I picked up the book Ammonite at the Readercon you attended in Massachusetts a few years back. I enjoyed it very much. In your bio at the back of the book it mentions you were a singer in a band called Janes Plane. My question is did you release any tapes or cd's and where can I find one. Have you sung at any recent SF conventions and do you still do any singing work in between writing your stories? I haven't read Slow River yet but will let you know what I think after I finish it. Thanks.
The band never released any tapes or cd's (we had no money) but we did record one demo tape (which we never did anything with, because we had no money). And just as we started to get some notice--got invited to do a TV gig etc. etc.--our drummer left to work on a kid's television programme. We couldn't find another woman drummer. The band broke up. Then me and the guitarist wrote a bunch of songs and did a lot of acoustic stuff but I was horribly over-committed and something had to give. I'm ashamed to say it was the music. I look back now and I'm really not sure why it happened that way. I love to sing, I just...don't do it anymore. One of the reasons is that I don't have the stamina to perform at the moment. Performance is like sex: a whole body thing; all or nothing. And I need to Perform as opposed to just sing along with other people, or sing something at a party. I think this is because it *matters* so much to me that I can't bear to do it at less than one hundred percent. And, odd as it might sound, I'm shy. On stage is one thing; in front of just a few people is another. But I miss it. Sometimes I miss it quite a lot. Every now and again I wonder if I'll ever take it up again. Probably not.
I'll look forward to hearing what you think of Slow River when you're done.
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update: for more on my adventures in the music trade, and more, read And Now We Are Going to Have a Party.
