It's June!

The 2007 Arkansas Writers Conference is history. I had a great time, didn't win any contests, sold a couple copies of "Handfast," and won a door prize. More than that, saw old friends and met new ones. Copies of the chapbook (pamphlet format) can be ordered from me and paid for via PayPal [to emma@ emmakeigh.com]. It's $5 (US), shipping included. Just e-mail me with your mailing address and I'll send it out as soon as PayPal tells me you've paid.

I have to congratulate Jennifer DiCamillo (aka Carys Weldon) on placing in several of the contests. It was great to meet her husband, Tony, too.

Spent the remainder of Saturday night with the Little Rock Science Fiction group (LRSFS) celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars with a viewing of the original version of the movie. We also watched a great short, Revenge of the Brick, all done with animated Lego parts.

The Spring issue of Shadow Sacrament is live, and my story, "Ephanie's Story" (I know, I'm terrible at titles), is featured. I've also had news from Sybaritic Press that Slash & Burn will be coming out sometime this summer (crossing fingers and toes).

Be sure to keep up with Valerie Mingus Beck's blog on her fight against breast cancer. If you haven't been reading it, start at the beginning and read the entire story. It's one of the most inspiring stories I've ever been priviledged to read.

Easter ramblings

I can't believe I actually won Carys Weldon's March blog contest. Thanks, Carys! Hey, y'all reading this, visit Carys too!

It's Easter, and as I boiled eggs last week to make devilled eggs for the SF group party, I didn't feel up to coloring eggs this weekend (a bit of bronchitis). But the Bunny of Spring (we're not exactly Christians) brought everyone a bag of treats -- mostly dark chocolate (I only buy what I like for any candy holiday).

I'm working this weekend on de-fanning my long LOTR romance (Seasons of the Heart/A Season Apart) so I can try to market it. It's 70,000 words or so, and it would be a shame to waste a good plot and all....

Still waiting on the galleys for Slash & Burn. Deborah says it doesn't take long once they're back until she gets hard copies, but we're running out of April. Then again, when was a book ever published on time? Speaking of April, I've only got until the end of the month to come up with more entries for the Arkansas Writers Conference contests.

We've had a cold snap (down into the 20s at nights these last few days) and my azaleas have all died in full bloom. Yuk yuk yuk. It'll be months before any other flowers bloom around here (the roses have budded, but they're still little and tightly closed). Even the violets in the bathroom window are wilting and fading. Some spring!

Daffodils and old friends

Today was the day to visit the largest daffodil field (anywhere, I think) at Wye Mountain, Arkansas. It's about 7 acres, all planted in daffodils -- and they're all blooming this time of year.

The SF group from Little Rock tries to have an away mission to the daffodils each year, and today I met Margaret, Robert, and Mary there. To our surprise, we ran into the former chairs of Roc*Kon, Ann & Leonard Wilson, along with Ann's sister and mom. It was a beautiful day, and we sat at a picnic table and chatted until it started clouding up about 5ish.

The drive back to Conway (going the opposite direction as those from Little Rock) was lovely, too. The view off Wye Mountain across to Toad Suck (yes, there really is a Toad Suck, AR) was beautiful -- the dogwood is starting to bloom and the Bradford pear trees look like white cotton candy on a stick. I passed the St. Boniface Catholic Church (Margaret couldn't remember the name) which was built about 120 years ago and is the epitome of the classic country church, though being RC instead of Baptist, it does have some gothic elements the other churches in the area seem to lack.

I seem to be getting the hang of this blogger thing -- with any luck I may even post every day or so...