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End of Worldcon Post

The last two days of Worldcon were almost completely opposites: the first filled with anticipation, excitement, frenetic activity; the second with lassitude and loss. Previously, I’ve attended cons as a fledgling writer looking to understand a new culture and to make connections. This time, I really enjoyed going as a fan—attending readings, wandering the dealers’ room, and (most importantly) catching up with old friends. That’s why for the first time, I felt a sense of loss as the con wound down. All the energy and the sense of community was fading. A bit like the end of summer camp. Back to real life. *Le sigh.*

Anyway, here’s the recap:

Saturday

Hugo night! But first a lovely lunch with epic fantasy hero and DeepGenre maven, Kate Elliot. Everyone one should be so lucky to have such a wise and humorous friend; her advice regarding whether or not to delay book one was invaluable. There followed a lovely tea hosted by Strange Horizons and the launch of Ben Rosenbaum’s delightful collection of short stories, and Jay Lake’s newest theological steampunk, Escapement. At said tea, I ran into two old con friends, Gail and Fran, who back in 2006 helped me survive BayCon when I was a wee babe of a writer.

Thereafter came a much needed power nap, and then, most wonderfully an infiltration of the “Hugo’s Pre-Party”—where the nominees and their guests congregated to make small talk and suppress their anxiety before filing out into the front rows of the Hugo awards. Posing as the date of various friends who had legitimate reasons to be there, I managed to crash the party and sneak a seat in one of the nosebleed rows. Those sitting around me did pretty darn well! Mi hermano, John Joseph Adam, walked on stage to receive a Hugo for Gordon Van Gelder and then Ted Chang. Irene Gallo accepted a silver rocket for Stephan Martiniere. But sadly, another of my epic fantasy heroes, Daniel Abraham, missed the Hugo by only 9 votes. Of course coming in second place to Ted Chang by only 9 votes is an accomplishment unto itself.

After the awards, I struck up a conversation with the godfather of epic fantasy, George R.R. Martin, himself. We talked mostly about New Haven pizza. This is one of my favorite memories of the con. Like most, I adore GRRM’s work and was thrilled to find out that the big man is an amicable, all-American guy who has it out for Chicago-style pizza.

After the Hugo, I got a chance to thank James Patrick Kelly for making his shorter fiction available in audio format. He reads his work himself with wonderful clarity and style. The production quality isn’t fancy, but for the learning disabled, it’s a rare gift to get to listen to such wonderful fiction for free.

Then came the increasingly familiar blur of publisher parties and authorial late-night aggregation in the hotel bar.

Saturday

The day began well enough: an early morning breakfast with Daniel Abraham. From Daniel, I got not only wonderful advice about writing, but also some info on what Daniel is working on next. Let me tell you, it is pretty darn cool. Let’s be coy and stop there.

The day continued apace with another lunch and workshop with my editor at Tor. We did some great problem solving and what I call “spitballing ideas” (throwing idea about to see what sticks) for book two.

Thereafter, the day though pleasant began to wind down. Increasingly I felt the weight of the non-worldcon world . I socialized a bit at the bar and then beat a retreat to my hotel room to post the meditation on authorial time-line options.

Then a long, sleepless night tossing and turning as the different scenarios raced through my mind again and again.

Which brings us to today: can’t complain really. A fairly painless trip back to Stanford, a few hours of unpacking, a long run around “The Dish” in the Stanford Hills, a final meeting for my outdoor leadership / wilderness first aid class before we take to the woods next weekend, and then back here: to my apartment, my keyboard.

Well, time to get back to it.