Today is my mom’s birthday! Happy birthday, mom! My mom, in case it hasn’t been clear from my previous blog posts, is awesome. =) Tonight after work, Me, Kay and Baz, along with mom, my sister Joan and her kids Isaac and Ruth, are all going to the Big Apple Circus! I haven’t been for many many many years (I’m actually not sure exactly when the last time was). Baz of course has never been and is really looking forward to it. The circus was mom’s choice, so hey! It’s nice that they’re actually here on her birthday, though we could have gone another nearby day if it’d been necessary. Sadly it’s going to rain all day, which is annoying, but eh. I still anticipate lots of fun. *Knock Wood*
Speaking of birthdays, Baz’s birthday is next in the immediate family, on May 31. He’s going to be FIVE. *LALALALALAICAN’THEARYOULALALALALALA!!!* When did this happen?! He’s starting KINDERGARTEN in September! Eep! Fortunately we’ve got his school paperwork up to date. (Kudos to Kay for being on top of that!) We’ll find out soon which school he got into, but really – there’s a perfectly good K-8 school across the street from our house. Literally. If they try to put him anywhere else, they’re bonkers. We’ve already got some good ideas in the works for his birthday – which I’m not going to share yet because somehow he’d hear about it. Really. Just randomly we’ll be on a bus a month from now and some stranger will say “Yeah, so this guy on his blog was talking about what he’s doing for his son’s birthday…” and POOF, the surprise is spoiled!
Last night, we got confirmation that Crossed Genres Publications has been assigned a table in the dealer’s room (the ‘Bookstore’) at ReaderCon! We’re very excited! ReaderCon is very focused on the writing of speculative fiction, unlike other cons that also devote time to tv, film, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but the focus on writing/publishing is just what we’re looking for! Also, the guest list is very impressive, and I look forward to meeting some folks who I’ve conversed with but never met in person. If you’re in the area you should totally come to the con!
Kay and I have been talking and planning almost nonstop for two weeks now! We’re trying to lay out CGP’s plans/projects through 2012 so we can have a better idea how to plan our time. Of course, some of that will be effected by if we get floored by any novel submissions that we really want to produce. *hint hint!* At this point we have a pretty good idea of what things will look like, though of course details are changing and being firmed up constantly. A lot is what you might expect, if you’ve followed CG for the past couple of years – but there will be surprises. OH will there be surprises! 
One of the things we’re working on is a new website, something CG really needs. We’re just in the planning stages right now, figuring out what we need the site to do and coming up with designs. We’re aiming to (hopefully) have the new site ready to launch around September.
As I mentioned on Twitter, right now most of my projects are kind of in limbo: either I’m waiting for an email, or something won’t be decided for a couple weeks, or the project is long-term and something that just needs to be worked on a bit at a time here and there. It’s very strange, because over the past 2 1/2 years CG has been very much about NOW: Got to get it done fast, constant turnover, gogoGO! And right now it’s not really like that, not most of it anyway. There’s LOTS of stuff to work on but it’s all slow burn. And after 2 1/2 years of constantly racing to meet deadlines, I am NOT conditioned for Slow Burn.
Of course, this will not last. Soon the magazine will kick into high gear again, and some other projects will heat up, and it’ll be back to the fast pace… for a while. Part of the plans Kay and I are making involve more slow burn starting in 2012. I’m happy about it, but if right now is any indication, it’s going to take some getting used to!
Post title from “Banned From Argo” by Leslie Fish