Someday we will refer to something as TimCon

So. It looks like I won't be going to WFC this year. Not really by choice, mind you. WFC is one of the few cons to cap their membership, which I applaud, and they've reached their cap. I was a little surprised to hear this. Last year I made the decision to go on August 19th (checked the blog, don't have robot memory) and had no trouble getting in. So, I asked myself, why have they reached their cap so quickly this year?

Neil Gaiman. He's the GoH. So I'm thinking, and forgive me if this offends you, but I think this year's WFC is going to be a fan con. A NeilCon, to be precise. So maybe missing isn't such a bad thing. I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun. Neil's people tend to be fun. And yes, I could put myself on the waiting list and hope something opens up, but that's just not my way. I'll see most of you at Worldcon, and then there will always be next year. Toronto, right? The Canadian WFCs tend to be smaller affairs anyway.

In the meantime I'm fully engaged in the next project. It's exciting to write something new, something completely unlike my previous work. I think I established some bad habits in Veridon. Nothing terrible, but I was still learning to write, and they were fundamental things in the narrative that couldn't really be corrected during the process. So I'm coming to this new project with a clean slate and the opportunity to apply those lessons. Anyway. I'm feeling good. Two days ago I woke up with what could only be described as optimism in my heart. I was looking forward to the day. I don't do that, especially when I didn't have anything specific to look forward to. Just the day, like any other day. I guess I'm trying to say that I'm enjoying things more than I used to. Or something. Whatever.

It is also my way to be awesome

I'm not even going to apologize for not posting since January. You read this blog, you know full well that I'm going to disappear for months at a time. It is my way.

I have been busy. I present this, not as an excuse for my absence, but merely as a note to mark the time. Our office moved, I finished Dead of Veridon, I did a lot of pondering about my writing career. These things have taken a lot of my attention. And I've begun a new writing project, about which I am alternately thrilled and terrified. I really don't know what to think about it yet; I just know how to do it. Anyway.

I'm reading a very curious book right now, about sword fighting. Medieval sword fighting, specifically, or at least the recreation of same. I will tell you one thing about this subject: It is *contentious*. The first half of the book is essentially a vitriolic screed against various other factions in the HEMA (Historic European Martial Arts) community, and their clearly uninformed opinions on such matters as the validity of parrying, the effect of a sword cut on the human leg, and the proper value of "cut training". Cut training is the practice of using high quality medieval reproduction swords to slice open various objects. The purpose is to learn the proper way to strike a limb, or jab a torso, or hack a skull. It's interesting. He even goes into some detail about how to set up mail clad targets, and the proper way to strike with a sword to sunder the mail.

There are two thoughts that come to mind. It seems to me that most of the people in this community like to play at swords, and to them gently tapping your biceps with a length of foam wrapped plastic pipe is sufficient. To the author of this book, the goal is to learn the martial art of Medieval Europe. I can understand his frustration with the former group. Completely. And they are two entirely different mindsets, so different, in fact, that proponents of one group are probably incapable of understanding the reasoning behind the other group's belief structure.

For example, some sparring groups disallow leg strikes. Others require that you go to your knees when struck in the leg. There are established teams whose fighting style actually improves once they've acquired the "ground position". Please, for one second, consider the idiocy of this. Even a glancing blow to, say, your calf with the kind of weapons we're talking about is going to nick bone. Imagine the meat damage of that. Now, imagine that you're an actual knight whose livelihood and, for that matter, life is dependent on being able to "hew" various things in "twain". I imagine actual knights performed a bit of cut training, don't you think? And, when called upon, would be more than capable of putting steel through meat, bone and mail. Now. Get on your knees and keep fighting.

You see the kind of vitriol this book contains. I like it, because I'm trying to get at the legitimate feel of medieval combat. A lot of the demonstrations I've seen have revolved around points and tapping. And you can't write about that.