Worldcon diary: day 3
Friday was another fun and illuminating day at Renovation.
I started with "New Pro Orientation: Understanding Publishing", a panel with several agents, a newly published writer, and A. A. Crispin of Writer Beware. The discussion focused on agenting and contracts, and gave a well-rounded picture of the issues around signing a book contract.
"What is Consciousness?" was an excellent panel discussion on one of my favorite topics. All the panelists were cogent and articulate, and the conversation never got caught in the verbal model that so often besets this topic. While there was much interesting discussion of neurological and evolutionary models of human consciousness, there were also a couple panelists who kept the "hard problem" of consciousness on our minds as well.
"Traveling before the Motored Horse" with Melinda M. Snodgrass (who lives in Santa Fe!) and Ellen Asher, was a good solidly informative discussion of the realities of keeping and riding horses, geared toward helping fantasy writers who uses horses in their writing do so more realistically. The panelists were amazed at the size of the audience and the presence of (gasp!) men in attendance. Apparently their usual experience is presenting to half a dozen women who come to share horse stories.
"Consistent Magic Systems in Fantasy" (L. E. Modesitt Jr., Tim Powers, Pat Rothfuss, Jo Walton, and Gregory A. Wilson) touched on lots of different issues: what the writer knows about how magic works v. what is revealed to readers (and how and when), preserving a numious or wondrous quality in describing magic, when magic is reduced to technology, working through the implications of magic for culture and society, and how to handle magic in a real-world setting. Great stuff. I left all psyched to write more fantasy.
"Feminist Science Fiction and the Sociological Imagination" was an academic presentation by Nolan Belk, based on study of the published and unpublished works and correspondence of Le Guin, Russ, Delaney, Tiptree, and others. Although he did was not the sort of person I expected to find working in this area (a young southern man with a questionable sense of humor), the presentation was of considerable interest, illustrating how a group of feminist writers worked in a kind of loose, collaborative community to re-vision gender and society through the medium of science fiction.
I took a break during the 3:00 hour, and found myself waiting with a couple other attendees for Gordon Van Gelder's Q&A session on Fantasy & Science Fiction to begin. As we are standing there, Van Gelder arrives, toting a suitcase and looking quite disheveled. He explained that his flight had been delayed, and he just arrived after many hours in airports and planes, rushing to the convention center hoping to arrive in time for his talk. Despite the circumstances, the discussion was interesting and fun, ranging from topics such as the future of magazine publishing, the F&SF editorial process, and the history of the magazine. I found Van Gelder eminently approachable and congenial.
"Mud and Blood: The Grittier Side of Fantasy" (Glen Cook, Pat Rothfuss, and Ken Scholes) was another fascinating panel discussion, offering not only interesting insights into the use of realism and anti-heroic elements in fantasy, but glimpses into the inspirations and creative processes of three important writers.
I had only a few minutes in my room before heading down to the Masquerade (costume competition). This was a whole lot of fun, starting off with some entertaining fan videos, then moving on to the competition itself, with Phil and Kaja Foglio serving as very fun and funny emcees. The competition itself was different from what I expected. I had always imagined it as a kind of free-for-all party with hundreds of fans dressed in Star Trek uniforms and such. Actually there were less than thirty contestants, each with a few minutes in the spotlight. The amount of work put into some of the costumes boggles the mind, and the presentations were almost all delightfully creative.
The convention runs "kaffeeklatsches", where a small group of attendees (no more than nine) gets to spend an hour talking with a writer, editor, or other illustrious personage. It's a first-come first-served signup system, with sign-ups opening the day before the particular kaffeeklatsch. I didn't tumble to the system soon enough to sign up for Sheila Williams of Asimov's, but I had a hope of signing up for Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld. When I got out of one of the programs I was attending about 10 minutes before signups were to open, there was already a long line, so I gave up on the idea. Later, I was delightfully surprised to find that there were so many different kafeeklatsches on the schedule that the people in line had only filled one or two of them. Neil Clarke's signup was still blank! So I get to spend time with him Saturday, possible in a very small group. How cool!
