GCLS Author Guest Blog: D JORDAN REDHAWK

D Jordan Redhawk is another author that I didn’t *officially* meet at the Minneapolis conference in 2012.  I did chat with her a bit at the Bella table.  And I’ve been a fan of her Xenaverse fan fiction.   But, beyond that, there were no real formal introductions.  Since that time, we’ve become friends on Facebook and I’ve found her to be quite witty and insightful. (She’s a great “poking” buddy, too!)  I was fortunate enough to win the bidding in an auction for her Sanguine trilogy – autographed, even!  I shall have to remedy that “no official introduction” thing this year.

Read about Redhawk’s first GCLS conference experience here.

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Golden Crown Literary Society… What a great group of women!

I’m not a joiner. I’m terminally shy, the ultimate introvert. The idea of attending one of these things was intriguing, but not a likely occurance. Too far away. Too expensive. Too…too.

(Did I mention I’m terminally shy? I go to the local annual science fiction convention every year. Even though I know the majority of the con-committee as well as several attendees, I still end up a wallflower, forever feeling on the outide looking in.)

Last year, though… Last year I had a new book out with Bella Books. It needed promoting, and I needed to meet my new publishers. With some financial finagling (and convincing my BFF, Shawn, to come along and share hotel costs,) I forced myself outside my comfort zone and attended.

Wow.

What took me so long?

I met so many wonderful people — some I’d conversed with on Facebook, others through email, and many more brand new friends: Lida, Heidi and Jenny, Tanai, Jeanine, Vera, Cheyne…I can’t even begin to name them all.

I also had the opportunity to catch up with folks I haven’t seen face-to-face in years: KG, Brenda, MacD, Cathy, Tiffany, SX, Blayne. I could go on for days.

I attended some wonderful panels.

* Catherine Friend’s “Six Scenes to Get Unstuck” was exactly what I neeed to move past an issue I’ve been having in a future cyberpunk book.

* “Dare to Speculate” with keynote speaker Jewelle Gomez filled my mind with ideas for another novel. (Not to mention I got to crack jokes back and forth with Jeanine Hoffman. Met Tanai there, too!)

* A panel on women in the military and the dearth of fiction that deals with the topic.

* “Keeping the Romance Alive” with a number of notable authors that was quite entertaining.

On KG’s suggestion, I also attended the GCLS board meeting. I’m not a political person (my wife’s primary complaint of me,) and any meeting that requires Robert’s Rules of Order is political in my book. I thought I’d be bored to tears.

I was wrong again.

These ladies care a lot about their lesbian world, both the literature and beyond. It shows in their attention to detail, not only with the con itself but in all aspects of working together to make this organization a welcoming, wonderful influence in our market.

As MacD would say, “Huzzah!”

All in all, it was a fabulous experience that I hope to repeat this year in Dallas. I’m still putting the pennies away and scraping the bottom of the peanut butter jar to stretch my funds. (I’ve also conned my BFF into footing half the hotel bill again this year. YAY!)

I hope to be there in 2013. Hope to see you there as well! If you do get the chance, drop by the Bella Books table — I’ll be hanging with a crazy fun group of women, waiting to see you!

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Known to many readers as the author of the beloved and enduring Xenaverse fan fiction Tiopa Ki Lakota, D Jordan Redhawk was born in California, and raised in the wilds of Idaho, from Lewiston to Boise and all points between. After three years in Alabama, Western Germany, and Georgia (courtesy of the United States Army Military Police Corp), she settled in Portland, Oregon. She makes her living in the hospitality industry and shares her life with her wife of twenty-five years, and two furkids of the feline variety.