I had a great time at FanX. I went back to the hotel each night sore from being on my feet most of the day and tired. I still, somehow, got my words in each day. That was not an easy thing to do, especially when I was sitting in a chair at a desk not quite the right height and my feet were throbbing beneath me. I’ll have to find something to massage my feet after a long day on them. Must be portable.

The cool thing was the Jacuzzi tub in the hotel room. I’ve only used a tub like that a couple times before, but for me, it was a lifesaver this time. Warm (yes, I do like things toward the hot side) and massaging. It was my reward for getting my words done.

I did like being within walking distance of the hotel, so that was convenient. I do, however, suggest never walking alone in Salt Lake City after dark — scary.

But I know that you all would rather hear about FanX, especially if you weren’t there. Here’s a few pictures of cosplay:

 

I had a great spot. Beside me, I had Guy Kidd and Kimberli Johnson. Across from me was Kyle Shoop. I had a great time with these three. Other writer friends, Jeff Stagg and Jo Ann Schneider were there, but I didn’t have nearly enough time to visit with them.

Kimberli let me pick her brain with some artistic questions I had and I feel as if I managed to break free of a block I’ve had. I don’t want to say anything more than that right now, but if I start to get things done, I will surely discuss here further. I’m hoping that it was just what I needed (not that I wanted to hear it, but advice I needed).

Well, while I got words done, I didn’t get to work on audio while I was traveling. That’s not surprising. I made the choice to get the words down rather than audio edited. I knew I’d only have so much time and I knew I’d be sore.

Now that I’m home, I can get back to my regular schedule. My dogs too. After picking my dogs up from their wonderful boarding place, Hemingway’s Happy Hounds, they were glad to be home but were a couple of pooped puppers! Let me just say that I know my dogs are happy there because Merlin is a very anti-social dog. He hates everyone, especially the mail man, the FedEx and UPS drivers, the garbage man, the neighbors, and anyone who tries to come to the house. I’ve tried to take him to parks and even a couple shows when he was younger — it didn’t work out well. He hates people. He’s not fond of big dogs either. But when I take him to Hemingway’s, he knows the way and he starts to whine with excitement as we get closer. Last year, after he’d been there several times both for occasional doggie daycare visits and for boarding, he pretended to bark at the employees coming to take him back, but he always went willingly. This time when I dropped him off, he practically jumped into the lady’s arms.

Once, in worrying about his behavior around other dogs, I asked if he was okay with them. I was told that Merlin had “lots of friends.”

“Friends?” I asked skeptically.

I was assured that there was one regular dog, I think it was a dachshund, that hung out with Merlin all the time. I’m also told that there’s one toy, a beam that they climb up onto, run across, and slid down that he just circles around and around on. I would certainly love to see this.

When I dropped them off for this visit, Kreeli tried to wander over to visit with the owner in her office. She wasn’t very happy about being hauled (and I do mean hauled — when Kreeli doesn’t want to go somewhere, she can dig in some resistance and it’s like dragging dead weight; it’s easier to just go the direction she wants to go) into the back.

Yeah, they like their doggie daycare.

It’s good to be home now. I’m pretty tired myself, so let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

Fiction words written last week:  4,549 words.

Blogs/Newsletter articles/non-fiction written:  2,167 words.

Daily word goal reached for 30 days. Weekly word goal reached for 7 weeks.

Writing month to date total:  9,256 words

Writing year to date total: 226,496 words

Drawing/painting last week: No painting this week

Audio: I spent 2.5 hours recording and editing audio.