Say, "Cheese"

The Pentagon Row Harris Teeter, the one across I-395 from the Pentagon has a 1280-pound sculpture celebrating the Wounded Warrior Program.
In cheese.
I saw it today. All unsuspecting, I went into the store to pick up a few things for dinner. The doors whooshed open, My first thought was: What is that odor? It smells like Greg left something out of the refrigerator too long. Then I realized there were an awful lot of balloons in the display area to my left. Slowly, I turned... Yes, I do know that old Burles-Que routine, and no, the trigger has nothing to do with falls.
It's all about the cheese.
Orange. Glassy. Ripe. Carved into a replica of a famous statue embellished with a big shield proclaiming, "Harris Teeter Salutes the Wounded Warrior Project."
In cheese.
According to this article, the sculpture's been around since at least Veterans Day. Based on personal observation, it's starting to separate in places. (See it while you can!) Store management tells me it's going to be taken away to the local homeless shelter any day now.
Words fail. My mouth opens. It closes. Somebody, somewhere thought it was a really cool idea to honor our veterans' service and sacrifice by memorializing it--
In cheese.
A half ton of cheese, people.  With little packages of Harris Teeter cheddar, the artist's chosen medium, artistically displayed around the base of the sculpture to let customers know that they, too, can buy a piece of (say it with me!)...
CHEESE!
I apologize in advance, but somebody's got to say it: This gives a whole new meaning to the word "cheesy".
And people wonder where I get my ideas. No way, NO FRACKING WAY could I make this stuff up.  *headdesk*headdesk*headdesk*

Princess Alethea's Traveling Sideshow, Dragon*Con Edition

More chewy video goodness. This one dates to Dragon*Con 2011 and features authors Leanna Renee Hieber, Gray Rinehart and Princess Alethea--Alethea Kontis--herself.

DC High Heel Race 2011

A little Halloween pressie from your Capital City. ;-)

My Capclave schedule

With no Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading in sight (sob), this year's Capclave schedule is a peach. I'll be participating in just three program items

Friday, 7 p.m.
Magical Worlds--The various uses of magic in fantasy, science fiction, horror and mainstream fiction. From the Force to spells, the panel will also look at unique forms of magic in a variety of books. Panelists: Danny Birt, Stuart Jaffe (moderator) and Jean Marie Ward

Saturday, 8 p.m.
Capclave Mass Autograph Session--A gathering of all the Capclave authors in one place, ready to sign books and chat!

Saturday, 9 p.m.
Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award and Party--Join us for the announcement of the winner of the WSFA Small Press Award. There will also be some other surprises revealed, plus cake! (Have I mentioned I'm nominated? With Capclave guests of honor Carrie Vaughn and Catherynne M. Valente? And Sarah Monette? And Jack McDevitt? And RJ Astruc? (You can't see it on the page, but my grin's reeeeeeaaaaaalllly wide right now. :D Heck yeah, there will be cake! And photos, too.)

This leaves me a lot of time to hang with friends, take pictues and, hopefully, shoot a few new author videos for Buzzy. So drop by and take in a few panels--they don't even have to be mine. You'll be glad you did. Promise!

The annual Dragon*Con photo blog

For those of you who view clicking through picture galleries with the same horror our parents reserved for slide shows of Aunt Ermintrude's trip to the Catskills, today's post at Beyond the Veil is for you. I've cherry-picked some of my best photos of Dragon*Con 2011 and wrapped them in the lightest of all possible con reports. And there isn't a panel table anywhere in sight. Enjoy!

"Lord Bai's Discovery" nominated for WSFA Small Press Award

This one totally blew me away. Lord Bai's Discovery" from the anthology Dragon's Lure has made the short list for the Washington Science Fiction Association's 2011 Small Press Award, along with stories by Sarah Monette, Carrie Vaughn, Jack McDevitt, Catherynne M. Valente and RJ Astruc. The awards will be presented at Capclave, October 14-16, in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

I'm still pinching myself--to think my story about a foodie dragon is being read in such company... I may need a glass of champagne just to calm down.

And to think the only news I thought I'd have today was the posting of Michael Swanwick's Balticon interview. Which you should totally read. He's one of the best raconteur's ever. Then you can go back to watching me shriek and caper around the computer. :D

Dragon*Con Photos & More

It's been a challenging week here at Casa Ward/Uchrin. Days of rain succeeded in doing what earthquake and hurricane failed to do: postpone my work on my Dragon*Con photos and videos.

