Portability

This seems to be the theme of my life right now. I’m currently sitting in Mom’s Family Diner in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Four hours from home, but I have my husband sleepily sipping coffee across from me, I have my iPad and bluetooth keyboard, and hotspot internet streaming from my phone to the iPad. Through the wonders of modern technology, I greet you, dear Reader.

I’m in Tulsa for a convention this weekend, TulKon 2022, along with most of the North Texas Troublemakers, the blogmother herself is in attendance… and let me tell you how much of a delight it is to sit on a panel with Sarah in the front row chipping in on self-publishing! I’ve missed her, and it’s good to get together. I may have stayed up far too late last night talking with Sarah, John van Stry, and a few others who flowed into the seating and away again as the evening wore on. This is what cons are for.

This is why I created the tiny setup. And it’s not that I don’t have my laptop. I do. However, when your husband tells you that he really needs coffee, the packet of stuff in the hotel room will not do, and the hotel offers no complimentary coffee? You do what you need to do. You pick up and go.

It’s not just the convention. It’s my life. We are still mostly in the apartment, the house is a construction zone, but due to various demands we are splitting our time between them. Which means that I have to be ready and able to toggle back and forth, while keeping my act together. I woke up this morning thinking about writing this post, and writing fiction, and I thought ”I could get up and write for a while before my first panel ought to be (side note that the scheduling at this convention is more what you’d call a suggestion than it is a solid ’go here at this time, do that’ so I’ll be performing Improv all weekend. Good thing I enjoy that) and then I really ought to be writing every single day…”

I’m not that portable. The brain needs a moment of refraction between one task to another, and getting my head into a story takes time. More time than it takes to sync the internet, pair the keyboard, and start tippy-tapping away at it. Add to this… Well, the chronic feeling of inadequacy and imposter syndrome is probably a topic for another kind of post, because I am aware it’s not based in reality, while I can’t quite dismiss it. Like shadows in a dark room. Eh. Definitely a different post.

In the meantime, I’m about to have a hot waffle put in front of me. So I’ll break down the little writing setup and bid you adieu. See you next week, from yet another location! I’m so looking forward to being settled in one place for a few weeks running.