever you are.