I’m not going to be at CONduit this weekend in Salt Lake City. Sure, it’s only a 40-minute drive, and all my friends are there, but I need to take the day off.

I need to take the day off, so I can get some work done. The Bonus Story is STILL not colored, which means (for those of you following along at home) that Schlock Mercenary: The Teraport Wars has STILL not been sent to the printer. Today and Monday I’m tackling the last four pages of Bonus Story so they’re all colored and pretty and ready to be laid in.

Then, with my brain clear of that task, I’ll allow Sandra to start piling the “cleanup” tasks on me. Edits, image tweaks, cover art… all the rest of the stuff that must be done. With luck I’ll be able to finish it all by June 10th, and can do so without letting up on the buffer.

I went to CONduit last night to see folks and to record a few episodes of Writing Excuses. They were a lot of fun, and much more energetic thanks to the presence of an audience. We had Mike Stackpole (Author Guest of Honor at the Con) join us for two of the three ‘casts, and Dan Willis, Eric James Stone, and (very briefly) Bob Defendi also made appearances. Those episodes should be airing in a couple of weeks.