Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Three days of a four-day weekend (we took Friday off) was enjoyed at BayCon!  There's one more day of the con tomorrow, but the both of us have decided that we're going to take the day off instead to recuperate.  Considering we've got things to do this coming Thursday and Friday as well (anniversary celebrations for the in-laws), it's probably for the best that we spend tomorrow sleeping in and doing not much of anything at all.

[Side note: the Day Job had unexpectedly set up a mandatory training session that I really didn't want to deal with this coming Friday morning, but thankfully cooler managerial heads prevailed and they'll reschedule sometime in June, when we don't have much going on.  Hopefully they won't reschedule during something else A and I have planned!]

As for writing...we didn't spend too long at the con and were home by dinnertime, so I was able to sneak in some writing time!  Yay!  On Friday I got words done for both projects, and did one each yesterday and today.  It got me thinking, maybe that's a possibility for weekend work?  Right now I'm treating my schedule as mandatory on weekdays and optional on the weekend, so it's something to think about.

Anyhoo...hope everyone's having a good long weekend! :) 

...and i totally blame Daylight Savings Time.  I was really starting to enjoy being able to get up with the sun and not have to feel my way around a pitch-black bedroom first thing in the morning. Ah well...it'll be getting lighter soon enough.

FOGcon was indeed fun!  It always feels like it goes by too quickly, as it's a very small con with only a few panels running at a time, so I'll go to maybe three or four of them and suddenly the day is done.  Still, I had fun on the self-publishing panel, talking with a few others who clearly had more knowledge than I did about print versions of their books!  Heh.  Still, we all learned from each other, so it was a great panel overall.  My reading panel was cut short a bit due to going last, but I'm okay with that -- I read from the Apartment Complex story, which is still rough at this point.  Next stop, BayCon! :)

Meanwhile, it's Monday and everything's back to normal.  Day Job continues apace.  Blogging and writing still on schedule.  Not too much else to report.  

Hope everyone has a good week!

Woo, vacation coming in less than a week!! We'll be flying out of SFO on Saturday and across the briny blue to the UK for Worldcon and much sightseeing, and I'm totally looking forward to it. A and I both have a list of places to visit--the many museums, the usual tourist traps, and of course a few Beatles-related points of interest. And I'd be kicking myself if I didn't spend two weeks in London and not visit the famed Abbey Road, right? We even picked up a few tickets to see a play at one of their many theaters there. I'm really looking forward to this trip, gonna be a lot of fun!

Looking forward to Worldcon as well...it's going to be one where I know quite a few people who are also going to be there, so it'll be a lot of fun to stop and say hi to everyone! Interestingly enough I haven't yet read through the entire con schedule yet (partly due to the fact that I completely forgot to do so until a few days ago), but I've come to the conclusion that cons work even better for me if I don't overplan it. There are always a few definites as far as panels are concerned, but keeping my plans relatively fluid means I'm less concerned about possibly missing things and more open-minded about panels I stumble in on at the last minute. I've discovered new books and writers that way too!

So yes...this weekend has basically been all about the planning. Getting a shuttle to the airport, getting London transit cards, buying travel books, mapping out a schedule, working out a to-do list, stopping mail delivery for a bit, and so on. All the usual steps one takes pre-vacation. And now I'm at the point where I'm making a mental list of what I'll be bringing on board the plane. This is one of those rare moments where we can bring a carry-on with us but not an additional bag to be put overhead. Not complaining about that too much...I'm sure I can figure out a way to arrange the necessities in my satchel--you know, the tablet, the mp3 player, book to read, notebook for writing, possible change of clothes (you know how it is), camera, and all within the confines of the space they're giving us. It'll be tricky, but I think I can pull it off.


In other news...what have I been up to the last few weeks? Aside from a three-day cold that annoyed the hell out of me, I've been keeping busy. I'm not as far along with Walk in Silence as I'd like to be, and I think it's because I've hit a slow muddy segment that will most likely need to be heavily rewritten. I'm at the point of why the hell am I writing this anyway, and is it really worth the work? second-guessing, which is annoying. The words don't exactly suck, but I'm perhaps at a point where I'm getting bored with the project. Or that I'm at a point I don't want to write for some reason and would rather not deal with it. In other words, I've got the writer's typical mid-project don't wanna's.

If anything, I'm going to utilize this vacation for two things: a brief break from the writing to get my thoughts back on track, and a distraction to plan what fiction project I'm going to work on next.


So yes...going to be a busy week of last minute plans, packing, and everything else under the sun. I may even post something here or at WordPress before I leave, if time permits. We'll see.

I am quite exhausted at the moment and still have one day left to go for the SFWC, so I'll do a detailed post in the next day or so. I'll just say that it was definitely worth the dent in my credit card. I learned a hell of a lot and though I'm still attempting to process it, it's given me a lot to think about. I also met quite a few really nice people [seriously--it's weird being in a room full of people who actively read your badge and say hi, even in passing...I'm totally not used to it] and maybe even a few contacts.

So yes...once my brain is back in full working mode again, I'll give you all an update!

I've just registered emmalyon and myself for FOGcon here in San Francisco, a smallish science fiction convention that aims to be on par with Wiscon or Readercon--not nearly as big as Worldcon, but decently sized and local...which is cool, since there really hasn't been any science fiction conventions in the area in awhile. They have a rough list of panels at the site that look to be filled with a lot of fun stuff, so I'm looking forward to it. And the fact that it's the easiest commute to get there doesn't hurt (1. leave apartment 2. take #1 bus to Van Ness Ave). It being a completely new con, I'm dearly hoping that, though it may not be a huge turnout, it won't be a complete failure. I like what I've read and seen about this one and am hoping the best for it.

