Send Teresa to Gally!

As you’re all aware if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, I’ve been included on the panel for Whedonistas at Gallifrey One this year on the Saturday at 4PM! So not only is Whedonistas the first thing in which I’ve been published that can be purchased where actual, hard-copy books are sold, but Gally – the biggest Doctor Who convention in North America – will be the first time where I’ll actually be on a panel! I was so excited when I was told the news. Did I mention that I’m going to be on this panel with Lynne Thomas, Deborah Stanish, Christa Dickson, Lars Pearson, Jane Espenson, Kelly Hale, Nancy Holder, Racheline Maltese, Jenn Reese, and Katy Shuttleworth?! I know, right?!

However, I’d told my editors I could attend long before one of my part-time jobs decided to passive-aggressively fire me by not giving me hours on the schedule for a month without explaining why. So now, finances are an issue, and I can’t really afford a flight anymore.

As this is way too amazing an opportunity to pass up, I’m reaching out to the geek community, who would be the most likely to understand how important this opportunity is. But I’m not just asking for donations.

What I’m asking is that you buy my chapbook, and get other people to do the same.

I have friends in LA to stay with, so it really is only the flight I need to pay for (though extra spending cash would be nice), and I’m looking to raise $350. As I would want to leave Feb. 13th, I would need to know this is happening and book my flight by Saturday, February 5th.

$350 by February 5th. Can it be done??

The base price for my chapbook is $5.00. So if 70 people bought just the chapbook, I’d make my goal.

If 59 people bought a signed copy ($6.00), I’d make my goal.

If 50 people bought a personalized copy ($7.00), I’d make my goal.

And I’m going to kick this Send Teresa to Gally effort Kickstarter-style. Meaning that, if I don’t make my goal of $350 by Feb. 5th, everyone who sent me money via PayPal will get their money refunded to them (unless you specify that you want the chapbook regardless). So there’s no risk in supporting the effort if I don’t end up actually being able to go.

As for why I deserve this opportunity and your support? Well, for starters, I write good. And I should be able to show a room full of people that I write good.

In all seriousness, I’m extremely proud of having taken the initiative to pursue Whedonistas in the first place, I’m proud of having been chosen to be included in the anthology, and I would love to see the journey of this little essay I wrote to its end, by being able to attend the Whedonistas launch with my publisher, my editors, and my fellow contributors. It might seem like a silly, small thing, but this is the first time I’ve ever had the chance to do anything like this, and I’d hate to not be able to do it because of money.

Also, if you read any of the websites I write for, you might be interested in my reportage of the event, particularly over at Tor.com, where I do the majority of my Doctor Who writing.  So, you know, there’s that.

If you’re at all interested in what I do (which I’d assume you are if you’re reading this blog!), and you’ve been thinking about getting a copy of my chapbook, NOW’S THE TIME. Consider purchasing your copy of On the Ground Floor between now and February 5th, and help Send Teresa to Gally!

Thank you, from the cockles of my geeky little heart.

TOP SEEKRIT PROJECT REVEALED!

At long last, I can finally reveal the “Top Seekrit Project” I’ve alluded to all over the internet.

I’m going to be published in my first anthology available in stores.

Wait. It gets better.

It’s an anthology about Joss Whedon.

Wait! It gets better!

It’s from the same publisher and editor who did Chicks Dig Time Lords.

WAIT! IT GETS BETTER!

I’ll be sharing book space with not only some of the finest female sci-fi writers around, but I’ll also be sharing book space with Jane Espenson and Juliet Landau.

DID I MENTION IT’S A BOOK ABOUT JOSS WHEDON?!

It’s called WHEDONISTAS: A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon by the Women Who Love Them, and it will be released to the general public on March 15, 2011. The list of titles and contributors (listed below) looks amazing, and I’m so thrilled to be a part of it! It’s going to be officially launched and available for purchase at the Gallifrey One convention in L.A. in February…

…so guess who’s going to her first Doctor Who convention?! (Hint: IT’S ME!)

Getting to be a part of this wonderful book is not only great in and of itself, but because it taught me something very important about Writing Life; something I’m going to share with you right now, so lean in and listen closely.

It pays to grow a pair of ovaries. (or balls, if that’s what you’ve got to work with)

Fretting, in the parlance of Kaylee Frye, seems to be a favorite pasttime for a lot of writers I know. Fretting over how their work isn’t any good, fretting over what people are going to think of their work, or say about them. They fret so much that they forget that a big part of writing is communicating. You know, with the world.

