Well, here we are again, at the end of another year. 2011 has been a crazy good one. This year I went to Taos Toolbox, went to a couple of conventions, attended the Hugos and World Fantasy Awards with my multiply-nominated significant other, sold a couple of stories, became an Active member of SFWA, and got married. Not a bad list.

2012 is going to bring a lot of changes. The first one–and to me, it’s a big one–is that I’m leaving Lightspeed after the February issue. January will mark two great years of working on the magazine. It’s been an amazing experience–obviously it’s how I got to know and fall in love with John, but it has also been a tremendous education in writing, editing, and publishing. I have had the privilege of working with some incredibly talented and dedicated editors and authors in my time at Lightspeed. I really can’t express how grateful I am to have had such a tremendous opportunity.

But it’s also a pretty big time sink, and time is something I don’t have enough of. Making the decision to leave was very difficult–I have strong ties to the project on a number of levels, and tears were shed, but I think it’s the right thing to do for now.

It’s also more than a little bit scary. Ever since I first got involved in the SFF community, I’ve been attached to a project–first StarShipSofa (narrator), then Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (podtern), then Lightspeed (assistant editor). Now I’m just…me. Christie Yant, writer. I had to get new business cards and everything. (Note to self: update bio!)

There will be other changes, too–we’ll be looking for a new house in the spring, a place that’s Ours from the start (I had lived in this house already when John moved out here). The right move could change my financial outlook considerably (for the better). I already have my new office decorated in my head. :)

I’ll have a daughter leaving for college in the fall. I can’t imagine a bigger change than that. She’ll be eighteen next month. It’s hard to believe. She was four years old and making art on my bedroom wall with ill-gotten nail polish not that long ago, or so it seems.

And of course there’s writing. 2012 needs to be the Year of the Novel for me. I’m sure there will be short stories here and there, but I need to get my rewrite of Found Objects done, based on the feedback and massive amount of assistance from my Taos classmates; I need to get the graphic novel finished; I need to draft Temperance. (Hopefully all in my new office. I MAY or MAY NOT be spending an inordinate amount of time daydreaming about that.)

Between now and the start of the new year I’ll be spending my time with my family, both immediate and extended. I want to back away from the internet for a little while–do some reading, go for walks, clear my head, and start the new year fresh.

Change is the only constant, and I’m excited about all of the changes coming up for me. I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season, and that all of the changes in your own life are positive ones. May 2012 be our best year yet.

Well, we hope that Fireside Magazine will happen.

Fireside Magazine is the brain child of Brian White, a copy editor, self-described “word nerd,” and avid reader of short fiction. Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s anthology Stories, Brian wanted a regular periodical that crossed genres and just made you want to turn the page. So, being the intrepid gentleman that he is, he decided to make one. Here, I’ll let him tell you what it’s all about:

My favorite thing about the boy scouts was camping, and the best thing about that was the nights we’d gather around a bonfire, impossibly big in the eyes of a scrawny 11-year-old city boy. We’d get settled, aching happily from a moonlit game of capture-the-flag, and then the scout master would tell the story. … I wanted to publish something that crossed genres, be it sci-fi, horror, fantasy, crime, mystery, or wherever else I could find good stories, like the ones I used to hear sitting around those fires.

The first issue–if it’s funded–will include four short stories and one comic. The short fiction line-up includes Tobias Buckell, Chuck Wendig, Ken Liu, and, well, me (zomg did I really just get to type that?). The comic will be crafted by the creative team of D.J. Kirkbride and Adam P. Knave. Cover art will be provided by the fabulous Amy Houser.

For now the issues will each be funded by Kickstarter campaigns, with the hope that eventually one issue will pay for the next. Fireside will be available as both a print magazine and an ebook. Right now there are plenty of rewards available for supporters of the campaign, including autographed copies of the print edition, Tuckerization (your name in one of our stories), and original art by Amy.

For readers, Fireside promises to be a genre-crossing dose of good reading. For writers and artists, Brian wants to pay creatives a good wage. If he succeeds, I think we all win. He could use your help.

You can pledge your donation and choose your reward at the Kickstarter site.

The charming Anthony Cardno has interviewed me over on his site. Anthony writes book reviews and interviews people way more interesting than myself with some regularity on his blog. You can follow him on Twitter @talekyn. Go show him some love. :)

Where to find me during WFC:

Friday, October 28

12:00-12:30 p.m. – Reading (omg my first solo reading!)
“The Three Feats of Agani” (short story)

8:00-10:00 p.m. – Mass Signing
Look for me in Gaiman and Vess’s lines, carrying a copy of Stardust ;), or at JJA’s table.

