I Am Not at Lunacon

If you're at Lunacon, and looking for me, there's a reason why you can't find me: I'm not there.

I've only missed a couple of Lunacons over the past twenty years -- one because my older son was busy being born, and maybe one other time -- but this year it just didn't work out. Thing 1's birthday (alluded to above) is tomorrow, and he's enmeshed in the last practices for the big high school musical (The Music Man -- see it next weekend at Pompton Lakes High!) every day. Thing 2 is camping this weekend. And I didn't remember to get a table in the Dealer's Room in time, and also punted on the program questionnaire -- because, when I looked at it, with a section under each panel description headed "tell us why you should be on this panel," I couldn't think of a single reason for any of them.

So maybe next year. 

My Lunacon Schedule

Hey! Lunacon is coming up in just six short days! And it's about the only SF convention I attend these days -- since my work travel is now all filled up with meetings for Valuators and Fraud Examiners and just plain Accountants -- so it's the one guaranteed place each year to see me complain in person about SFnal stuff. (Unlike this blog, where you can find me complaining virtually most days of the year.)

I'll have a table in the dealer's room, selling random books that I don't want. (You'd think last year's flood would have cured that problem, but no -- it destroyed almost entirely books that I did want to keep.) And I'll also be on several program items, which I just learned about this morning. I haven't even looked up their descriptions yet, but here's what I'll need to have an opinion on this year:

• Like Oil and Water (Panel), Fri 19:00 - 20:00, Elijah Budd
• The Future of Suburbs (Panel), Sat 17:00 - 18:00, Maple
• Science Fiction of the Past (Panel), Sun 11:00 - 12:00, Elijah Budd

There does not seem to be a full listing of program items currently online, so the titles are all we have to go on for now. Presumably, there will be somewhat longer panel descriptions available at the convention, but don't expect a lot of preparation this year.

An Unpleasant Realization

So I'm stuck in Reno for one last night, with nothing in particular to do.

And I've just realized that everything I vaguely want to do -- watching something streaming on Netflix, being virtuous and poking through my work e-mail, even just catching up on my feeds -- will be frustratingly stuttering via the Peppermill's gasping Internet.

I'm also about done using my iPad as my main computer; it's fine for a few days, but the limitations really pile up when that stretches to a week or more.

All in all, I wish I was gone already; I should have taken a closer look at the program and realized this con ended on Sunday when I made my reservations.

So, my lessons to you today:

1) the old tower of the terminally tacky Peppermill Casino/Hotel in Reno has lousy WiFi; avoid it if you can.

2) an iPad and Bluetooth keyboard can be very close to a real computer, but that gap widens over time.

3) always get out of town before you get sick of it.

It's Hugo Day!

As I expected, I am not blogging much from Worldcon; just keeping up with work e-mail on top of the general frivolity was plenty (and I just spent two hours this morning getting back to even on my other blog, Editorial Explanations), leaving little time and energy for anything else.

I also realized that I neglected to do my "Handicapping the Hugos" post this year -- though I did that long series of posts about my personal thoughts on all of the nominees, which isn't the same thing, but it's probably more than enough of me blathering about those stories. You might not know exactly what I think will win this year, but it's pretty clear what I'd like to win, and I'm now sick of my own opinions, so I know you must be.

I will blog the winners, eventually, but that might take a while -- it probably won't go up until tomorrow, when everyone else will already have them. You see, I'm the escort for one of the presenters this year (you can probably guess who; I worked with one of the GoHs for sixteen years), and so I'll be at the pre-Hugo mingle beforehand and then, afterward, I get to check off one of my great fannish dreams and go to the Hugo Losers party. (It's even better because I don't have to actually lose a Hugo to do so.)

So this post is mostly me gloating, for which I apologize. I'll probably have a long post tomorrow complaining at great length about Hugo winners, but we'll all have to wait and see which categories are the most egregiously wrong.

