So to recap the first post, World Fantasy 2010: The Aftermath , WFC is awesome. But there is more…

Sure you get to meet and rub elbows with legends of the fantasy and science fiction field, but the friends and contacts you make at WFC are priceless–especially the friends.

The hotel bar was where most of this happened, but also in the dealers room, the panels, and the various publisher parties that took place on the “party floor” of the hotel. I made new friends in every corner of the convention and some just by luck.

The best times I had at WFC were hanging out with a group of guys and dolls and going from the hotel bar to “the party floor” and back down to the hotel bar. We cracked jokes, engaged in what I’m sure was brilliant conversation, drank, and laughed. A few others drifted in and out of the group all night long and some kept coming back for more punishment, or out of morbid curiosity as to what would happen or be said next. I won’t name any names here, but I think everyone involved knows who they are and the good times we had at World Fantasy Convention.

I had always heard that the WFC crowd could party, but they certainly proved it to me. But you know what? It was never obnoxious, or to the point where it disgusted you. For a group of people who had been drinking–a lot, we were pretty well behaved.

Sunday morning at WFC felt rushed for me, but that was because I had to leave early before the banquet and before the awards ceremony. Next year I hope to stay the entire time.

The last part of WFC remained with me through today, and that is the inevitable convention crud. Oh, and lack of sleep and trying to catch back up on that. Anyway, a great convention that I highly recommend for writers, fans, or anyone with an interest in writing, publishing, fantasy or science fiction. The price of admission is cheap compared to what you will bring away from it. The biggest piece of advice I can give regarding WFC is to not be shy, try to mingle and get outside your comfort zone just a little.

Last week began with the shocking news that I’d have to vacate the place I am renting.  A day or two of being down was followed by a busy weekend of looking for a new place to hang my hat until I move from the DC for much greener pastures. 

I found a nice place, close to where I live now, but overall I believe this is a nicer neighborhood. 

Despite the problems of last week I still managed to get some quality writing done on the book.  I finished a pivotal chapter that fought me every step of the way.  That chapter needed to be written and forced me to do some difficult things to my characters. 

That brings us to this week.

Monday night:  I’m happily BIC HOK TAM (butt-in-chair hands-on-keyboard typing-away-madly) for those not in the know, when at 11pm, I hear voices that sound as if they are right outside my townhouse.  Some neighbors that are close by have been known to throw some parties while hanging out in their driveway, but on Monday night, the racket was coming from a different place.

I decided to go to bed around 12am, but I hardly ever get to bed before then and I usually read before I go to sleep.  The noise level from these buffoons made it impossible for me to concentrate on the book I was reading.  I looked outside, and it definitely was not coming from my neighborhood; the apocolypse was coming from a different neighborhood!

Around 12:30am the police must have shown up, because it got very quiet all of the sudden, and I thought I’d have a respite.  Wrong.  About ten minutes later it started up again, and it sounded as if I was in the middle of some ritualistic sacrifice to Kong, punctuated by a scream—then a few seconds later, there was more yelling and hollering. 

I turned on the air conditioning and the TV for some homegrown noise (its funny isn’t it that if I’m responsible for the noise I can sleep through it), and I think I finally fell asleep around 3:30 am.  The alarm went off immediately, or so it seemed, and I was up at 5:55am.  I’m shocked I was able to make it through the whole day at work and then got some writing done once I got home! 

Tuesday:  I settle in for a night of writing and what do you know, right at 11pm the party starts up again.  This time I figure out where the noise is coming from.  Through the woods in the adjoining neighborhood, I see a bunch of people out on a deck yelling and screaming.  This wasn’t next door, the other neighborhood is separated by a lot of trees, and this house was probably about an 1/8 of a mile away from my townhouse.

I hop in my car and drive to the road this house sits on so I can get the address.  As I’m driving by, I can hear the savages (my windows were up).   I call the police and explain to the dispatcher the situation and how this is night #2 and they are just getting started and will probably go until 2am.  They send an officer, and at about midnight I see a light go out and the noise ceased.   Ahhhh.  It was still not a great night of sleep, but better than the previous night.

Wednesday night:  I go to bed early since I’m so exhausted from the other nights, and there was no party!  It felt so good to fall asleep, but when I woke up my neck would not bend to the right.  It hurts so bad right now.  I wish I knew why and how I could sleep in such a way that causes so much pain during my waking hours.  Damn!

Luckily, my day job didn’t have too many stressful or taxing moments this past week.  I will be getting out a little early today and do not have to go to work tomorrow!  I am planning on getting a nice jog in after work and then I’m going to settle in and write, write, write! 

Tomorrow I’ll be heading up to Pennsylvania to spend the 4th of July weekend with my girlfriend, so the writing time will be limited until Sunday evening.  It’ll be great to chill out and be with her though.  She’s been reading the chapters as I’ve been writing them providing me with advice, insight and all sorts of helpful suggestions. 

So….Thank goodness it’s thursday!

Alistair