(That means people.)

They polish and polish their work, which one always has to do, of course, but they do it at the expense of sending it anywhere. I’m not saying send out crap. I’m saying that you should seek out opportunities where you know you’ll be able to shine! Seek them out and submit the best work you’ve got at that moment. Make the world aware that you’re a writer. Write things to show people, because I tell you, I’ve learned a lesson first-hand that I’ve heard Neil Gaiman and Brian K. Vaughan talk about: nothing makes you a better writer like being published. That sounds like a douchey thing to say, I know, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve posted a post somewhere, looked back at it and gone “ohnowaitaminuteIwanttochangesomethingACK!” But my inadequacies are out there for all the world to see. And you know what? I remember what I think I did wrong and use it in the next thing. I try and learn from comments left and feedback received from editors and readers. And then I keep writing. The world is my writing workshop – I just have to summon up the nerve to show up.

I got to be in Whedonistas, because I jumped on an opportunity. Or, rather, I created one for myself. I got word that Whedonistas was in the works from the Twitter feed of a favorite writer. As I loved Chicks Dig Time Lords, I checked out the link to this book and noticed there was no contributor list. I thought, I write. I love Joss Whedon. Maybe there’s a place in this for me! So, I tracked down the editor’s email address and wrote to her to ask. Because the worst she could’ve said was “no,” right? Thank goodness I wrote her immediately, because it was a week before her deadline! Even after I sent in my essay, I was half expecting that she’d send it back, because it wasn’t up to snuff. Then there was talk of a contract and a payment and it hit me…someone actually thinks that something I’ve written is good enough to be between the covers of an actual book. One that’s going to be available at Barnes and Noble, for crying out loud!

And I SQUEED like the Happiest Little Fangirl Alive.

Then I had to shut up about it for two months, because it wasn’t being officially announced until today, and it KILLED me. So I’m thrilled I can come clean now!

So, the moral of the story is: Grow a pair of ovaries. Create opportunities for yourself. And pre-order a copy of Whedonistas.

That last one really wasn’t a moral, but still. DO IT. You’ll not only get my fabulous scribblings, but those of all these ladies, too! Check it:

WHEDONISTAS:

A Celebration of the Worlds of Joss Whedon

By the Women Who Love Them

Edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Deborah Stanish

 

Introduction – Lynne M. Thomas and Deborah Stanish

The Girls Next Door: Learning to Live with the Living Dead and Never Even Break a Nail – Seanan McGuire

Ramping Up for a Decade with Joss Whedon – Nancy Holder

Outlaws & Desperadoes – Sharon Shinn

An Interview with Jane Espenson

My (Fantasy) Encounter with Joss Whedon (And What I’ve Learned from the Master) – Jeanne C. Stein.

The Ages of Dollhouse: Autobiography through Whedon – Sigrid Ellis

A Couch Potato’s Guide to Demon Slaying: Turning Strangers into Family, Buffy-Style – Heather Shaw

Smart Is Sexy: An Appreciation of Firefly’s Kaylee – Laurel Brown

Teething Troubles and Growing Up – Caroline Symcox

Transgressing with Spike and Buffy – NancyKay Shapiro

Brand New Day: The Evolution of the Doctor Horrible Fandom – Priscilla Spenser

“We’re Here to Save You” – Elizabeth Bear

Imperfectly Perfect: Why I Really Love Buffy For Being a Pill Sometimes – Mariah Huehner

My European Vacation – Kelly Hale

Romancing the Vampire and Other Shiny Bits – Lyda Morehouse/Tate Hallaway

An Interview with Juliet Landau

I Am Joss Whedon’s Bitch – Maria Lima

Going Dark – Jackie Kessler

Joss Giveth – Jaala Robinson

The Kindness of Monsters – Sarah Monette

Shelve Under Television, Young Adult – Jody Wurl

The Browncoat Connection – Dae Low

Late to the Party: What Buffy Never Taught Me about Being a Girl – Racheline Maltese

How an Atheist and His Demons Created a Shepherd – Meredith McGrath

Older and Far Away – Jamie Craig

Why Joss Is More Important Than His ‘Verse – Teresa Jusino

Let’s Go to Work – Catherynne M. Valente

Something to Sing About – Jenn Reese

Malcolm Reynolds, the Myth of the West, and Me – Emma Bull