I Have Arrived

In Reno for Worldcon, that is.

I had a quick flight up from Las Vegas this afternoon, after two frantic days of handing out magnetic clips and scanning badges in the deepest depths of the Caesar's Palace conference center. (Seriously, I didn't get out of the hotel at all in between the taxi in and the taxi out, which is vastly out of character for me in any strange city, even one as hot and pedestrian-unfriendly as Vegas.)

By the way, Southwest manages to take the usual practice of most modern airlines -- to board passengers in order of the amount of money they've spent, counting down, which tends to mean starting from aisle seats in the front -- and add its own silly Byzantine fillip to it, by making their planes into flying Greyhound buses. I won't say I'll never fly them again -- the world is wide, opportunities are fleeting, and I have a reservation for Monday -- but they're certainly not up at the top of my list.

I got to the Peppermill -- which, especially coming straight from Vegas, looks like a smaller, sadder, shabbier cousin of the humorously over-the-top "resort" I was just in -- went straight to my room, had a long call with The Wife, and decided tomorrow was soon enough for skiffy frivolity. (Besides, registration is closed, and the other main hotel has all of the parties, anyway.)

But I may start seeing many of you tomorrow -- those of you in Reno, at least. Hope it's a good con so far. I expect updates here will be even scarcer than they have been recently -- but, if the WiFi in the convention center is any good, I might just take this keyboard along later in the weekend and complain about SFnal events right as they happen!

What I'll Be Doing in Reno

First of all, I need to shoot a man just to watch him die -- I understand that's a traditional pastime there, and I like to participate in local culture as much as possible.

But I'll also be doing actual Worldcon-style convention programming while I'm there as well, and the things I'm scheduled for are:

Thu 16:00 - 17:00, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Canon within Comics (Panel), A10 (RSCC)
        What are the essential science fiction and fantasy comics?

Thu 17:00 - 18:00, The Works of Tim Powers (Panel), A03 (RSCC)
        Tim Powers, author of such masterworks as The Anubis Gates, Last Call, and Declare, is one of the most important fantasy writers of the last thirty years.  The panel discusses what makes his works so compelling and so effective.


(Note: I will be moderating this one, which is already bringing me out in a cold sweat -- a major panel about the oeuvre of the Author GOH, so no pressure, right?)

Sat 14:00 - 15:00, The Best in Recent SF and Fantasy (Panel), A18 (RSCC)
        People often talk about the classics of SF, but there's also a lot of great SF and fantasy being
produced now, including works that will be

(Note: That's the full panel description as it was provided to me; I hope to get the group involved in a spirited round of "guess the rest of the description" early in the proceedings.)





    Sat 16:00 - 17:00, Beyond Harry Potter: What other Young Adult Fiction Everyone -- Adults Included -- Should Be Reading (Panel), A11 (RSCC)
        Harry Potter entertained a generation of kids (and adults). What are other young adult novels that you should be reading?  We'll look at newcomers to the field of YA as well as some golden oldies.

(Note: I think I've personally done this panel at least three times before, over the past decade -- too bad I never save my convention notes, or there would be no prep required.)


I also hope to see a lot of folks along the way; I feel like I'm drifting farther and farther away from the skiffy world, and I hate that. I'm getting into Reno on Wednesday evening (coming straight from a work conference in Las Vegas, actually), and fly out on Monday morning, so that should give me time for plenty of schmoozing even on top of my usual anti-social time. Please feel free to drop me an e-mail if we should make plans ahead of time to meet.

Lunacon in the Rear-view

This was my first year in the dealer's room -- I've found other ways of getting rid of review copies in the past, said ways often including "still having them lying around the basement several years later." Getting them out and into the hands of other people is a much better solution, and having a home base in the middle of a con is a nice thing, as well.

(On the other hand, packing, unpacking and schlepping boxes made this weekend feel very much like certain aspects of my day job, without the consoling feeling of a regular paycheck at the end of it.)

