getting ready to go…

I remembered the pin. I found the money card. I’m charging the US cell phone. I must remember to /bring/ the US cell phone. o.O The Dana is charged. The bags are packed, one smaller one inside one larger one so I can Bring Stuff Home. I have a toothbrush. I have all the various pieces of paper which masquearade as tickets to get me from points A to B and so on and so forth. I have business cards and I have my Splendid Dayplanner with phone numbers and meet-up plans.

I have two pairs of shoes plus the ones I’m going to wear on the plane. I don’t think I’ve ever packed like such a girl in my life.

I have no books packed. I should bring at least a couple, as I imagine even my redoubtable brain will not wish to write for the entire 18 hours of the trip.

I think I’m prepared. And I don’t even leave for four hours yet!

1: What do you make of the Irish SF cons you’ve been to so far?

I’ve totally enjoyed them. I like that they’re small so you actually get a chance to talk to everybody, and the programming has been interesting enough to be worth going to, and the people are just wonderful. This is the first time I’ve ever been to conventions–I’ve been to several writers’ conferences, but conventions are different creatures, and the Irish ones have been a splendid introduction to the SF fan world.

2: Tell us more about your comic?

Taking a cue from my own earlier posting about summarizing a story in 15 words or less… When Frankie Kemp’s four year old son is killed through street violence, she turns to costumed vigilantism in a world without superheroes.

I like to think of it as being an exploration of grief and healing using superhero tropes. We see a hell of a lot of that kind of story, people driven to the edge by loss, in comic books, but not so much actual moving through an arc of mourning and healing, so that’s what I want to do with it. (If I put it that way, doesn’t it sound *girly*?) The story actually begins with superheroes being introduced into the world, so Frankie (Chance) has got to re-define her place in a world /with/ superheroes, and that re-definition triggers having to finally deal with her loss.

3: Do you ever regret moving to Ireland?

Um. No! Especially when I read that it’s -1F where my in-laws live, or that Anchorage got 6 inches of wet snow. :) I have periodic moments of, “Good heavens, what have we done?” but — well. This sounds rather depressing and woe-is-me, and it’s not intended to, but my life is generally so isolated that aside from the scenery having changed, it’s really not very *different* for me, living here. I’m very much hoping that this next year, now that my appalling workload has lifted, I’ll remedy that.

There are moments when I feel like a coward for fleeing the fascist imperialist state the U.S. has become instead of staying to fight, but I generally get over it pretty fast.

4: Was there any one thing, more than any other, that surprised you about Ireland?

…aside from the fact that everybody keeps telling us how rainy it is, and how glorious it’s actually been, not *really*. Most of what’s weird (aside from the lacksadaisical time frames in which things happen) are the foods we can’t get here. Chocolate chips, for example, are *absurdly* expensive for teeny tiny bags. Very strange. :)

5: How did you and Ted meet?

I think we met at my 20th birthday party, which was held 6 months to the day after my 20th birthday (it was a surprise party, and wow, was I surprised). We ended up together after my boyfriend graduated and left and he (Ted) was dating a friend of mine (), so I decided he would be a nice safe unobtainable object to have a crush on while I got over the boyfriend. But then and Ted broke up and eventually Ted and I ended up together. takes credit for this. :)

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1. If you’d like, leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.” (I only promise to do the first 5.)
2. I will respond by asking you five questions of a very intimate and creepily personal nature. Or, you know, not so creepy/personal. Whatever.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you ask them five questions.