I am going to Ravencon — so I guess I’ll be missing you there.

I remember this, too. I’d never been so terrified! *grin*

Stuart said, …however, my creative writing teacher allowed me to write the stuff even though it was frowned upon by others.

When I was in college, I wanted to take the creative writing courses that were offered, but the professor himself told me that I wouldn’t pass if I wrote fantasy. He considered it beneath the notice of any properly intellectual person. I imagine that even if I ran into him today and showed him that I managed to write well enough to sell something, he’d still look down his nose.

What a cruel babysitter! I went to see Poltergeist in the theater when I was 16, and then spent the night at my friend’s house after. She lived out on the island, in an old house surrounded by live oaks. If you’re not familiar with live oaks, they tend to grow long, squiggly branches that hang down and look like evil monster arms. My friend was sitting on her bed and I was sitting on the extra one. I don’t remember what we were talking about, but I jumped up quickly, catching the curtain under my knee as I moved. The curtain and the blind fell, revealing a huge tree branch just outside the window, moving menacingly in the breeze as if reaching for us.

We spend the night on the floor in her mama’s room. *laughs*