Saturday, October 29

2:00-3:00 p.m. – Way of the Wizard reading: “The Magician and the Maid and Other Stories”

8:00-9:00 p.m. – Inkpunks reading : “This Rough Magic” (forthcoming from Daily SF). Drinks and snackage will be served.

Sunday, October 30

1:00-3:00 p.m. – World Fantasy Awards Banquet

Because John is up for two of them this year!

You can probably also find me at my husband’s events throughout the con.

Walter Jon Williams just posted on his blog:

I’m happy to announce that Taos Toolbox 2012, the master class for writers of science fiction and fantasy, will take place June 10-23, 2012, in Taos Ski Valley.

Teaching will be Walter Jon Williams, Nancy Kress, and special lecturer Daniel Abraham.

Submissions will be accepted beginning December 1. Start honing your manuscripts!

For real. Taos Toolbox was the best investment I could have made in my craft and career. Go forth and apply!

August, 2002. It’s the middle of the night. There is a newborn Gracie sleeping in her swing behind me, because she has a cold and it’s easier for her to breathe and sleep sitting propped up like that. Danni is asleep in her room, getting a good night’s rest; she’s about to start third grade.* My life is made of bottles and diapers and laundry and multiplication tables. Grace’s dad and I were both recently laid off and so have the luxury of sleeping in shifts so that we can each get a full eight hours; I have taken the night shift.

I’ve given up on World News Tonight and am sitting at our faux-Mission-style Kmart desk, staring at the computer screen. I’m 30 years old, and I have recently decided that it’s time for me to start writing again. I’ve realized that writers don’t just spring fully formed from the brow of Zeus, they actually learn how to do it, and they practice. I now have some experience both mentoring and being mentored in other areas of life, and I know that there are people out there who can help me learn how to achieve my goals, people who I can learn the craft from. So I search the web.

First I find Holly Lisle’s website, and join Forward Motion–my first steps into the writing community.

And I find the SFWA website. I read every article they have posted: about writing, about publishing, about the business, about the craft. These are pros I’m reading, the people I want to learn from, and I’m trying to take it all in. I want to know what to expect, and I’m getting that from these articles. It takes me a few nights; when I’m done I go back and read them all again.

Ten years, I say to myself. Ten years seems reasonable. I could be a member in ten years.

Flash forward to 2006, and I’m in my 6×12 office that we’ve built in the garage specifically as a writing space. The room smells heavily of the pumpkin spice fragrance oil I got at Pier 1. I’m positioned at the heavy oak desk we bought at the salvage store. I’ve been to the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and have learned how to workshop. I’m on the SFWA site reading Myrtle the Manuscript for what, maybe the fifth time? Because now I’m finally finishing things and sending them out in large manila envelopes with SASEs, and I want to remind myself what I’m in for. I’m eager to collect my first rejection. I plan to frame it and hang it here beside my desk.

Six more years, I think. I’m on my way.

Present day: This morning I made my third professional sale. I am so proud to be a part of this book. It was a difficult story for me to write, because the subject matter is so far outside my comfort zone, and I did it on short notice. I worked very hard, really challenged myself, and it paid off. It’s a very satisfying feeling.

But what rivals that is that today I upgraded my SFWA membership from Associate to Active.

Grace is nine years old now. I gave myself ten years, and I did it in nine.

I’m not sure why this is such a big deal to me. Maybe it’s just that I’ve never set a long-term goal like that before. To say “I will do this thing in ten years” and then keep taking those steps, one day at a time, and wake up one day and find that I’m here, and a year early–I’m proud of myself. I want to hug that 2002 me, and the 2006 me, and the 2008 me that was getting really tired, and the 2010 me that was so sure that first sale was a total fluke and it was never going to happen again.

So if you’re out there trudging, take heart. Every day is bringing you closer to your goal. One foot in front of the other. Keep going.

I reached a milestone today, but the journey ain’t over.

Back to work.

* edited for bad math.

I have a new post up at Inkpunks about my freakazoid application of structure to short fiction.

I <3 my white board.

Nader Elhefnawy of Tangent reviewed Year’s Best Science Fiction & Fantasy 2011, and had some kind words for my story.

Thanks, Nader! Glad you liked it. Made my day. :)

John got the Proposal post, so I get the wedding post.

We have amazing friends and family, that much is clear. Which is really why we decided to throw a wedding in the first place–we talked about eloping, but we knew that there are people in our lives who really felt invested in our relationship, and rightly so. It seemed like the thing to do would be to throw a party. So we did. In Reno. During Worldcon. We held it in the morning, so as to only minimally interfere with Worldcon programming, and had a brunch reception. And it was awesome.