Otherwise, it was a Lunacon; they seem to be continuing to dwindle and sail into the West. I saw hardly any publishing folks, which makes me think they're either all avoiding conventions or avoiding this convention. (And, if the latter, it's awfully damning, since this one is a short train ride away from midtown Manhattan, where all of their offices are.) And Lunacon also doesn't seem to get the crop of major writers and artists that it used to get, either -- the locals show up, more or less, but no one from any distance.

It may be time to venture further afield again; I heard good things about Balticon this weekend, and the one Boskone I made it to was zippy and snazzy. But this was a weekend away with The Wife, which is not nothing -- and was, actually, quite nice.

My Lunacon Schedule

If you, like me, will be spending this coming weekend at the lovely and enchanting Escher Hilton in bucolic Rye Brook, New York, you may wish to either seek out or avoid the following locations, where I will most likely be found:

Friday
6:00 The History of the Book
8:00 2010 Ebook Smackdown!
10:00 The Death of Borders and What Does It Mean For Books

(Yes, it does look like I'll be talking about almost exactly the same thing, for three solid hours, with different company and with breaks for other activities.)

Saturday
2:00 The Economy and the Genre

Sunday
10:00 Support Your Fantasy Regime
11:00 To E- or Not to E-
(I'm also scheduled for something at 1:00, but that looks like last year's Art GOH presentation, which is the kind of weird confusion I've come to expect from Lunacon.)

Most of the rest of the time, you can find me in the Huckster's Room, where I'll have a table. If you like "Reviewing the Mail," you'll love my table, since that's most of what I'll have -- that stuff has been threatening to fall over and kill me (both books I've read and those I haven't), and I'm finally trying to get rid of them in a kind of fannish garage sale. Prices are cheap, and I may even respond to haggling -- come over and check it out. This offer is unlikely to ever be repeated; if I don't get rid of this stuff this year, I'll have to find something else to do with it.

(The Huckster's Table also provides a rare occasion to meet The Wife, who will be spending the weekend making fun of SF people in undertone remarks to me and eating lots of ice under the auspices of pretending to help me.)

Campbell Award Continues Streak of Going to Book JWC Would Hate the Most

This year's John W. Campbell and Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Awards -- for the best SF novel and work of short fiction, respectively, of the previous year -- have been announced ahead of next week's gala Campbell Conference. (Presumably to give the winners the chance to make plans to be in lovely Lawrence, Kansas in midsummer.)

In keeping with the tradition set by the very first Campbell winner -- Barry N. Malzberg's Beyond Apollo, a fine novel about the failed missions and sex lives of insane astronauts -- the Campbell jury apparently chose the novel from the shortlist that legendarily curmudgeonly and opinionated editor Campbell would have disliked the most. (It's nice to be in a field that has traditions, particularly traditions that simultaneously undermine the usual point of having traditions: to honor and revere our predecessors.)

The Sturgeon has no similar tradition, mostly because Ted Sturgeon liked a whole lot of stories -- that 10% that weren't crud, at least -- and it would be harder to shock the guy who wrote Godbody to begin with.

Anyway, those winners are:

Campbell: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

Sturgeon: Shambling Towards Hiroshima by James Morrow

(I reviewed Shambling here last year; I've generally loved Morrow's work, but I found it didn't quite gel in the way I hoped it would. I've been avoiding the Bacigalupi book, because I suspect it would cause me to rant and complain enough to seriously annoy my family. But I may need to read it now; it's already won the Nebula and is up for the Hugo.)

Congratulations to both Bacigalupi and Morrow; despite my quibbles, both are excellent writers actively trying to expand the field and write great stories.

[via Locus Online]

Hugo Voter Packet

If you are eligible to be a Hugo Voter -- and you know who you are -- you can get an electronic packet containing just about everything nominated for the Hugos, for more informed and judicious voting.

The link is here -- go get that stuff if you're eligible, and then vote wisely.