We're still dealing with the aftermath of the flood, but the photos are sorted and posted at Flickr. I plan to post a Thursday Thirteen at Beyond the Veil in the near future, but Flickr's the place if you want to see the complete set.

Meanwhile, Buzzy Multimedia has posted my interviews with authors Maria V. Snyder and Paolo Bacigalupi. We're also tweaking my Tour of Tor. I'll post the link soon.

Finally, I want to remind everybody that my story "Billy's Monster" will be published in Hellfire Lounge II: Rat Pack Redux. The story leans more toward horror than my usual, but with a scheduled publication date of late September/early October, it's certainly in keeping with the season. ;-)




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The photo at the top is perhaps my favorite from this year's Dragon*Con. It shows Cruxshadows violinist JoHanna Moresco demonstrating violin technique to a young friend before the band's early, early Monday morning show.

The Dragon*Con Schedule Has Landed

One of the best things about being a writer is being able to post a convention schedule. Not only is it a measure of your achievement, it also means you’ll be seeing your long distance friends. And when the schedule happens to be for Dragon*Con, well, let the party begin!

Friday, September 1

11:30 AM: Just the Facts, Ma'am
Description: Non-fiction is a market that needs good writers. If this appeals to you, come listen to these pros tell you how to make it happen.
M Chapman, G. D. Falksen, John L. Flynn, Anya Martin, and Jean Marie Ward
Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

8:30 PM: New and Next Weird
Description: New weird, mash-up, slipstream, interstitial, crossover... what does the future of "genre" hold, especially for the darker fringes of fantasy?
Lou Anders, Stephen H. Segal, Ann VanderMeer, Jeff Vandermeer, and Jean Marie Ward
Location: Cairo - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

10 PM: Broad Universe Reading
Description: Quick cuts read by some by the women authors of Broad Universe
Gail Z. Martin, Jody Lynn Nye, Jean Marie Ward, Trisha Wooldridge (moderator) and many more.
Location: Greenbriar - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Sunday, September 4

1 PM: Broad Universe Reading Part 2
Description: More great reads by the women authors of Broad Universe.
Gail Z. Martin, Jean Marie Ward and many more.
Location: Fairlie - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Monday, September 5

11:30 AM: Win, Lose or Draw - SF and Fantasy Style
Description: A replay of our popular game show where your job is to draw sf and fantasy names and phrases to get others to guess them. Prizes available.
MC: Jean Marie Ward
Location: Fairlie - Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Hope to see you there!

Sparkly Cover Goodness

Yeah, I know, you've been wondering whether I forgot how to do this blog thing. Not quite. I just wanted to save it until I had something to make you go Ooooooh! And I do, Ben Fogletto's wonderful cover for Hellfire Lounge 2, where you'll find one of my darker little stories, "Billy's Monster".
I don't have an ISBN or release day yet, but when I do, you'll hear it here first. Not to worry, you won't be bored in the meantime. It'll take days to see all the fabulous details in this image. Enjoy!

Happy Dancing Through Tuesday

This is so good I'm dancing. Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier announced the table of contents for their new fantasy anthology, The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity, coming from DAW Tekno Books in March 2012. And the writers are:

Introduction by Patricia Bray and Joshua Palmatier

"We Will Not Be Undersold" by Seanan McGuire

"Changeling" by Susan Jett

"Water-Called" by Kari Sperring

"The Roots of Aston Quercus" by Juliet E. McKenna

"To Scratch an Itch" by Avery Shade

"Continuing Education" by Kristine Smith

"How To Be Human™" by Barbara Ashford

"How Much Salt" by April Steenburgh

"Hooked" by Anton Strout

"Crash" by S. C. Butler

"Fixed" by Jean Marie Ward

"A People Who Always Know" by Shannon Page & Jay Lake

"The Slaughtered Lamb" by Elizabeth Bear

"Corrupted" by Jim C. Hines

Yes! That’s me on that list! “Fixed” is the story of a teenaged cat shifter who gets taken to an animal shelter while wearing fur. Needless to say, he really REALLY doesn’t want to get “Fixed”.

Although you won’t be able to hold the book (or the pixels of the ebook version) in your hands until March, The Modern Fae’s Guide to Surviving Humanity is available for pre-order on a number of sites, including Amazon. Buy, buy, buy! In multiples, if you can. Patricia and Joshua were so much fun to work with, I’d love to do it again.

Meanwhile, I’m grinning from ear to ear.