That said, I've got a strong urge to actually sit in on a few panels. I don't mean sit in the audience quietly, but to take part in them. I've never done so before...when I first started going to Readercon in 2001 I wouldn't have entertained the thought, as I thought I was still a writer n00b at the time. Well, ten years down the line, four novels and plenty of projects later, I'd like to think I've improved significantly since then, even if I haven't had any novels professionally published yet (sure, I got paid for some articles for Vision and had an accidental sale to ZYZZYVA, but I mean aside from that). I'm thisclose from that last step, or at least I'd like to think that.

So...what do you think? Should I make that step and offer my services on some of these panels? I did see a few that sound like something up my alley that I think I could participate in, offer my own ideas and thoughts. Am I crazy to make this jump before I'm a full-fledged professional, or should I stop thinking things out so much and just shut up and do it?

The Good:
--It was great to see a lot of my favorite (and some fellow) writers again. I probably should have been more social with some of them, but exhaustion (damn you, altitude!!!) and a full schedule kept me from stopping and saying hi to more of them. I was happy to see kateelliott and say hi, and did chat with a few others, but it seemed I did more "fly-bys" than anything else. I saw a lot of writers while on my way to somewhere else. And I seem to have been following S.M. Stirling around quite a bit, so perhaps I should start reading his books...? :p

--They did a GREAT job of ensuring that many of the panels they thought would have a large crowd were actually in large rooms. I've gone to cons where the rooms got too full because Extremely Famous Author was put into Broom Closet Named After Local Governor. I'm glad they put some thought into the logistics this time.

--Many of the panels were humorous and light, even informative, and extremely varied. I've noticed that each Worldcon I've gone to has its own handful of panels unique to that con, and this one was library-centric, interestingly enough. I didn't go to those, though...I stayed with a lot of the writer-centric ones. I'd say the Urban Fantasy themed ones were the best for me, as I've come to the conclusion that UF is my genre of choice with writing.

--The Dealer's room was small, but there were a good number of tables that had a very good choice of stuff. And of course, Everyone's Favorite Curmudgeonly Bookseller (Larry Smith, natch) was there with a very good selection. I'm happy that I got to see a lot of books from online friends there (antonstrout,vg_ford, and mizkit to mention a few), and I hope they sold well!

--Downtown Denver is QUITE nice, even if the lack of any major hills was disquieting to me. Their 16th Street Mall--a 1.25 mile stretch of closed street (no cars, free bus only) full of neat stores and great food--was a very fun place to visit, and only two blocks away from our hotel. Honestly? It's what Market Street here thinks it is and what Mission Street wants to be, but both fail miserably. ;)

--The Tattered Cover Bookstore at the other end of said Mall is one of the neatest bookstores I've been to, and it's very reminiscent of The Toadstool Bookshop up in Keene NH.

--Now I see what they mean by "Big Sky". I mean, DAMN. That's a whole lot of it...! O_o...

The Bad:
Well, not too much to complain about, except:

--Since we were sharing the convention center with another convention (John Deere, apparently), we drew the short straw and our rooms were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay at the other end of the convention center. I do think we got our quota of walking in just getting to our area.

--Food, or lack thereof. Absolutely NO convenience stores within the con center. A few overpriced sandwich/pastry places that were only open at certain times of the day. A VERY small handful of food stalls that had a VERY small handful of selections with little nutritional value. We found it easier to stop at Walgreen's or the hotel store the night before and load up.

--Got a little annoyed on Saturday when I walked out of two panels out of sheer boredom. I hate doing that.

--Is it sad that this is yet another con where I can safely say I'm the thinnest fat guy there?

--Yeah, the altitude. I didn't think it would bother me, but I found myself tired and cranky a lot, and I hope I didn't bother emmalyon that much with my occasional kvetching. After the first day, though, I think I did okay. Just that first day where I pooped out at 4pm and headed up to the room to pass out for a bit.

The Ugly:
I'm sorry, but I have to say this: the fans.

Not all of them, mind you. A good number of them are fine, and I can forgive the occasional social faux pas. And I have no problem if they happen to be overweight and/or carrying Book Bags of DOOM (aka rear-facing battering rams), and/or have to get around using those scooters. I can even forgive the filking (oops, did I say that aloud? :p ), which makes both of us twitch.

But what I cannot STAND is the Science Fiction Fan As Comic Book Guy. Good for you that you know obscure SF trivia, dude. Good for you that you own a rare first edition of someone's book. But we Do. Not. NEED. TO. HEAR IT. And please, for the love of Cthulu, STOP PREFACING YOUR QUESTIONS. I friggin' HATE that. And if you looked at the author you're questioning and noticed the look of pain on their face, you'd learn that Brevity = GOOD.

Oh--and if you can't hear them, ASK them to speak up. Don't be so friggin' rude and yell "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" at the top of your voice. Trust me, it's annoying to EVERYONE involved.

Other than that, I can deal.

----

Overall, I wasn't as impressed with this con as I have been in the past--perhaps it was because I had some misgivings right out of the gate with this one. No fault of the city, just that it just felt a bit underprepared, underplanned and not as exciting. Added to the fact that the sheer number of memberships that were being resold online kind of made me wonder if some people were actually jumping ship.

On the other hand, I did enjoy a lot of it, I was able to add a few more names to my roster of agents/publishers to annoy send stuff to when it's ready to be submitted. And I'm still thrilled that I came up with some great ideas for future LLB-themed books.

So yeah, this con was a toss-up, but I had fun. And I'm looking forward to next year's con, which is in Montreal--this means I can do a two-week vacation and combine the con with a visit to New England and all my friends and family therein. :)