Jay Lake: Writer

[personal|travel] Tired, heading home

I’m badly underslept after a good but complicated day yesterday. I’ll report more when my head is clearer, but for now, I leave you with this image from my Omaha birthday party (not JayCon) last night:

That pretty much says it all.

Flying home now.

Photo © 2013, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.

This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Tags: Omaha, Personal, Photos, Travel

Posted: 3:20 am Fri June 07 2013 | Comments(13) |

[travel] And we are away to Omaha

Lisa Costello and I are about to head to the airport for our trip to Omaha. We’ll be visiting the children of the corn, along with the Day Jobbe and whatnot. My actual 49th birthday will pass whilst we’re there as well.

See some, all or none of you in the jewel of the Midwest.

Tags: Omaha, radiantlisa, Travel, work

Posted: 5:12 am Sat June 01 2013 | Comments(5) |

[travel] Off to Omaha tomorrow

For those playing along with the home game edition of “Where’s Jay”, I am off to Omaha tomorrow. Lisa Costello comes with me. She is interested in seeing my workplace and meeting my social and professional friends there.

The Omaha Beach Party meets next Tuesday, 6/4. (If you’re in the area and want to see me, this is functionally an Open Dinner. Contact me for details.) Thursday, 6/6, is my actual 49th birthday, so we’ll be having a big dinner for me there mixing both groups of my friends. Home 6/7 for, among other things, my family birthday dinner.

See some, all or none of you there.

Tags: friends, Omaha, Personal, radiantlisa, Travel, work

Posted: 5:25 am Fri May 31 2013 | Comments(4) |

[travel|cancer] Going home today, various other thoughts

I am flying home from Rio Hondo today. (Well, actually, we are driving from here to Taos to Santa Fe to Albuquerque, then I’m flying home from there. I will be about 17 hours door-to-door in transit.) I have been extremely happy to be here, but it will be nice to get back to a decent amount of O₂ in my lungs. At this altitude I am always short of breath, sometimes extremely so. And always a bit fatigued. There has been much critique, much discussion of writing and publishing, a certain amount of writer gossip, some strongly personal conversations, way too much excellent food (if that is indeed possible) and not enough sleep all around.

Ever since the terminal diagnosis I’ve been bouncing around like a superball inside a paint shaker. The Nebs, then here. Now home again. All this busy-ness has kept my fear somewhat at bay, but it creeps in. I am also now scheduled for a CT scan on Tuesday, which always lends its own special terror to my inner life. I’ve been able to forget the fear for swathes of time as I’ve been so immersed in writers and writing culture, but I am afraid.

Very afraid.

Lie awake at night in bed afraid. Burst into tears occasionally afraid.

Most people don’t really want to die. And few of us get to plan our deaths. At least not at my age. Yesterday, talking to my dear friend John Pitts on the phone, he asked what I’d done about planning my funeral. These are the conversations I have these days. Sometimes I despair.

Then I look around, go back to my writing or my friends or a good book, and keep going. I cannot live on fear and despair, and I don’t like giving them power over me. These are my days. I try to spend them well.

Which is what I have been doing here at Rio Hondo, among friends and writing. Spending my diminishing ration of days well.

Tags: Cancer, Conventions, events, friends, health, New Mexico, Personal, Travel, Writing

Posted: 4:44 am Sun May 26 2013 | Comments(21) |

[travel] Off to Rio Hondo

Up very early on quite short sleep to fly from SJC to LAX to ABQ, then vehiculate to Taos via Santa Fe. We’ll see Lisa Costello on our way through Santa Fe for appetizers or dinner, depending on the timing. I’ll be all day door to door.

And I’ll be all week in writer paradise.

Tags: California, events, radiantlisa, Travel

Posted: 5:33 am Sun May 19 2013 | Comments(7) |

[writing|travel] Off to the Nebs, then Rio Hondo

Yesterday Lisa Costello departed for New Mexico, where she is attending a conference in Santa Fe. This morning, Jersey Girl in Portland and I skedaddle to San Jose for SFWA’s Nebula Awards Weekend. My Dad and (step)Mom will be there tomorrow, as will my Aunt B— and Uncle L— from Texas. the_child also flies down to San Jose tomorrow to attend the Nebula Awards banquet and ceremony with the able assistance of Crystal Black.

I’ll do some socializing and maybe some business whilst in San Jose, then I’ll have the fun of watching myself lose the Nebula. Let’s put it this way: I don’t even have an acceptance speech prepared. In the extremely unlikely event that I win, I’ll wing it. Luckily for both me and my potential audience, I am ferociously good at winging it.

Crack of Sunday, I light out for New Mexico my own self. This trip is completely unrelated to Lisa’s, as I am heading for Rio Hondo, but our automobile will pause whilst passing through Santa Fe on the way from Albuquerque to Taos for us to have a snack and visit with Lisa, who by amusing coincidence will still be there. After that, I’m for a week at Rio Hondo. (I’m not sure about the connectivity at Rio Hondo, so blogging may be erratic next week.)