My Lunacon Schedule

This year's Lunacon -- the New York City area local SF/Fantasy convention -- will be held the weekend of March 19th at its perfect home in the Hilton Rye Town up in Westchester county. I'll be there part of the time -- late Friday afternoon through sometime Saturday evening -- since I'm off for a family trip for most of that Sunday and Monday.

And, if you'll be there, you might see me on the following program items:

Comics as Ethical Literature
Friday, 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM
When people think of comics, they generally think of violence, superpowers, and big-busted women. However, is there is room in the genre for moral quandaries and ethical questions, wedged somewhere between the leather catsuits and the spandex uniforms? Is so, are they the domain of independent comics, or can major titles like X-Men and Superman address those issues, too? Which is more important--spreading a message or staying in business?
Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg, Hal Johnson [M], Andrew Wheeler, Alex Wittenberg

Don't Change a Thing!
Saturday, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Some writers begin to reject editorial input when they become "big-names", or are suddenly able to sell sub-par work on name recognition alone. Often, the quality of their writing suffers for it. How do editors make writers better? Is it possible to self-edit successfully?
Peter Heck, Eddie Schneider, Josepha Sherman, Gordon Van Gelder, Andrew Wheeler [M]

The Economy and The Genre
Saturday, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
How has the economic situation affected the publishing industry, specifically, the sci-fi/fantasy genre? Where do we go next? Is there a solution beyond'wait for everything to get better?'
Jim Belfiore, Peter Liverakos [M], Susan Shwartz, Andrew Wheeler, Gordon Van Gelder

You Want to Do What With the What?
Saturday, 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Raunchy robotic romps, sybaritic shape-changing, time travel threesomes... you know you want to use that fictional technology/superpower for something kinky. When genre fiction invents some new ability for purposes of plot or flavor, they don't always envision all the possible... implications of that power. Which works have actually gone there? Which really should (or shouldn't). What would we do with that shiny new toy?

Amy Chused, Bill DeSmedt, Bruce Dykes, Ian Randal Strock [M], Andrew Wheeler

Alternatively, if you want to avoid me, the above schedule will also help suit your purposes.

I Now Have to Go to the Reno Worldcon

Not only is their author Guest of Honor the incomparable Tim Powers, but their Editor GoH is my own long-time boss, the uncrowned Queen of Science Fiction, Ellen Asher!

Full announcement here; congratulations to Reno and Ellen!

Scattered Worldcon Thoughts

I've been in town a hair over twenty-four hours, which means this is as good a time as ever to start pontificating. So here's what I've noticed or thought so far:

• There really is a Tim Horton's on every corner here. On the other hand, when I was looking for a bank yesterday -- preferably a TD Bank -- I couldn't manage to find one.
• The turndown service in the Delta is the best I've ever seen -- they even filled my ice bucket.
• There's supposedly free Wi-Fi in the convention center (the Palais), but this laptop was not able to find any network called "Anticipation" there, and so I have stopped lugging it about and will now leave it safely here in my hotel room.
• I've run into a lot of the people I was hoping to catch up with (and even caught up with a few of them), but I don't want to descend into name-dropping, so I won't say who they were.
  
• The con suite here has so much food that it's not strictly necessary to each actual meals anywhere else.
• Speaking of food, the parties had some quite impressive spreads last night, too. I even sampled a local delicacy called a "smoked meat sandwich." (The genericism of the name worried me briefly, I'll admit, but it was tasty, whatever sort of To-Serve-Fan kind of meat it actually was.)
  
