Got in this afternoon — drive took longer than it ought to have, due to traffic in LA. Y’all have seen that Dr. Who where people live out their entire lives in cars, waiting to get somewhere? LA’s always a lot like that. 20 miles from my destination, and a 3 car accident made ten freeway miles take an hour.
I considered napping when I got in, but I decided to register for the convention instead. I was glad I did, because I met Faye Hughes in line, who basically explained how the convention worked to me and also some RWA stuff that I should join :D. (Thank you Faye!) It really set off things nice and friendly :D. And then I met Diana Rowland, and we hung out for a bit, and were joined by Pat Rothfuss (this amuses me because they’re like the only two other people I know-know who’re at this con ;)).
I went to the RT Virgin meeting tonight, mostly so I could get an RT Virgin pin, on the off chance I make some horrible faux pas and then I can blame general cluelessness ;).
Then I took off to go see my good friend Dave, who recently moved to Venice Beach from DC. He’s here to make it as a screenwriter, and if anyone can do it, it’s him. We walked around Venice, ate tatertots and gourmet hot dogs from taco trucks, and went down to the Venice canals. Apparently Venice used to be full of canals, but now there’s only a few left — we walked along the edges of gardens of expensive houses and wound out on a bridge over the canal talking late into the night. It was lovely and special, and I wish I could have taken a picture of them, but it was dark, so this random shot while we were walking on the way back to his place will have to suffice.
Dave is one of the few people I can be completely honest with about writing things who gets it. It’s hard to discuss triumphs or strategies with non-writing friends, because they don’t get the game — and it’s hard to sometimes talk about them with writing friends, depending on how things are going in their careers. For five years, Dave and I have both had the same goal, though we’re going about it in different ways, and we’re both hungry as hell to succeed. It was so good to see him and hang out with him. (Also, I hope he sells 5 screenplays and buys a canal house that I can visit him at later in life. That too. ;))
To bed now, early to rise tomorrow, hopefully to finish my current draft of Moonshifted (alpha reader, i have been remiss), and then back to the con :D