We went with our hearts and our senses of humor in this, so my hair remained its usual pink and red, and my dress was blue. John and his best man, Rob Bland, wore Converse with their suits. Our parents were seated to symphonic Metallica, and we walked to the theme from Friday Night Lights. I didn’t have a florist–I made flowers out of a 1940s book of quotations (carefully removing the pages with quotes from Hitler and Stalin) and little planets for the centerpieces for the reception, and the bouquets and boutonnieres. The table assignments were printed on bookmarks designed by my oldest daughter, Danni, which we set out in vintage SFF mags for the guests to take home. We decided against a cake, and had donuts instead. My kids were my bridesmaids, my oldest dressed in her usual Lolita garb.

We hired wedding planner Melody Holland, who we found through our friend Erin Stocks–she made everything so much easier! She found the venue (The Grove at South Creek) and the photographer (Zinser Photography) and really it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Our friend John Remy acted as officiant–he and I had both got our ordinations from Universal Life late one night last year, and when John proposed I knew I wanted Remy to officiate. He graciously did all of the legwork (there is quite a bit involved in getting legal in NV if you don’t already live there.) When it came to a ceremony, we got a little bit stuck. Nothing we found online was really speaking to us. We were talking about it in the car one day, and one of us commented that we wished we could find something like Vylar Kaftan‘s short story from the first issue of Lightspeed, “I’m Alive, I Love You, I’ll See You in Reno.” She used the language of science so beautifully in that story to explain love and relationships. And we had bonded over that story when we first started dating. The natural solution to the problem of a ceremony came to us: ask Vylar to write it for us! John emailed her, and she enthusiastically agreed. We tweaked it a little bit, adding some humor and our personalities to it, and in the end it was exactly what we wanted.

Morgan Dempsey put together our playlist when I was just too overwhelmed to think about it, mostly instrumental metal. And then the capper–there were several people who weren’t going to be able to make it, and Jaym Gates suggested that we stream the wedding for them. She arranged it all, and I was so happy and grateful to know that my brother was “there,” along with our friends Adam, Robyn, Molly, Paula, Genevieve, and more. (I actually haven’t seen the recording yet, so I don’t know for sure who all tuned in!)

The best part, we agreed later, was walking to the dais together and seeing our friends and family there, all smiling, all so happy for us, all glad to be there. For me it was a powerful reminder of how much my life has changed since I met John–how happy my family is, how close my friends are, how supportive our community is, and how very lucky we are to be a part of it.

During the ceremony John’s friend Dave Kirtley read a passage from Chapter 18 of So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams–I had completely forgotten about that passage, and it was really perfect–and my dear friend Wendy Wagner read a wedding poem by Neil Gaiman, at which point she cried, and then we cried, and everyone who had been holding it together so well up to that point–well, they cried. John and I spoke our vows, Remy proclaimed us (in very egalitarian terms) husband and wife…and we high-fived, Tweeted our status, and THEN kissed.

When it was over we took pictures (omg the pictures) and ate brunch. John thanked everyone for coming, and thanked individuals who had helped–somehow we neglected to mention John Remy specifically, which I’ve felt terrible about ever since, so Remy, THANK YOU. Rob gave a toast in which he very accurately described John as a man of transformation–I know how much Rob loves John, and vice-versa, and I’m positive that now everyone who was there does too.

And then, in lieu of a first dance, it was time for the First Family Rock Band Session. We had practiced as a family ahead of time, and I’ll tell you, Grace can sing a mean (and adorable) GLaDOS.

The rest of it was mingling and chatting and Rock Band. By all accounts people had a great time, which was of course the point. Pablo Defendini did an excellent job of live-tweeting the proceedings (#worldconwedding, #yantadams, #adamsyant if you’d like see.)

I won’t get the professional pictures back for a month, but in the meantime we did ask Vylar if we could post the ceremony.

We’re so grateful to everyone who came all the way to Reno, and thanks to everyone for your congratulations and good wishes.

And thus begins the collaboration of a lifetime.

Wedding Ceremony, by Vylar Kaftan

Welcome

Welcome, everyone–friends, family, and members of our community. Thank you for coming to celebrate the wedding of John and Christie. They will start their married life together in the presence–and tele-presence–of the people they care most about. The ceremony will take only a few minutes, and Christie and John are truly delighted and grateful that you could join them today to celebrate their commitment to each other.

There is a trend these days toward turning electronics off during weddings–but this is not that wedding. Please feel free to live-Tweet the proceedings. As we all know, John and Christie wouldn’t have it any other way. That said, please do silence your phones.

Definition of marriage

I’ll start with a definition of marriage.

