The LA Banks event was great. It was good to celebrate all that she'd done for the city, and her writing, and good to get out and talk to people, especially with DH there to remind me that I wasn't being a complete ass. The mayor came and spoke about Banks' activities with literacy in the city, and a representative from Chakka Fattah's office read a Congressional proclamation. There were raffle and silent auction fundraisers for her daughter & I talked to the editors of The Journal Of Unlikely Entomology a bunch. They're very fun. And the raffle and auction fairies were very good to us: a signed edition of a new book, a bowling party for 8, and a manuscript review. Now I need a manuscript.
wrt the troll, yes, I'm voting with my feet. He's reviewed my work again and again because I did a substantive critique of a piece of his after his first review (where he told me that my story had enormous issues but that was ok because he'd written me an outline to follow that would solve all the problems). He found my comments useful, and said some nice things about it on a public channel about it. I did that critique in the spirit of "this is the kind of review I'd like to receive" - ie: one that didn't mansplain writing to me, and one that didn't sound like a frustrated NYT Book Review. That obviously didn't work. I'm using the latest feedback to practice being reviewed by frustrated want-to-be NYT Book Reviewers. Otherwise, buh-bye.