Blistering Heat, Playing Hostess, Speculative Poetry and a Nice Write-up of our Geek Girl Con Panel

Sorry to be absent – it’s been a rare week of 90-degree summer days here in Seattle, so despite my sprained ankle, my husband and I have been showing my parents, who are visiting from the midwest, around to all the summertime fun available in the Seattle area. The Seattle area isn’t famous for its air conditioning or its poolside culture – almost no one has air conditioning, including most businesses – so it’s been a little bit challenging sun-dodging and searching for a cool breeze. Hilariously, because some engineer didn’t take into account that Seattle’s weather could possibly ever get this warm, they had to shut down a UW-area bridge every hour on the hour to hose it off to keep its joints from crumpling. Ah, yes, that was some civil engineering planning success there…”Hey, do you think it’ll ever get to 90 degrees here? Nope! Let’s build the bridge to only withstand temperatures to 85!” Yesterday, we took a trip North to escape the heat – ice cream and waterfront strolls in art-gallery-filled-and-tulip-famous La Conner; today we’re going to take them down to Golden Gardens park, and then maybe watch the Hunger Games. 

Thanks to Chelsea Novak of Geist Magazine, who gave our panel at Geek Girl Con on Geek Girl Poetry a nice-write up at Paperdroids:
http://www.paperdroids.com/2012/08/18/geekgirlcon-2012/
““Monster Brides, Robots, Superheroines, and Anime Girls: Geek Girl Poets!” was devoted entirely to geek-themed poetry. Jeannine Hall Gailey, author of She Returns to the Floating World (Kitsune Books) and Becoming the Villainess (Steel Toe Books), and Lana H. Ayers, author of A New Red (Pecan Grove Press), read some of their own poems, as well as poems from other women about female characters in pop-culture. It was a funny, inspiring panel and a good way to start the second day of the conference.”

Speaking of geek-themed poetry, keep your eyes out for the new upcoming “Speculative” of The Pedestal Magazine – out August 21, I believe – and then the “Speculative” issue of Rattle, due out in December.  Is spec poetry having a moment?

If I owe you a blurb or e-mail, I’m running a bit behind on my paperwork, so please feel free to remind me!