Our vast universe consists mostly of empty space, with a few particles scattered throughout like lonely specks. In a few places–like the scattered galaxies, and deep bellies of stars, and the far-flung planets in distant star systems–these particles gather, and form celestial bodies.

All the matter in the universe, all the stars and their afterbirth that fuels the life in all of us–this matter is in each of us. We are all born of stardust, and we spend a few glorious years thinking and breathing until returning to our origins. Every part of our beings was born lightyears away, in a galaxy we most likely have not named, nor even imagined.

These atoms that form us–once stars, they became elements, and then the far-flung planets of distant solar systems. They became water and rocks and clouds, and countless miniscule life forms. And these atoms became us. The sheer improbability that humans would exist here, on this planet, thinking and breathing and loving each other, is one of the great mysteries of the universe.

We don’t know entirely how it happened, but only that it has.

And that is the marvel of marriage: that of all these atoms, around fourteen octillion of them combined to form Christie and John, and that the two hundred billion neurons in their minds brought them together here today. John and Christie, and all that they are, join their lives today with a bond science will not break. They commit to a lifetime as partners in love.

That is the marvel, and we are here today to witness it, and share the joy and amazement of life and love and everything we hold dear.

Readings

David Barr Kirtley – from “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish” by Douglas Adams
Wendy Wagner – a wedding poem, by Neil Gaiman

Community Support

Now I’d like to ask the community that Christie and John are so much a part of, and so cherish, to support them in their commitment to each other.

All of us gathered here today–we are a part of this same universe, these same shared elements that are John and Christie. As members of the human race, born of the same stardust, we share in their joys and their heartbreaks. We provide the constellations in which their stars shine. We are part of their universe. I’d like to ask everyone gathered here to support John and Christie–to care for them, to respect them, to honor them as they build their lives together as a couple. Will you who are present here give Christie and John the gift of your friendship and love? Please say “we will.”

Audience: We will.

Vows

And now we come to the vows. Both John and Christie are choosing each other, and their vows. While they did not crowd-source their vows, they did store them in the cloud. John… [John pulls iPhones from pockets.]

Christie: John, I promise to love, honor, and cherish you as we move through our lives. I vow to spend my life with you. I am so humbled and grateful that you have chosen me. I will always be your partner, your ally, your collaborator, and your friend. I look forward to many years together. The best is yet to come.

[Christie gives John a ring]

John: Christie, I promise to love, honor, and cherish you as we move through our lives. I feel like my life truly began when I met you, and I never thought I could be this happy. But even so, I know the best is still to come, and in the presence of our family and friends,with these words I pledge to share my life and my self with you.

[John gives Christie a ring]

JR: Christie, do you take John as your husband?

Christie: I do.

JR: John, do you take Christie as your wife?

John: I do.

JR: With the exchanges of these rings and vows, they declare their marriage. We have all witnessed John and Christie as husband and wife, partners for life. Christie and John, you may now high five.

[John and Christie high-five]

JR: And Tweet your status.

[Rob returns iPhones, John and Christie tweet]

**SMOOCHY**

In the past week, I have:

• Finished nine centerpieces, three bouquets, and three boutonnieres in the nick of time
• Driven to Reno with my fiancé and two children
• Attended Worldcon
• Watched my friend Alan Smale win the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
• Arrived late to the induction of our newest Inkpunk, Galen Dara
• Married said fiancé, thus leveling him up to Husband
• Spent time with all manner of family and friends
• Prepared and practiced an acceptance speech on behalf of Tony C. Smith, who kindly designated me as his accepter if he won the Hugo for the second time
• Attended the Hugos Reception, and had my picture taken with the other nominees in the Best Fanzine category
• Was briefly disappointed for Tony when the Sofa didn’t win, but that was quickly wiped away by the sheer boundless gratitude and enthusiasm of the Drink Tank winners.
• Held my husband’s hand as he lost two Hugos (but still. TWO NOMINATIONS. In the first year of Lightspeed!)
• Spent the last night of the con in a hotel hallway with some of my favorite people in the world. (Adam Israel, you were sorely missed.)
• Caught Conplague and drove nine hours home
• Arrived to a home decorated in a just-married theme by my dear friend Michelle, a very helpful rejection from GVG, a Boba Fett t-shirt from John, and the latest edition of Realms of Fantasy, in which Alan has a story.

Am now sitting happily in my own bed, doped up on Aleve-D and prepping the next submission.

I really do intend to get back to the Taos Toolbox overview, but things were just too crazy with the wedding and Worldcon coming up. They’re over now, though, thus returning my brain to its full processing power.

More soon.