WorldCON: International Friendships

I know. You’re probably getting sick of hearing about WorldCON about now. I don’t blame you. If you weren’t there, it’s hard to be excited about it. But I learned a lot of stuff, stuff that made me think.

You know what happens when I get thinking. I blog.

But I promise, this is my last post about WorldCON. At least, for this year. I can’t make any promises in the future.

Thing is, today I’m thinking about all my many new friends. It’s not like I haven’t had friends in other countries before. I have. I do. But I feel like my network of writer/fan friends has been extended exponentially. Ireland, England, New Zealand, Belgium, Austria—about every state in the US—the list is huge.

When I think of those countries, I automatically think of faces, names, real-life people who mean something to me, who spark memories and share common ground. People with whom I’ve made a connection. Even if I don’t remember all their names off the top of my head, I would remember their faces and where I was when I met them. Each of these people has enriched my life in one way or another, and I hope I have somehow enriched theirs as well.

So my thought for the day is this. Remember. Pay attention. Be in the moment. It’s a small world. No matter where someone is from, it’s entirely possible you’ll run into them again sometime. It happens to me regularly.

And I am always so glad when it does.

Is Reviewing Books Worth the Work?

I am so behind in my book reporting, it’s not even funny. Or maybe it is. I scheduled myself for all these reviews and stuff, and then before I finished all the books, made the mistake of taking my kids to the library where I checked out seven more. Yeah, well, two different libraries. Whaddayado? And I love to read. Seriously, love it. So. Only scheduled or important books are being reviewed this month.

The good news is I’m starting to get caught up. Well, okay, not really, because as soon as I typed that I remembered that I just agreed to do five more reviews. But they're books I was going to read anyway, so that’s okay with me.

Last month, I was weighing the pros and cons of continuing to do reviews at all. I’ve also considered starting a blog that’s dedicated to just posts of this type, so that I can narrow my focus on this blog a bit. In my experience, book reviews don’t get a lot of comments. But then I was talking to someone I know—who is not a writer, and not even a big reader—who said something that made me think again.

She works full time, has three kids and a widowed father who needs lots and lots of care, and travels out of state several times a month with her daughter for specialized medical treatment. She has a lot on her plate. But as we discussed her most recent trip, she mentioned how she’s been spending a lot of downtime in hotel rooms and how bored she gets. Recently, she decided to purchase a few books to pass the time. But she didn’t know what she wanted, so she went to my blog and read the book reviews before heading to the bookstore.

Yes, that’s right. She read MY book reviews for recommendations of books she might like to read.

Even though she’s only one person, her off-handed comment made it all worthwhile. So, while I’m still debating the pros and cons of starting a separate book review blog, I’m feeling validated in reviewing itself. I think that as long as I keep reading, I’ll probably always enjoy reviewing.

That said, I’m still getting caught up. Therefore, this week, you can expect to see both a review and a spotlight. Don’t worry, I’ll still blog about regular stuff, too. Just call me superwoman.