MidSouthCon 32 Photo Roundup, Herding Bees, and Sundry Other Diverse Ruminations

They're pretty nice guys, when they're not defending the evil Galactic Empire.

MidSouthCon32 pics!

As promised, I'll shortly post the best of my MidSouthCon photos. There were some great cosplayers in attendance this year, and just wandering the halls watching people was great fun.

Fans of the show Supernatural will recognize the tan raincoat immediately. Yes, that's Castiel! Which shows what power a simple prop can take on, when it becomes associated with a compelling fictional character. It didn't matter that Castiel is male -- when one dons the tan raincoat and the loose tie, one becomes Castiel, to anyone familiar with the show.

Fans of Archer will recognize the ISIS crew, including Pam with her trademark shark puppet! Archer wasn't with them this trip -- maybe next year.

The dauntless members of Expedition Unknown! This photograph is unusual in that the Stay Puft figure was not visible to the naked eye when the photo was taken. Or maybe it was, and what were my eyes doing running around naked anyway?

Not all the attendees were human. I could never get this fellow to talk, but he was rather deft at delivering small packages.

Just say 'Arrrr..."

Steampunk cosplay was popular this year!

Sir Coors of Light, defender of domestic beverages!

And not a single dwarf-tossing joke was made...

The image above is the lineup for next year! I'll get to rub elbows with the likes of Cory Doctorow and Melissa Gay, which means I've got all year to work myself into a mumbling star-struck tizzy.

MidSouthCons are truly a blast. You meet great people. I always come away energized and ready to plunge back into writing with recharged batteries and renewed zeal. Not renewed veal. I still have awful dreams about that particular incident.

More Pics 

I thought I'd close today with a few images of spring for my winter-weary northern readers.

Our pear trees are in full bloom. I took the camera outside and discovered the bees are already hard at work, and I managed to capture a few images of them. If you're still locked in by cold and snow, I hope this brightens your day.

Look closely at the sky, and you'll see bees in flight. No, I wasn't stung; they paid no attention to me at all.

Spring is here, and soon all the grey dark days and snowstorms will just be memories.

Meralda and Mug Update

The new Mug and Meralda book is still underway at a breakneck pace. I'm going to estimate its final word count at around 80 thousand words, which means I will be finishing it up in a couple of weeks. 

First draft, that is. My plan for the next month or two looks like this:

1) Finish All the Turns of Light.

2) Put it aside. Dive back into the new Markhat book I just finished, The Darker Carnival. Get it whipped into shape and submitted to Samhain. 

3) As soon as The Darker Carnival is submitted, pick up All the Turns of Light and get it ready for submission. I'm still not sure where I'll sub the new Mug and Meralda. Samhain doesn't do YA, so I'll be considering this question carefully in the next few weeks. 

4) As soon as Turns and Carnival are out, start on a new book. My goal for 2014 is to write and submit at least three full-blown novels. 

Will the third book be the long-delayed Wistril novel, entitled Wistril Ascendant? Or will it be something new entirely?

No idea yet. I'm sure something will occur to me when the time is right.

One last thing -- Brown River Queen could use a few more reviews. If you've read it and liked it, please consider visiting the book's Amazon page and dropping a few stars for me!