• Speaking of parties, Anticipation has planned them well (possibly aided by local laws) -- all the major ones are on the 28th floor of the Delta (entirely made up of dramatic two-floor suites), and all of those are essentially open to the entire convention. (And serving alcohol, too -- the two big no-nos of an American Worldcon. I want to give the matter further study, but, right at this moment, I'd be cautiously in favor of having the Worldcon in Montreal forever.)
• Speaking of alcohol, "the bar" for this Worldcon is in the Intercontinental, right across from the Palais (the convention center). It's small, far from the outside, difficult to maneuver through, and has a very limited number of beer choices (as Jetse de Vries was bemoaning last night), but, aparrently, it's where all of the pros and/or Brits are gathering to schmooze.
• Speaking of Brits, I noticed in the newsletter that Martin Hoare isn't here. Who's going to phone David Langford at an ungodly hour about his Hugo win? We cranky conservative SFnal types don't like these radical changes....
• Speaking of ungodly, customs was a pain on the way up -- a good fifty-minute delay (sitting in my car, slowly dying of carbon monoxide poisoning from the other two thousand cars all around) to have a two-minute conversation with a gentleman I could barely understand.
• Speaking of conversations, I've only made it to one panel so far, yesterday afternoon. It was about what fans don't know about book marketing and distribution, and I mostly sat in to see if the panelists (an agent, a book editor, a writer, and a magazine editor) knew what I know about b.m. and d. From the evidence of the panel, I win -- but I generally consider myself to have won most of the time anyway.
• Speaking of winning, congratulations to Chris Roberson for getting the Sidewise Award for The Dragon's Nine Sons and to Cory Doctorow for seizing the Prometheus Award for Little Brother. (I don't remember who won the short fiction Sidewise, but congratulations to whoever that is, too.)
• Speaking of Cory Doctorow, this morning he had a signing line rivaling that of Neil Gaiman's epic queue last evening. For those intent on using line-length as a gauge for handicapping the Hugos, please remember to take into account that Doctorow is somewhat closer to being a local (being a Canadian but not a Montrealler) and that Gaiman has another signing, probably of equally massive proportions, tomorrow.
• Speaking of proportions, the Delta is really quite convenient to the Palais -- once Your Humble Correspondent looks at a map and walks in the correct direction, unlike my first attempt yesterday. It's only a couple of flat blocks away, and both are nice facilities. (I can't speak to the other hotels; I've only made a quick visit to the Intercontinental's bar.)
• Speaking of nice facilities, a walk this afternoon to find some used book stores took me through McGill territory (the local University), and that institution certainly attracts some very eye-catching co-eds. (Of course, I'm not only married, but look and feel old enough to be their fathers, but leave that aside for now.)
• Speaking of looking and feeling old, that's a sign that it's time to finish up and post this rambling, silly list.
  

And that's my Worldcon so far -- still to come, the Masquerade tonight (which I fear will be run by the crowd that did Torcon of blasted memory), the Hugos tomorrow night, possibly more panels if I can find anything interesting, and more partying.

My Worldcon Schedule

Since all of the cool kids are doing it...

I'm arriving on Friday, probably in the early afternoon.

I'm leaving on Monday, hopefully before noon.

And that's it; I'm out of the field these days, so I didn't ask to be on program this time around. So I'm going to see what a Worldcon feels like when I don't have anything in particular to do. (Oh, wait, that was Glasgow, when I went with The Wife and barely made it over to the convention center once a day.)

Anyway, if you'll be there, I may see you.

Housekeeping/Travel Announcements

1) I'm spending most of next week at the NACVA annual Consultant's Conference, which, oddly enough, will be held in a very familiar hotel, the Westin Boston Waterfront. (So it's kind of like I made it to Boskone, only six months late.) I'm not trying to make plans with any local people because I expect to be busy the whole time; this is one of my most frenzied conferences, and I think I'll have business dinners every night. But blogging may be light next week -- as if it hasn't been this week -- and that will be why.

2) Immediately after that -- as in, I'll be driving back from Boston starting at 5 or 6 on Friday night -- I'll be going to BEA a week from Saturday. If you'll be there, drop me a note and I'll try to come and say hi. (Or, more likely, I'll just run into people in the aisles, as always.) I don't expect that I'll come back in on Sunday -- but, if there's a good reason why I should, let me know.

