Worldcon Report Part Two

The Worldcon reports are coming in and SF Signal has been keeping track of them. You can find links to all the reports here.

As for the second part of mine, I decided, after this brutal summer in sf, that I would see as many of my friends and mentors as possible. Even though this was the most sprawled Worldcon I’ve ever been to (spread out between hotels and the convention center over most of a mile), I did get to say hello to a lot of folks, including Fred Pohl (on Sunday) and Rusty Havelin (whose name I’m probably misspelling).

Having conversations was another matter. For professionals, the nighttime “parties” are really big networking fests. Unfortunately, the air conditioning in the party suites wasn’t working. It was a sauna and we didn’t stay long on any particular night.

Most of my conversations happened in the bar on the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency, including a lovely talk with Lou Anders. Seems we have a lot of similar interests, and I know both of us hope to continue the conversation at some future convention.

I didn’t make it to panelling, which made me sad. The only panels I heard were my own. Two of them were with Dean, doing a truncated version of the presentation we usually give to beginning writers. The only other panel–crime and detection in the future–was fun, but old ground. Still, we had a large and interested crowd, which was nice.

Several folks showed up to my reading. I read “Say Hello to My Little Friend,” a humor story that will appear later this year (or early next) in an anthology called Invisible Friends. Reaction was good, thank heavens. Always a bit risky to read a humor story.

I also had two signings, both of which were packed. And then there were the Sidewise Awards, which was preceded by a good discussion of what makes Alternate History, and the Hugo Awards. The Hugos are always fun, whether you’re a nominee or not–and whether you win or not. This year, the pre-Hugo reception for the nominees provided a great chance to have good conversation with old friends. Wil McCarthy did a good job as MC of the entire affair–and I think it was the shortest Hugo ceremony on record.

I didn’t win, as you probably know by now, but I honestly didn’t mind. I was pleased to be with such august company–Connie Willis (who took the prize), Nancy Kress, Gene Wolfe, and Lucius Shepard. I think the nomination itself was the award for me this year.

Found myself happy to be back in the field and to spend time with fans–to have long conversations about Dr. Who and whether current physics supports time travel theories and all the other things that fen discuss at conventions. Also got ideas for stories (always a good thing) and even more ideas for articles and columns.

So the entire experience was fun, tiring, and inspiring.

I must admit, though, I’m happy to be back at sea level, where tonight’s temperature is 55 degrees after a high of 70. I’ve lived on the Oregon Coast long enough to become a weather wimp.

I will be at Worldcon next year–barring unforeseens–and that will be in Montreal. If you want to check out information on this convention, go here.