I Survived My First Surrey International Writers' Conference #SiWC14

And the proof, as usual, is on Twitter:

twitter.com/search?q=%40curtiscchen%20%23siwc14&src=typd

Highlights included: finally meeting Stephanie and David in person, after many online writing Hangouts; seeing my VPXII classmate Katrina again and getting an autographed copy of her book; learning about book publishing contracts and romance novels from literary agent Lisa; and hearing the fabulous Diana Gabaldon read three different "wedding night" scenes aloud in a room of appreciative listeners (mostly women, natch).

If I can make my schedule and budget work for 2015, I'll definitely go back. And next time I'll wear the tux on Saturday. #nocontextforyou

I Am Not Canadian

I recently came across this post on Weibo, China's Twitter-like "microblogging" service:

http://weibo.com/1654694194/BnIEU7RQ6

What do you mean, you don't read Chinese? Fine. Here's Google's auto-translation:

To be fair, I can see how someone in China might be confused, since I do live in "Vancouver." Speaking of which, I keep meaning to pick up one of these t-shirts:

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2009/12/06/us/06vancouver_CA0.html

Anyway. In related news, two other bloggers also posted very nice reviews of "Zugzwang:"

"The story was excellently crafted. The plot had tension and several layers of things going on, yet no word seemed redundant and all of the sentences were simple-yet-varied."
 — Natso, "A Cool Sci-Fi Short Story, A Question That Sprouted From It," 20 Sep 2014

"This story could’ve been bleak, but instead it made me happy and hopeful."
 — Sara Norja, "Sunday recs: Fairytale, memory loss, alien chess," 28 Sep 2014

Finally: I'm going to be at #SiWC this weekend, along with at least two other VP alums. It's my first time attending this particular conference. Excitement!

Postcard #59

Another result from my 2010 birthday project, this one sent by a SnoutCast listener in England who is working his way through our past episodes. Thanks for listening, Chris!

Postcard #57

A missive from our mysterious friend abroad--let's call him "Jake Gyllenhaal"--which took a full two months to travel from Iraq to Portland.

Postcards #53 and 54

Two more from Karl, whose recent travels also prompted this e-mail exchange:

K: I think I've had about enough complexity for today, just making it from my apartment in London to my hotel in Paris completely by public transit.

J: I can't be the only person who read this and thought, "Boo effing hoo," right? :-D

Postcard #43

At first glance, I thought the photograph on this vintage postcard was from Disney World, but it's actually Toronto, where my VPXII classmate Claire lives with a curious assortment of wildlife.

Postcard #26

This is Tiffani's first year of eligibility for the Campbell Award, thanks to the publication of her story "If Wishes Were Horses" in Strange Horizons. Her personal life has gone through some unpleasant upheavals recently, but she's now making a fresh start in Ol' Blighty. I wish her all the best--especially now that I've introduced her to Lisa. It's really only a matter of time before the two of them join forces and take over the world.

Postcard #21

From our globe-trotting friend Susan, who introduced us to the flying trapeze a few years ago. We don't get to hang out with her nearly often enough.

Postcard #18

From our good friend Jeff, who apparently really likes living in Switzerland with his wife and child. You can hear more about his expat life in SnoutCast #5.