I started with "New Pro Orientation: Understanding Publishing", a panel with several agents, a newly published writer, and A. A. Crispin of Writer Beware. The discussion focused on agenting and contracts, and gave a well-rounded picture of the issues around signing a book contract.
"What is Consciousness?" was an excellent panel discussion on one of my favorite topics. All the panelists were cogent and articulate, and the conversation never got caught in the verbal model that so often besets this topic. While there was much interesting discussion of neurological and evolutionary models of human consciousness, there were also a couple panelists who kept the "hard problem" of consciousness on our minds as well.
"Traveling before the Motored Horse" with Melinda M. Snodgrass (who lives in Santa Fe!) and Ellen Asher, was a good solidly informative discussion of the realities of keeping and riding horses, geared toward helping fantasy writers who uses horses in their writing do so more realistically. The panelists were amazed at the size of the audience and the presence of (gasp!) men in attendance. Apparently their usual experience is presenting to half a dozen women who come to share horse stories.
"Consistent Magic Systems in Fantasy" (L. E. Modesitt Jr., Tim Powers, Pat Rothfuss, Jo Walton, and Gregory A. Wilson) touched on lots of different issues: what the writer knows about how magic works v. what is revealed to readers (and how and when), preserving a numious or wondrous quality in describing magic, when magic is reduced to technology, working through the implications of magic for culture and society, and how to handle magic in a real-world setting. Great stuff. I left all psyched to write more fantasy.
"Feminist Science Fiction and the Sociological Imagination" was an academic presentation by Nolan Belk, based on study of the published and unpublished works and correspondence of Le Guin, Russ, Delaney, Tiptree, and others. Although he did was not the sort of person I expected to find working in this area (a young southern man with a questionable sense of humor), the presentation was of considerable interest, illustrating how a group of feminist writers worked in a kind of loose, collaborative community to re-vision gender and society through the medium of science fiction.
I took a break during the 3:00 hour, and found myself waiting with a couple other attendees for Gordon Van Gelder's Q&A session on Fantasy & Science Fiction to begin. As we are standing there, Van Gelder arrives, toting a suitcase and looking quite disheveled. He explained that his flight had been delayed, and he just arrived after many hours in airports and planes, rushing to the convention center hoping to arrive in time for his talk. Despite the circumstances, the discussion was interesting and fun, ranging from topics such as the future of magazine publishing, the F&SF editorial process, and the history of the magazine. I found Van Gelder eminently approachable and congenial.
"Mud and Blood: The Grittier Side of Fantasy" (Glen Cook, Pat Rothfuss, and Ken Scholes) was another fascinating panel discussion, offering not only interesting insights into the use of realism and anti-heroic elements in fantasy, but glimpses into the inspirations and creative processes of three important writers.
I had only a few minutes in my room before heading down to the Masquerade (costume competition). This was a whole lot of fun, starting off with some entertaining fan videos, then moving on to the competition itself, with Phil and Kaja Foglio serving as very fun and funny emcees. The competition itself was different from what I expected. I had always imagined it as a kind of free-for-all party with hundreds of fans dressed in Star Trek uniforms and such. Actually there were less than thirty contestants, each with a few minutes in the spotlight. The amount of work put into some of the costumes boggles the mind, and the presentations were almost all delightfully creative.
The convention runs "kaffeeklatsches", where a small group of attendees (no more than nine) gets to spend an hour talking with a writer, editor, or other illustrious personage. It's a first-come first-served signup system, with sign-ups opening the day before the particular kaffeeklatsch. I didn't tumble to the system soon enough to sign up for Sheila Williams of Asimov's, but I had a hope of signing up for Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld. When I got out of one of the programs I was attending about 10 minutes before signups were to open, there was already a long line, so I gave up on the idea. Later, I was delightfully surprised to find that there were so many different kafeeklatsches on the schedule that the people in line had only filled one or two of them. Neil Clarke's signup was still blank! So I get to spend time with him Saturday, possible in a very small group. How cool!
I wanted to be able to go to this World Con but I needed to be at work. Keep journaling please! It is making me smile to read your posts. It sounds like you are getting lots of good information!
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