Warning, cute kid quotes ahead

As the girls go to the "climbing tree" next to Molly's preschool:

Kiera (to me): Go where you can't see me.
Me: Nope. Not gonna happen.
Kiera (indignantly): Why not? You never give me privacy!

Kiera has this thing where she greets my body parts as I climb out of the shower. It's the sort of thing that's cute and funny when you're two.

Kiera (to me): Hello, wet na-nas! Hello, wet back!
Me (to Kiera): Hello, dimples!
Kiera: These aren't dimples. They're telephones.

The next day, as she smiles at me:

Me: Hello, dimples!
Kiera: They're still phones.

Molly, to Ed: Can we go to the Street Feast?
Ed: The what?
Molly: The Street Feast! I saw a sign about it outside my preschool. Can we eat there? I bet they have really good food. Like apples. And fresh blueberries. And strawberries.
Ed: Molly, there's something you should know. Feast is spelled F-E-A-S-T. Not F-E-S-T.

WisCon Schedule

I will be at WisCon this year -- the girls also have memberships, but will probably be at Camp Amah & Grandad for most of the weekend. (Ed has a membership and is even on programming, on the panel about supporting your writing spouse.)

My writers' group, the Wyrdsmiths, is throwing a party on Sunday night. There will be good booze and free books -- copies of our chapbook, New Wyrd. We did a chapbook last year, but it was mostly reprints; this year, it's all original fiction. (The others in my critique group are Eleanor Arnason, H. Courreges LeBlanc, William G. Henry, Lyda Morehouse, Doug Hulick, Sean Michael Murphy, Kelly McCullough, and Rosalind Nelson.) My contribution is Masks, a short story set in the same world as Fires of the Faithful and Turning the Storm. Domenico (Eliana's violin teacher at the conservatory) is the protagonist (as a much younger man). If you're a fan of the books and would like to read that story but won't be at the con, we'll also be selling the chapbook after the con. Drop me a comment or an e-mail if you want information on how to buy it, once I have it.

My schedule is below. You can also feel free to flag me down if you want to say hi, even if we haven't properly met in person before. I love meeting people I know from online though there's always an initial shock during which I'm thinking wait, you look nothing like the person in your icon even if the person in your icon is, say, Alan Rickman, and I really ought to have been able to figure out that you weren't actually Snape.

Er, anyway. Here's the schedule:

Culture Shock!
Friday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. in Senate A

Even here on Earth, it's hard for us to understand one another sometimes. So why should everyone on another planet talk and behave identically? Let's talk about SF and Fantasy that builds or depicts the complexities of culture, and considers the challenges of interactions between cultures. SF examples include works such as Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow or Janet Kagan's Hellspark.

Matt Ruff; M:Victoria D. McManus; Naomi Kritzer; Chip Hitchcock; E. Cabell Hankinson Gathman

Feminist Fairy Tales
Friday, 10:15-11:30 p.m. Friday, 10:15-11:30 p.m. in Caucus Room

Old stories told in new ways: Paper Bag Princess, Cinderedna, and others.
Catherynne M. Valente, Anastasia Marie Salter, Naomi Kritzer, M: Theodora Goss, Beverly Friend

Does Your Baby Make You Smarter?
Saturday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. Saturday, 1:00-2:15 p.m. in Conference Room 5

The needs of small children can hinder creative production. On the other hand, they can show us new ways to look at the world and ourselves.
M: John M. Scalzi, James F. Minz, Naomi Kritzer, Kira Franz, Pat Cadigan

Fairies, Fiends, and Freaks (Reading Group)
Sunday, 2:30-3:45 p.m. Sunday, 2:30-3:45 p.m. in Conference Room 2

Catherine Valente, Lyda A. Morehouse (as Tate Hallaway), Naomi Kritzer and Tiffany L. Trent read from their work.