Fun times
…so where was I? No really, where was I?
Conferences are busy times, with panels and meetings during the day and dinners and serious drinking and schmoozing at night. And page proofs are demanding things, 550 pages requiring very tight attention to every word, on the lookout for mistakes introduced by the typesetter (yes, there are) and goof overlooked by author, editor, and copy editor (yes, there are plenty of those as well.) This is the last chance to catch them, and I find it takes me at least an hour to do 40 pages, and that’s when my brain in sharp—it takes me a lot longer at the end of a day. So, say fifteen hours minimum for a job added on top of BoucherCon. And add to that a trip to Valdez, speaking to eight groups, plus three group meals, and you find Laurie King sitting on a short chair in the elementary school library in between speaking to kids, correcting page proofs. In a drop-dead gorgeous part of the world with spectacular waterfalls and mountains, with people offering to take me up in a small plane or hiking through the country or just being here.
Bad planning. Next time I have page proofs due, I’m not telling anyone where I am.
This morning I’m back at the Anchorage Hilton, working on proofs until I get on the plane, where I will work on proofs. With a stop along the way in Seattle, where I will…you get the idea.
I tell you, this writer’s life, it’s just a nonstop, madcap carnival of fun.
