This is a bit delayed as I’ve been non-stop busy since Norwescon, but here’s my post-con wrap up, and some photos of costumed geekery at its finest.
THURSDAY
Had my first reading. Went well I think. I didn’t forget to contain the incredible but chaotic powers that burn inside me and thus burst into multi-colored flames that consumed the entire convention. So, you know, that was good. A big thanks to everyone who showed up, especially the lovely artist Shelly Henderson who is not a big convention fan.
Kris Millering gave a nice reading of The Isthmus Variation (forthcoming in Beneath Ceaseless Skies).
At the bar, Shel and I sat next to a travelling whole-foods salesman from Alaska who was quite drunk and bought us drinks. He lives in the northernmost town in Alaska, and one of his popular products is seal oil, as in oil from seals, which apparently tastes like bad fish and Alaskan natives put on lots of food as a condiment — including things you wouldn’t think would taste great with seal oil, like berries. He gave a beautiful description of the northern lights as well, comparing them to a symphony in the sky that you hear though it doesn’t make a sound.
And lastly I was on a zombie panel with Jack Skillingstead, Daryl Gregory, and Anthony VanWinkle. Unfortunately, the con folks scheduled a zombie walk at the same time as our zombie panel, so the room wasn’t exactly packed (more like, “chips may settle in bag” kind of full). And the moderator was unable to make it, so I arrived to find myself moderator. But I had a good time nonetheless. Shelly asked a lot of great questions, I think just to show off how smart she is.
Friday:
I was on a panel about Evolving as a Writer with Cat Rambo, Eileen Gunn, Jack Skillingstead, and Daryl Gregory. The room was packed, and I think we covered a lot of great information. I’m going to post the handout I created for the panel to my blog shortly.
Met the lovely Mary Robinette Kowal over dinner with Cat Rambo.
A lot of hanging out with writerly friends old and new, including Camille Alexa, Keffy Kehrli, Elizabeth Coleman, Tina Connolly and Spencer Ellsworth.
Went to the Weird Tales party Friday Night. Got to have a drink and hang out a bit with Ian MacDonald and Les Howle, and met Stephen H. Segal (the editor, not the action star. The editor has much better hair, by the way). Then we hung out in the Radcon room with, among others, the Bizarro Fiction gang from Eraserhead Press (editor Rose O
Keefe, writers Jeff Burk, Carlton Mellick III, and Cameron Pierce, and artist Chrissy Horchheimer). Finally, night caps, joined by Jack Skillingstead and Daryl Gregory.
My drink of choice? White Russians – and no, not because the Dude drinks them.
Oh, and my nipple achieved sentience and travelled in a hot tub time machine.
SATURDAY
Got to hang with my Clarion West brother Jordan Lapp (who was sounding especially like a mercenary Christopher Walken all day, gods love him). Met Lisa Mantchev, attended her reading where there was free candy and cokes and books (score!).
Later went to a reading and had dinner with Jak Koke, then the Talebones Live Reading (where Keffy rocked his first reading).
I also ended up an unofficial panelist on the Value of Writing Groups panel with Les and Jordan.
At the Tor party, met Urban Fantasy author and provocateur Mark Henry and the UF crew, had a nice if brief chat with ex-CW instructor and Tor editor David Hartwell, and got to hang with Z-man Derek Zumsteg briefly (Derek owned a panel on the best Fantasy and Scifi of 2009 earlier in the day btw).
I finished the weekend by completely and utterly NOT meeting Cory Doctorow, and only spotted him once in passing, standing in line at the hotel’s Starbucks, though I was having so much fun that the thought didn’t occur to me that I should try to meet him until after I had left the convention.
Then I drove home at 3am. To rest you ask? Oh no. To get up and drive 7 hours to Pullman, Washington. But that’s for another post.
I will finish by saying, if you are going to dress as Jareth from Labyrinth, perhaps some padding is in order.
Some more pics:
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