The last couple of weeks I have been busy writing, preparing for conventioning,  doing the conventioning, and writing posts about that. All the same I did wedge in some recreations. Of course I did.Books:More Grace Burrowes Regency romances. These are tremendously fantastical. Plots are nicely tangled, Our Heroes not only come equipped with all the usual Heroic Attributes, but they also understand hygiene and contagion control,  exhibit saintly patience, and have wondrous modern attitudes about social & sexual equality. Truly, they are so far from any real historical human realities that they might as well have dragons and psychic powers, but no. They stick to the best romance standards--family secrets, misunderstandings, and social tensions--and more importantly avoid all the annoying and/or rage-inducing tropes. None of the no-means-yesThey're like comfy fleece blankies for my brain.Thanks to the con I have some excellent new authors to try out (not sure how I missed Claudia Gray, but I have catching up to do!) plus I found out that both Josh Vogt and Tracy Korn have new novels out I need to buy.Movies & TelevisionOne Million Ways to Die in the West. Wow-howdee, this was bad. I enjoyed much of it and laughed at many inappropriate things, but it's a patchwork of jokes--some good, some horrible misses-- that don't play well together.  It's as if Seth McFarlane said to a bunch of A-List actor friends, "Hey, let's put on a show! I have a bunch of funny gags based on Western tropes. Now all we need is a plot." Only none one came up with a plot. Or else  too many people did. It has that committee feel common to many modern Hollywood productions.Passengers. I can see why critics didn't like it, but I was not disappointed. I outright liked it. It was visually lush, Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence both did  solid jobs with their characters, and the story skimmed past the questionable premise quickly and lightly. (Colony ship with NO ONE awake? Hrrrmmmmm, okay... The scriptwriters dealt with the most problematic aspect of the plot (no spoilers)  better than I expected from the set-up too, which was a pleasant surprise.Feud. Continues to please me.Detours:I drove. All the way from Chicagoland to Indianapolis. This was the first Major Test of my foot bones since I broke them driving up to WisCon in...2014, I think.  I did a dress rehearsal drive up to central Wisconsin earlier this year, and that success convinced me this was worth a try. I mean, the worst that could happen would be new stress fractures, and I know how to treat those now, so...The gamble paid off. I had a great weekend, I sold books, and I got new art -- a new gargoyle for my Grawlix notebook by Buzz, and a neat take on Valerie from Afua Richardson. They're both fantastic artists, and I love both new additions to my collection.That's about it. In fits and starts I continue to art forward.  I'm doing character profiles and an outline for a new project that requires such things, Heartwood is plugging along, and I have decided I am definitely going to fork out the ducats to make Rough Passages happen as a shiny-polished properly formatted print book this year.Now I have to contact some epic-awesome people and get quotes on custom services. And I learned at this con that the same company does FABULOUS banner design, so I may get one of those too.  Plus I have an idea for the new business cards I want to do myself.Just have to keep the energy up and the momentum going. Chug-chug-chug-chug-chug.Ah! Pics. Right.First, Afua Richardson's take on Valerie, the main character in Extraordinary and a supporting character in Heartwood.Second, Buzz's take on Grawlix, the gargoyle from my (prize-winning) short Up On The Roof. These are phone snaps, I'll get scans into the character art folders eventually.