All in all, a very good ten days or so coming up.

Tags: Awards, California, Child, Conventions, events, Family, friends, jerseygirl, radiantlisa, Travel, Writing

Posted: 4:50 am Fri May 17 2013 | Comments(19) |

[cancer|travel] Something you can do for me

ETA: There may be a fee for sharing or donating miles. If your airline tells you this is true, please ignore this request. My apologies for faulty research.

A lot of people have asked what they can do for me. Unless you’re physically and socially close to me, my answer to that has generally been an appreciation for good will and best wishes. Cancer is a journey that I ultimately must walk alone, no matter how many people are prepared to walk beside me. No one but me goes under the needle or the knife, and it’s my personal extinction out on the table now.

That being said, you have been profoundly supportive. The Sequence A Science Fiction Writer fundraiser was a runaway success. (And watch this space for some details about how I am planning to do some giving back with that.) Likewise the letters and comments I receive via email and social media and the US postal service. All that love and support means a great deal to me.

However, there is something else you can do for me. I’m trying to plan something pretty amazing for the_child (and hopefully Lisa Costello) this summer, and I need some more frequent flyer miles to make it work.

If you’re fortunate enough to have mileage in either American Aadvantage or United Mileage Plus, or allied programs within the OneWorld and Star Alliance networks, I am soliciting mileage donations for my plans. Can’t spill the beans quite yet, though I will provide full disclosure as soon as circumstances permit. If I am donated excess mileage beyond my needs, that mileage will eventually be donated in turn to charity.

Should you be interested, please contact me directly for my account number and related information. And thank you so much for even considering this.

Tags: Cancer, Child, health, Personal, radiantlisa, Travel

Posted: 5:29 am Tue May 14 2013 | Comments(38) |

[travel|conventions] Off to San Diego and Gaslight Gathering

In a couple of hours, Lisa Costello, the_child, and I are off to the airport to fly to San Diego for Gaslight Gathering. Those fine folks have invited me to be their Guest of Honor. How could I say no?

This afternoon when we arrive, we’ll be visiting Illumina, the company that performed the primary analysis for my Whole Genome Sequencing. There I will give my talk on cancer and genomics from the patient perspective. After that, we’ll be the whole weekend at the convention.

The Gaslight Gathering folks have been incredibly kind and generous, offering me all sorts of support. I cannot thank them enough for the invitation, and very much look forward to spending the weekend with that crew. If you’re in southern California, especially San Diego, drop in and see me.

Tags: California, Cancer, Child, Conventions, events, health, radiantlisa, steampunk, Travel

Posted: 6:27 am Thu May 02 2013 | Comments(21) |

[travel|events] My upcoming appearance schedule, as it stands today

For those playing along with the home game edition of “Where’s Jay”, here’s my current appearance schedule. Subject very much to changes in my health, of course.

Date	Event
Tuesday, April 23rd	Wordos in Eugene, OR, for a discussion of my Nebula- and Hugo-nominated novella, “The Stars Do Not Lie” (with Lisa Costello in attendance)
Thursday, May 2nd	Speaking at Illumina Corp in San Diego on Whole Genome Sequencing from the patient perspective (with both the_child and Lisa Costello in attendance)
Friday, May 3rd through Sunday, May 5th	Guest of Honor at Gaslight Gathering (with both the_child and Lisa Costello in attendance)
Wednesday, May 8th	Meeting with my oncologist to discuss current developments, the formal diagnosis and treatment plan
Friday, May 17th through Saturday, May 18th	Nebula Awards Weekend in San Jose, CA (with both the_child and Jersey Girl in Portland in attendance)
Everything after this point is subject to change depending on the exigencies of cancer treatment per my oncology consultation on May 8th
Sunday, May 19th through Sunday, May 26th	Rio Hondo writing retreat in Taos, NM
Saturday, June 1st through Friday, June 7th	Work trip to Omaha, NE (with Lisa Costello in attendance)
Saturday, 15th	JayCon XIII [ jlake.com | LiveJournal ] here in Portland, OR (with various other festivities TBA around the weekend, pretty much everyone in attendance)
Friday, June 28th through Sunday, June 30th	Locus Awards Weekend, Seattle, WA (with Lisa Costello in attendance)
Thursday, August 29th through Monday, September 2nd	LoneStarCon 3, San Antonio, TX (with both the_child and Lisa Costello in attendance)

Tags: California, Cancer, Child, Conventions, events, health, jerseygirl, Omaha, radiantlisa, Seattle, Texas, Travel, work

Posted: 5:08 am Mon April 22 2013 | Comments(5) |

[travel] Once more I return to the Lone Star state

Heading to the land of my ancestors, what with me being a seventh-generation Texan and all. Off to Austin shortly, will be in San Antonio tomorrow through Sunday for the Paradise Lost writing retreat. We’ll be having dinners here and there about the Riverwalk area if you’re around, drop me a note.

Tags: Conventions, events, Texas, Travel

Posted: 5:36 am Wed April 10 2013 | Comments(6) |