Mabfan's Musings

Nomi and I went to Readercon this past weekend, and we saw a lot of friends and had a good time. I showed off the Advance Reading Copy of my book, and people seemed impressed. I myself am still trying to wrap my brain around it.

I was blown away by "The Dark Knight."

Josh and family have arrived safely in Eugene, Oregon, and I've got plenty more pictures in the gallery I devoted to their trip.

I'm very much enjoying my last two publishing classes. The best part of my class in book marketing and publicity is that it became an independent study, so the instructor is making my homework assignments practical. For example, my current assignment is to create the press kit for my own book. Given that I was going to need to do this anyway, I'm killing two birds with one stone, as the old saying has it.

I continue to enjoy working with Apex Publications. They're a breeze to work with, and have given me a bigger window into the process of publishing my collection than any other company would have.

I've gotten two blurbs for my book already, and I'm humbled and delighted by what Stanley Schmidt and Robert J. Sawyer have said about me and my work. I'll share them later.

I'm hoping to sell more pre-ordered copies of the hardcover, and would welcome any thoughts on how to encourage more sales.

My publishing classes are keeping me busy every night this week, and I suspect I'll be very busy over the weekend as well.

Sleep? I remember sleep. It would be nice to experience it again one day.

Not much seems to have happened during the trip yesterday. Josh did some driving...

Josh Drives the Car

And they reached Colorado. (They stayed in Arvada, a suburb of Denver, last night.)

A Colorado Sky

However, one thing that did happen yesterday was the continuation of the coffee story. And since every time Josh calls, he reminds me of their coffee story, this is a good time to tell it.

Essentially, part of the reason Josh is insisting on finding a Starbucks store for their morning (or early afternoon) coffee each day is that they had a bad experience with a McDonald's coffee early in their trip. If I have the details right, they had wanted milk in their coffee, and they had wanted to put the milk in themselves. Instead, they were told that the restaurant only had cream, and furthermore, that the attendants at McDonald's were required to add the cream themselves. So apparently Josh and Rachel ended up drinking coffee that was saturated with cream and tasted less than refreshing to their sensitive palates.

So yesterday morning, after eating at the Vagabond Diner in Hays, Kansas, they went over to a nice-looking local coffee shop and discovered it was closed. There was no Starbucks nearby that they knew of, so they reluctantly decided to get coffee at a McDonald's again.

This time, however, they were allowed to buy a container of milk and add the coffee themselves.

McDonald's Coffee and Milk The way non-Starbucks coffee was meant to be.

Thus fortified, they were able to do their drive until they managed to hit the Starbucks in Colby, Kansas.

Today, they're planning to drive to Casper, Wyoming. I'll try to have a report on that tomorrow.

Folks who are enjoying this blogging of my brother's family's drive should note that due to the Readercon convention, the report about the last few days of the trip may be delayed. They'll be arriving in Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday, July 20, just as the Readercon convention comes to an end.

(Basic message repeats: Rachel is looking for a group with which to go see the new X-Files movie at the 10 pm showing on the night of Friday July 25 at the Eugene Valley River Center movie theater. She already has her ticket. Get in touch if you'd like to go see the movie with her.)

[Josh & Rachel's Trip Picture Gallery]

Monday morning, Josh, Rachel, the kids, and the cats got a late start, because they had gotten in late the previous night. They woke up in Kansas City, Missouri, and when Josh called me in the afternoon he said that they really hadn't managed to get back onto the road until around noon.

Thank God for Starbucks.

Joshua Enjoys a Refreshing Starbucks Coffee

They spent much of the day driving on I-70. At 2:05 pm they passed into Kansas, but missed getting a picture of the "Welcome to Kansas" sign.

Around 3 pm they spotted and passed by the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. The problem with this trip is that even though they're passing through quite a lot of interesting places, they can't just leave the cats alone in a locked car. Either Josh or Rachel needs to stay with the cats at all times during the day. So even though one of them could take the kids to see something, that would mean leaving the other one alone and bored for an hour. (At least, I think that's what the issue is.)

I do wish they could have seen this place, though.

Oz Museum Sign One of the many places Josh, Rachel, and the kids were unable to visit.

Then again, I'm more into Oz than they are...so now Nomi and I have a reason to visit Kansas, so we can see the Oz Museum in Wamego.

Josh and the kids did get a chance to get out of the car at a candy factory called Grandma Horner's in Alma. He sent me a picture of their sign, but it came out blurry, so I won't bother posting it here. (It's in the gallery with all the other, unposted pictures.) Josh claimed that Grandma Horner's has a website, but I can't find it; if anyone else can, let me know.

And even if they don't have a website, they apparently have horses.

Josh, Emma, and Horses

Unless that was somewhere else.

Or maybe this is the candy place.

Josh, Rosa, Emma, and Noah

It's hard for me to keep track; Josh and Rachel send pictures when they can, and I've spoken with them on the phone each day, but sometimes it's hard to figure out which picture goes with which event. Also, not every picture is clear. He took a picture of a road sign that I think is supposed to give miles or population, but the text is unreadable. Anyway, it's in the gallery if you want to see it. (There are two pictures of Rachel from today there as well, but I didn't post them because I think they originally came out mirror-reversed. However, I think I've fixed that. See the Starbucks cup in Rachel's hand? The logo was originally flipped, and I don't think they do that.)

Anyway, last night they stayed in Hays, Kansas. Josh told me that they were looking to stay in a place halfway between Kansas City and Denver, and they had contemplated staying in WaKeeny, Kansas, but their travel advisor informed them that Hays would have more of the services they would need for their long trip. (I hope no one in WaKeeny takes offense at that; from their website, it does look like a nice place as well.)