3) I am going to Worldcon this year -- I've bought my membership and booked a hotel, so I'm committed. This is early days, but the plan is to drive up on the Friday (starting as early as I can stand) and come back on the Monday (trying not to bug out as early as possible, which is my usual tendency). Again, I'll be trying to see everyone, but, if we should schedule something specific, let me know.

I'll also be in Las Vegas in July for another conference, but I'm trying to block that out of my mind, so I'll leave that vague for now. (I also might be in San Francisco once or twice in the fall, but that's far enough in the future to be not determined yet.)

My Lunacon Plans

These are from the preliminary programming schedule, and subject to change. But it's what I expect to be babbling about in a little over two weeks, in the lovely, confusing Escher Hilton in the Town of Rye:

Friday: 7:00:00 PM, Poplar
Title: So It's Your First Con
Description: What to expect from an SF convention, along with fun things you might not know to look for. A sort of orientation meeting for first-time congoers.
Participants: Jan Howard Finder, Sean P. Fodera[M], Angela Jones-Parker, Crystal Pretzman, Andrew Wheeler

Saturday: 12:00:00 PM, Brundage B
Title: Classics of S-F: Algis Budrys's Rogue Moon (1960)
Description: Probably Budrys’ most famous novel, existential, gripping, both more and less bleak than it seems, it has love and learning, death and determination, and as Vladimir Nabokov said, “the precision of poetry and the passion of science.”
Participants: John Douglas[M], John Hertz, Dennis McCunney, Darrell Schweitzer, Andrew Wheeler

Saturday: 3:00:00 PM, Odelle
Title: Evil Lair Building
Description: What to do and what not to when building your evil lair. From the basics of pitfalls to the way to stop gymnasts from flipping through your lasers to whether the best place is a volcano, deep space or the moon, we can show you the best accessories, placement and style for your lair.
Participants: Paul Calhoun, Esther Friesner, Lawrence M. Schoen, Andrew Wheeler[M]

Saturday: 5:00:00 PM, Brundage A
Title: Illegal Aliens
Description: What's the difference between a Replicant and a Migrant Worker? Why isn't "Men in Black"s Manhattan island a Warsaw Ghetto for aliens? Is "Alien Nation" a liberal or conservative's wet dream?
Participants: Nick Pollotta, Steven Sawicki, Lawrence M. Schoen, Jeff Warner[M], Andrew Wheeler

I see that I need to re-read Rogue Moon before then; it's probably about time anyway.

Philcon Schedule

Even though I'll only be there a day and a half, as usual the programming folks have loaded me up with a lot of work. (And we'll see if that means that the move to Cherry Hill has accelerated the flight of pros from Philcon, or just that they really, really love me.)

Here are the appropriate links, if you're in the northeast and are likely to run off to a SF convention at the drop of a hat in mid-November: Philcon. The mighty Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill.

If you'll be at Philcon, and want to hear me blather in person, these are your best opportunities:
Sat 11:00 AM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour)
SCIENCE FICTION HAD A LOT MORE FREEDOM IN "THE GOOD OLD DAYS" (25)
[Panelists: Diane Weinstein (mod), Alexis Gilliland, Andrew Wheeler, Gardner Dozois, Ian Randal Strock]
Remember when it was possible to sell an Avram Davidson short story collection and a R. A. Lafferty novel in a mass market paperback, along with other strange stuff? In the quest for the next best seller, the Science Fiction field seems to have narrowed considerably in the last 30 years. Has Science Fiction become a victim of its own success?

Sat 1:00 PM in Plaza III (Three) (1 hour)
THE BEST WEBCOMICS YOU'RE NOT READING! (128)
[Panelists: J. Andrew World (mod), Tony DiGerolamo, Scott Christian Sava, Andrew Wheeler, Phil Kahn]
Lots of fans are reading XKCD, PVP, and/or Questionable Content. But if you don't know what any of those are, you REALLY need to come to this panel! And even if you DO know, you STILL need to come to this panel, because there's still a LOT of great stuff out there you might be missing.

