WACK (Women's Awesome Creativity Kiosk) organized by Si Transken and friends, took place last night at Books & Co. I donated books and read from chapter two of The Courtesan Prince. Christina, a colleague I have worked with at UNBC on web-based projects, made a point of telling me she recognized the chapter and was waiting to go home to read some more. I know how busy she is, so it was particularly nice to know The Courtesan Prince was something she was fitting in for pleasure. Such things continue to please the muse. Thanks Christina. And everyone else last night who expressed interest in ORU books in general. (I had a nice comment from the winner of Kath, from our book launch in P.G. earlier this month.)

Appreciated Virginia's post in response to my soul searching, yesterday. Particularly the reminder that a post-con slump is a recurring theme for me. :-) Maybe it is partly due to my tendency to get overwhelmed by extended meet-and-greet situations and withdraw into the introvert side of my nature. Or the fact it takes me so long, sometime, to figure out what I wanted to say about something that came and went while I was doing mental isometrics. Or just the irritating fact that I am suffering through one of my bouts of wondering what I want to be doing with my life in five years. :-) I seem to be something of an introverted extrovert: either "on stage" or hiding in my den. At least the hiding in the den part has been useful for getting work done on Righteous Anger. Alison will be glad to hear Horth is alive and well and about to witness the climax of The Courtesan Prince from a Black Hearth perspective. (Righteous Anger begins with the marriage of Horth's parents, and ends with a critical descision about how Sevildom reactions to Reetions, post events in The Courtesan Prince, which can only be understood in the context of Horth's life to that point. The Horth at issue, of course, is Horth Nersal, who first took the ORU stage in Throne Price, the notoriously out-of-sequence book 4 of the series.)

I think Virginia and I both had a bit of a wrestle, at CasCadia, with the business of what publishing ORU works with Windstorm Creative means, if sales depend entirely on us drumming up orders. I had never anticipated wide distribution of the Fandom Press works to bookstores or other outlets, but I had initially been under the impression they would be put on shelves in a dozen or so places in and around Seattle without direct intervention on my part to achieve that exposure. Misunderstandings are the root of much evil in the publishing business. On the other hand, my friends at Windstorm Creative did reprint both Kath and Mekan?stan to get rid of the typos that were bothering me, and have promised to pay all anthology authors and Yukari (cover artist for The Lorel Experiment). Getting back to WACK, last night, where I donated a copy of the anthology and the Lorel Experiment, together with Throne Price, as gifts to reward volunteers at any of five very valuable Prince George services for women--having a book to work with is a good feeling, and makes it possible to reach readers. I anticipate hundreds of anthologies getting into the hands of readers over the next eighteen months or so, which is not much compared with what Edge has been able to achieve for me with books in the mainline series, but constitutes good numbers for small press and/or small academic publishing circles. And as the whole enterprise thrives, so shall all associated publications. One nice thing of being part of the ORU is that works have a longer shelf life than "one of" creations. As long as the larger enterprise thrives, any ORU publication is "current".

For the meantime, I think I will solve the communication problem, for myself, by calling the Windstorm Creative works hosted ones. That is terminology that Windstorm itself uses in some contexts, and a fair way of explaining how we work together. In all fairness, I must also point out that Fandom Press is only one part of what Windstorm Creative does, and a very new part that I think they are feeling their way along with much as we are. Our relationship gives me more control, editorially, than I might have in another situation, and that is a critical factor for me. It also includes options. For example, my contract with them includes exemptions for limited edition works sold for non-profit purposes, and once I get a couple more of the Edge novels put to bed, I think I might go that route with my next novella set in the ORU, and make that an option for others who wish to benefit ?Amel friendly? charities (with the possibility of their work becoming collector?s edition items) rather than play the publication-for-pay sweepstakes. In the meantime, there are cool developments on the votary author front in the form of Virginia?s Drops of Humanity, work planned by Brianna and Sarah, and a Windstorm Creative contact interested in developing a role playing game. Most of all, for long term prospects, interest in the ORU as a whole is evolving in a positive direction.

Enjoyed the pictures on your blog, Virginia! Must nag David to get ours up. And thanks for the interaction, here. I always feel better when I get things off my chest in an open, honest manner, however unwise that might be from some perspectives. It makes this whole business a journey with personal meaning, rather than one more chore in a busy life full of necessities and money-related anxieties. Which doesn?t mean one cannot be professional, but makes for less cognitive dissonance if one is a crazy artistic idealist. :-)
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