David D. LevineScience Fiction Author

OryCon 37, Portland’s annual science fiction convention, starts today! It’s at the Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront. I’ll be on the following program items:

• Fri Nov 20 2:00pm: Endings: Cuddling with the Reader in Douglas Fir (3rd floor)
  You’ve just blown your reader’s mind with your story’s climax. Make sure they’ll come back for more–give them a good denouement! with David D. Levine, Erica L. Satifka, Anna Sheehan, Ann Gimpel, Grá Linnaea

• Fri Nov 20 4:00pm: How to Blurb Your Novel in Sunstone (3rd floor)
  We all need them, we all hate them. Summing up our books may be harder than writing them in the first place! Learn techniques to write compelling book descriptions (aka “blurbs”), and hook readers. with David D. Levine, Jennifer Brozek, Fonda Lee, DongWon Song, Shannon Page

• Sat Nov 21 12:00pm: Agents Assemble! in Sunstone (3rd floor)
  Do you need an agent in 2015? Find out who to look for, and what they can do for you, from finding a traditional book deal, to selling foreign rights. to landing that elusive film deal…and when to fire one. with David D. Levine, Christy Fifield, Anna Sheehan, John Hedtke, David Boop

• Sat Nov 21 2:00pm: David Levine Reading in Hawthorne (2nd floor)
  David D. Levine reads from his first novel, “Arabella of Mars.” with David D. Levine

• Sat Nov 21 3:00pm: Mad Science panel in Salon B (LL1)
  Present preposterous theories for world domination–for everyone’s own good, of course. Panelists expound upon how, with the unlimited funds of a typical archvillain, they would take over the world. with Guy Letourneau, Dan Dubrick, Kristin Landon, David D. Levine, Melinda Hutson

• Sun Nov 22 11:00am: What I Wish I Would Have Known: Pitfalls for New Writers in Douglas Fir (3rd floor)
  All the things writers should know going in, from craft to scams, and what our panelists wish they’d known. with J. Steven York, SD Perry, Laurel Anne Hill, David D. Levine, J. A. Pitts

• Sun Nov 22 1:00pm: Turkey Readings in Salon C (LL1)
  It hurts so good–the worst SF/F/H in the universe! with Anthony Pryor, David D. Levine, Brian J. Hunt

After the con, on Sun Nov 22 at 4:00pm, the ninth annual Sci-Fi AuthorFest will be held at Powell’s Cedar Hills. This event, which brings together “a starfleet of science fiction and fantasy authors” — many of whom just happen to be in town for OryCon — for “one galactic booksigning event,” is free and open to the public. I’ll be there and so will a bunch of other cool people. Hope to see you there!

It’s been over a month since my last update, but that’s because there hasn’t been a lot of medical stuff to report. This is a good thing.

Kate’s been doing well, getting around with the walker and managing her own blood sugar. We had another MRI, which was basically exactly the same as the previous two. That makes six months with no change, which is good because there’s no new tumor growth but bad because the radiation necrosis isn’t getting any better. Radiation necrosis causes brain swelling, which requires steroids, which cause puffiness and muscle atrophy and irritability and diabetes, which requires insulin, which means a lot of sticking with needles, which increases the irritability. So we really want to do something about it.

As mentioned back in September, there’s a drug called Avastin that can be used to address radiation necrosis. We passed on it then, because it can have nasty side effects (most people have no issues with this drug at all, but a very small percentage have life-threatening problems). A month later, with no additional falls and with an MRI demonstrating no improvement in the necrosis, the balance has changed and we have decided to try it. It is given intravenously (that means 45 minutes in a recliner at the cancer clinic) and we will be doing three doses at two-week intervals. She got the first dose yesterday and has had no side effects whatsoever so far. There are no guarantees in this business, but the oncologist has had very good results with other patients, so we’re hopeful. If it works, we should start to see some improvement fairly quickly. Reducing the steroids and building the lost muscle back up will take months.

Until then, life goes on. The antidepressants are helping me a lot, and I’ve gotten several bits of good writing news which I’m not yet at liberty to divulge. One news item I can share is that my story “Damage” is currently at the top of the Suggested Reading List for the Nebula Awards. This doesn’t guarantee a Nebula nomination — it only means that several SFWA members liked it enough to recommend it — but it bodes well.

Most of our news in recent weeks has been non-medical. We have finally (finally!) finished the seismic upgrade on our foundation, which should make the house less likely to fall down in an earthquake and, as an added bonus, resulted in a thorough decluttering of the basement. We have seen a lot of excellent local theatre. I attended the Oregon Writers Colony’s Stumptown Lit Fest and read at the Annual Reading of Oregon Jewish Writers. We also dealt with an invasion of ants, a pretty major plumbing issue, and necessary maintenance on the furnace. We both traveled to Saratoga Springs, NY for the annual World Fantasy Convention, after which we visited my dad in Milwaukee for a few days. The convention was worthwhile — for me it mostly involved hanging out with writers and editors in the bar and in a series of very good restaurants — and my dad, who is 83, is doing quite well. OryCon, the Portland science fiction convention, starts tomorrow, and we’ll both be attending that. Hope to see some of you there.

Thanks to Shannon, Brenda, Ron, Janna, Felicity, Arashi, Bo & Don, Ann, JoLyn, Mark, Mara & Ian, Pam, Michelle & Pat, John, and everyone else who helped out, came for a visit, or shared a meal. We’ve been doing this for nearly a year now (the diagnosis was 11/22/14) and your support is more important than I can say.