Sat 4:00 PM in Plaza V (Five) (1 hour)
NOT THE AMERICAN CENTURY (64)
[Panelists: Andrew Wheeler (mod), Andre Lieven, James Daniel Ross, Michael Swanwick, Catherine Asaro]
It seems increasingly likely that the 21st Century may not be dominated by the United States. Has there been much Science Fiction about this?

Sun 12:00 PM in Plaza II (Two) (1 hour)
THE GREAT ROBERT E. HOWARD REVIVAL (23)
[Panelists: Andrew Wheeler (mod), Eric Avedissian, Victoria Janssen]
There are a tremendous number of Robert E. Howard new editions, repackaging and even a forthcoming Library of America edition. What makes him still relevant and vital?

Sun 2:00 PM in Plaza IV (Four) (1 hour)
MY COLLEGE MAJOR AND SF...HOW OUR OUTSIDE INTERESTS SHAPE THE SF WE LIKE (212)
[Panelists: Tobias Cabral (mod), Rebecca Marcus, Andrew Wheeler, Crystal Paul]
How do our college majors, jobs, and other outside interests effect the SF we read, watch and like?

Bonus points! If there's anything I should say (or not say) on any of those topics, let me know now, while I still have a chance to say, or not say, it.

Evan Dorkin Has the Best Con Report Ever

The slightest bit of context: Dorkin is not known for his sunny disposition in the first place.

Now go read it.

Readercon Thoughts

I was going to post a "what I did at Readercon" round-up, but Readercon depressed the hell out of me, so I didn't feel up to it. So here, far too late and several dollars short, are some random short thoughts so I can get rid of this draft post.

I wasn't on program, which was understandable but annoying.

I had a couple of too-brief conversations with Michael Burstein about this blog; he wanted to take issue with some of my opinions and at first was worried that I'd be very argumentative. In case anyone else thinks that, let me say that I see the role of a blog of opinion -- a good one, at least -- as the equivalent of a polemic pamphlet. Opinions should be strongly argued, but not necessarily as strongly held. Blogging is as much entertainment as it is anything else, so arguments should be interesting as well as substantive. So I'm probably not as dogmatic in person as I am in print.

I also spent the con in something of a funk; there were fewer publishing people than last year (my first time at Readercon), and that was one major reason I went. I can't make it to Worldcon or World Fantasy this year, and I wanted to catch up with the people I know in the business. If that's what Readercon is usually like, I think I'll drop it next year -- Kirk Polland alone isn't worth a weekend.

I spent far more time at a mall than I expected on a convention weekend. I also managed not to find anyone to eat dinner with two days in a row, which contributed to the feeling that I didn't belong at Readercon in the first place. (Bad time management had something to do with this, I'm sure.)

I did enjoy talking shop with a couple of people, notably Sean Wallace, and chatting about BookScan (the Nielsen book-sales meter, not my former employer of a similar name) with several people. And Sarah Monette's talk on her schema for different kind of reality was a really fascinating bit of critical category-making. But I don't remember much else from programming, or the rest of the con.

So it was a five hour drive, each way, to eat fast food alone and do maybe two hours of talking. Not a good use of my time, in the end.

Readercon Schedule

I haven't received my schedule for Readercon yet, which either means they're still working their way towards my end of the alphabet, or I got squeezed out by actual working writers and editors and such. I can't honestly complain, either way. But if I do end up on programming, don't expect me to have done much preparation...

There is one other Readercon point of potential interest: I'll be driving up from North Jersey on Friday morning, and there is spare room in my car if anyone needs a lift up. (I'm also coming back sometime on Sunday, if anyone needs a ride back.) E-mail me if this appeals -- if not, I'll see whoever once I get there.