Today they drive from Hays to Arvada, a suburb of Denver, Colorado, where they'll be staying with a friend of Rachel's. And I've discovered the joy of tracing their route on Google Maps.

(Basic message repeats: Rachel is looking for a group with which to go see the new X-Files movie at the 10 pm showing on the night of Friday July 25 at the Eugene Valley River Center movie theater. She already has her ticket. Get in touch if you'd like to go see the movie with her.)

[Josh & Rachel's Trip Picture Gallery]

Sunday morning, Josh, Rachel, the kids and the cats woke up in St. Louis, Missouri, and they spent the day driving across the state. Even though Josh has driven across the country with Rachel once before, I think he's experiencing culture shock, given some of the photos he's sent me.

We'll start with this sign.

We're Not in NYC Anymore...

Rachel told me that they're assuming it's okay for customers to bring in their rifles, so long as they aren't concealed. (Although how does one conceal a rifle? The mind boggles.)

The highlight of today's drive for their oldest daughter, Emma, was when they made the decision to stop in the town of Emma, Missouri, population 243.

Emma Gets Her Own Post Office

I suspect that she'll return there one day and run for mayor.

When they got to their hotel in Kansas City, Missouri, they found this bus emptying itself of passengers.

Holy Bus, Batman

According to what I understood from Rachel, the tourists spotted Josh and thought he was there to give them directions. I'm not surprised, given that his name is Joshua, after all.

When Rachel called me tonight (well, given when I'm posting, maybe it was last night), Josh was at a Walmart, buying cat litter for the cats. This is how they've been spending most of the trip, so I'm not surprised that they needed more cat litter.

Get Me Out of Here!

Monday they're driving from Kansas City to Hays, Kansas. Hays may have only 20,000 residents, but their website and Wikipedia page suggest that they may have some interesting stuff to see while there. Assuming they have the time.

In the meantime, I should really try to get to sleep.

(Basic message repeats: Rachel is looking for a group with which to go see the new X-Files movie at the 10 pm showing on the night of Friday July 25 at the Eugene Valley River Center movie theater. She already has her ticket. Get in touch if you'd like to go see the movie with her.)

[Josh & Rachel's Trip Picture Gallery]

Today is day two of the Great Drive, and Josh and Rachel made sure to send me lots more pictures for everyone's amusement.

They started in West Virginia, where they stayed last night. They went to an Amish farmer's market to get snacks for the trip, and before they left the state, they made sure to view the state capital in Charleston.

The Capitol Building, West Virginia 07-11-2008

They eventually made it to the border with Kentucky, thanks to Sue's help.

Sue, the Marvelous GPS 07-11-2008

Josh told me that they passed the Daniel Boone National Forest at some point. He also says that they keep seeing three crosses on the side of the road, like they did yesterday. He's wondering if it represents anything specific. Anyone know?

Apparently, they had a bad experience getting coffee at a McDonald's, but Josh was trying to tell me about it while his cell phone signal was low, and I was working, so I'm not clear on the details. However, there was a point at which all three kids had an hour-long temper tantrum when they stopped for food.

Also, apparently at one point they were attacked by vicious bales of hay, that rolled down the hill and tried to crush them.

Bales of Hay 07-11-2008 "Oh, no! We'll be hit by a bale of hay!"

But they escaped and stayed on the road...

On the Road 07-11-2008

More Road 07-11-2008

And then eventually found a Starbucks.

Ah, Starbucks 07-11-2008

(Pop quiz: name who else is in the photo, on the right side.)

Interestingly enough, around 4 pm they were near Lexington, Kentucky, and I IMed my publisher and suggested that he get in touch with them. But alas, it is not to be, as Josh & Rachel & co. are settling in at a Louisville hotel tonight.

Anyone in Louisville who wants to meet my brother, let me know.

(Basic message repeats: Rachel is looking for a group with which to go see the new X-Files movie at the 10 pm showing on the night of Friday July 25 at the Eugene Valley River Center movie theater. She already has her ticket. Get in touch if you'd like to go see the movie with her.)

[Josh & Rachel's Trip Picture Gallery]

Three years ago, I mentioned that my younger brother and his family had moved to Richmond, Virginia so that my brother could take a new job as the Associate Dean for Career Services at the University of Richmond School of Law. (See Meet My Younger Brother, but note that the first link no longer works.)

It was a big move for Josh and a milestone for all of us. For the few years before, Josh and his wife and family had been living in New York City, so I always knew that when we went to visit Mom we'd be able to see Josh as well. After he and his family moved to Richmond, it seemed unlikely that I'd get to see him as frequently as I had before.

Indeed, that turned out to be true. Nomi and I made it down to Richmond only once in the past few years, and that was primarily to attend RavenCon in 2006. (My RavenCon 2006 reports can be found here, here, and here.) As I reported, Josh picked us up from the hotel after the convention ended and took us to spend Sunday night in the house. It was the one and only time I visited him in Richmond.

And now he's moving on.

Today, Joshua, Rachel, and their three kids are beginning a ten-day drive across the country. What with Mom having died last year and other life issues, they've decided they want to be closer to Rachel's mother, who is their children's last surviving grandparent. So, in a few weeks, they'll arrive in Eugene, Oregon, where Josh will take on the role of Assistant Dean and Director of Career Services Office at the University of Oregon School of Law.

Josh, knowing me as I do, keeps pointing out that Eugene is a center for science fiction and fantasy writing. Maybe with him there, that'll finally give me the impetus to check out the Pacific Northwest.

I just hope that with the time difference we'll still be able to keep up our habit of talking on the phone a few times each week.