post-reader’s studio recovery

I guess it’s Wednesday morning now, right? Sheesh, it’s well past 1 am.

I got home from the Reader’s Studio on Sunday afternoon and promptly crashed. Fell asleep, didn’t get up ’til 10 pm, wrote for a bit, went back to bed. Despite all my experience at things like conferences and shows and other fun events, I still haven’t quite learned how to parcel out my energy in such a way that I’m not dead by the last day, especially if I’m having a grand time.

The last day of the Studio was filled with a lot of laughter, networking, and reading practice. Highlights:

1. Lisa Finander, the Tarot acquisitions editor for Llewellyn, gave us all lots of information on Llewellyn’s current direction and details on the kinds of things that they’re looking for. It sounds like Llewellyn is growing a lot, and with that, maturing. I know I’ve got a Tarot book in me somewhere, but the pull of fiction is going to be pretty damn strong, at least until I get the ball rolling (not to mention the fact that I’m already working on one Llewellyn proposal that’s not Tarot, go figure). These days, I tend to view any writing project that’s not fiction as a distraction (freelance writing gigs excepted). So many projects, so little time!

Alas, there remains the problem of books for Reader’s Studio attendees, that is, the advanced market. We had a lengthy discussion about that. Lisa is looking into hijacking the Llewellyn bi-monthly mailing list and turning it into a way that our market can communicate more effectively with each other.

(Speaking of Llewellyn, the favorite latest release at the show had to be Tarot midwife Mary Greer’s 21 WAYS TO READ A TAROT CARD. I really like it so far — it reminds me of her classic, TAROT FOR YOURSELF.)

2. Did I mention Kim Arnold yet? Lemme tell ya, this lady is cool — and she’s clearly going places. Her Psychic Cafe venture is one of the better small business ideas for metaphysics types to come along in a long while. I got to spend a good deal of the weekend working with Kim and her friends from the UK. They’ve got a lot going on, including the UK Tarot Conference coming up later in the year.

3. Wald and Ruth Ann announced the presenters for next year’s Reader’s Studio. They are: Mary Greer, Tarot School alumnus and psychotherapist Elinor Greenberg (she plays host to Bob Place’s classes in the city; wonderful lady) and Marcia Masino. While all are fabulous, Marcia is a bit of a coup, to be honest. She authored a true old skool Tarot classic of a book, EASY TAROT GUIDE. The title is dorky and misleading — it’s a kickass book, will kick your ass, and is the book I used back in the day to learn the basics of the cards. It will be a trip and a half to see Marcia in person.

Wald and Ruth Ann took lots of photos (including a group photo that I clumsily walked in on, instead of, oh, I don’t know, situating myself in) that will surely be up on the Tarot School website shortly. Oh! And I can’t forget to mention their new Cafepress storefront, where you can check out the ridiculously cool birth card glyphs that they commissioned Bob to make. I need me one of them Hanged Man/Empress messenger bags.

I also handed out copies of my own PORTRAITS OF 22 KEYS to the presenters. And they liked it! They really liked it! Rachel complimented me on the Judgement story, which you can read at the link. Most of them asked me to sign it, too, which still kind of throws me.

The best part of Sunday for me was taking lunch in the lounge with Lon (holy alliteration, Batman) all to myself. In addition to his usual lessons (our meetings always involve him getting the pen out and drawing a diagram or three), he gave me all the uproarious details on his new book, snooping on Dan Brown, Old Testament revelations (pardon the pun), and just what it takes to book him as a guest speaker. And he bought my pizza. What a sweetheart.

Okay, that’s enough for one evening. Thanks for reading while I get all of this Tarot excitement out of my system!

And now, abed.