Tuesday 5 July 2011

Allons-y!

Usual disclaimer - Roomy is the pony collector.  I'm the enabler. And boy am I good at enabling!

Roomy and I are off on an adventure tomorrow!  Rhode Island it is for us, for the My Little Pony Fair (did I ever mention I'm a sucker for a road trip?)  The actual fair will be at Hasbro headquarters, so much excitement abounds in the pony community.  I'm looking forward to seeing it, too!  I've been in many a textile mill, but never in a pony mill.  Well, okay, it's more like design shop. You get the idea.

On Thursday we're going to enjoy a Lovecraft tour.  He spent a large chunk of his life in Providence, so we're going to visit some of the sites that inspired his writings, including the Harris House (The Shunned House) and the cemetery where he sought name inspirations.  Edgar Allan Poe also spent quite a bit of time in Providence, while courting the lovely but ultimately unattainable poet Sarah Helen Whitman.  Much of the failed romance took place in a lovely gazebo, and we're totally going to go check that out, too.

Plus, there's a Poe-Ta-To in Rhode Island.  I promise to report back with pictures.

Friday and Saturday are the fair, and I'm the official table keeper.  My job is to sell Roomy's ponies while she runs around giggling and buying stuff (hopefully not so much that we can't fit it all in the car.  I'm not holding my breath on that one.  Thankfully I have mad Tetris skillz.)  Last year, in Kentucky, I was reading a fantasy trilogy during the whole fair and quite failed in my selling duties.  This year I've been forewarned. But I dunno - the new Jim C. Hines book is due out this week, so all bets are off.

Roomy IS kind, though.  She gives me a tiny little spot on her table so I can put my books there. (Not this year, I'm informed.  I take that kind remark back. I shall now stop reading this out loud as I type so Roomy won't correct my musings.  I now type without speaking. Which, to be fair, must be less annoying for Roomy.) Last year, I sold a few copies of Princess of Light and one of the Pony collectors happened to be a reviewer for Sequential Tart.  Three great reviews later, she ends her trilogy grade with "All in all, a perfect fantasy adventure!" (Read her reviews here.)  So you just never know who you'll meet.  That's why books must be dragged everywhere.

I'll be online during the fair and promise to post pics and updates.  I'll be Tweeting and Facebooking for fun, mostly on the Saturday. Roomy has two contest entries, we have a diorama entry (which I helped build), and I'll post pics the day of the fair.  I don't want to spoil the surprise!  I know pony collectors lurk here, too.  Oh, I know.
Last year, we got second prize for the booth, and Roomy won a few customizing contests as well. The hat on the pony, for example, won a prize.  It's an awesome hat.  I built the diorama based on the Kentucky Derby's Winner's Circle. Building Pony dioramas is apparently what I do when not prepping for shows or writing books.  Roomy is in the background, preparing her attack plan, no doubt.
See? Awesome hat.  Fuzzy pic, but still an awesome hat.  It has miniature ponies on its rim, running a race. Because Roomy is insane.  This year, we're bringing a better camera, but no hat.  Can't have it all.
Working on this year's diorama. Cellophane is a good Pony crafting product, as it's pink and shiny. What more could you possibly want? See that concentrated look? That's me trying not to cut myself. Sorta worked most of the time. I don't scar easily, thankfully, nor do I learn from past experience.

Thanks to our wonderful house and cat sitters (including a stranded collector)!  After the fair, I'm abandoning Roomy back home and strutting off to a cottage, and then straight to Polaris. I'll see some of you then!  In the meantime, see you all in cyber space!

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