Odyssey and Readercon

The Odyssey group took a field trip to Burlington, MA yesterday for Readercon. I had a great time listening to panelists including John Clute, China Mieville, and of course Jeanne Cavelos. I heard Ellen_Kushner read from her new novel.I bought some books and zines and Gavin Grant gave me a chocolate bar (yum!). I'm thinking Lady Churchhill's Rosebud Wristlet might be a good place to submit my short short, "The True Story of How I Became Real," which is just surreal enough that I can't decide how to categorize it. I am planning to read it at the Odyssey slam next week.I got to meet some Odyssey alumni, which was lots of fun. I begin to see how important this community will be later on once I'm home again and don't have this great community of writers literally next door to whine to or brainstorm with.China Mieville is amazing. The only book I've read of his was Perdido Street Station, which I loved enough to put on my short list for an award a few years back, but I was apparently in the minority. I want to read his other work, even though I am not sure I could endure a steady diet of things so dark and surreal. I admire his intellect, his take on life and politics, I could go on and on.I finished (with a couple placeholders) a draft of my Jewel story, called at least for the moment You Are What You Eat. I am not nearly as prolific as many writers here, but I am glad that I have written an entire story start to finish in the middle of all the novel planning/rethinking. Today I plan to rewrite it and add a few things and take into account some helpful suggestions by inksphinx. (Thanks!!)Laurie Marks read a revised version of my story, For the Love of Trees, and even with the changes it is still begging to be a novella. Oh well, at least I am starting to figure out how to plot small. The long form is definitely my preferred mode, at least for fantasy. I think I can use some of the material in that story for a shorter piece, I just have to decide what aspects interest me the most. Maybe later it will become a novella or novel, but I've got my hands full enough with one novel to revise and don't need another any time soon!Ok, back to revising my story.