Drunken Owls and Other Delights

Wow...where do I start?

I knew going in that this wasn't your usual fan-based or genre-based con (such as Worldcon, Readercon, FOGcon, etc.). I wasn't going to see silly panels debating Bradbury vs. Asimov, or filk sessions, or cosplay contests, or things such as that. Put it this way--this was a work conference for writers, agents, and publishers. In that respect, I'd prepared myself to think about the conference as part of my writing career: a way to think seriously about it, ways to improve it, and more importantly, a way to reach out to others like me who are in the same boat, no matter what professional level they're at.

My first social impression is that the people at the conference here were amazingly friendly. Complete strangers would scan my badge (they deliberately made the first names large so people could read them quickly) and would say hi as they walked by. I'm not the most social person out there--I'm more of a quiet observer than a chatterbox--but this openness definitely helped me open up myself. Within an hour I'd had a good handful of short conversations with others. Additionally, many of the people loved to ask each other what they were currently working on, so it was fun to bounce ideas off random strangers.

It also helped that quite impressive breakfasts and luncheons were offered on Friday through Sunday. Fitting about five hundred or so people into the ballroom meant that there would be about eight to a table, so it was hard to ignore the people next to you as you touched elbows with them. I met a few very nice people, young and old, during these luncheons and the conversations were always fun.

The panels (or "classes") were very well run...very much like any other con, they had a few available per hour that you could choose from. Most ran for about 45 minutes which gave you a good fifteen minutes between panels so you could make it to each one with quite a bit of time to spare. They had a few tech people on hand to jump in at a moment's notice if there were any problems with the audio and/or video--that alone was impressive, considering I always felt most cons didn't have enough A/V people. Which reminds me--all of the panels were recorded for posterity, and I could order copies if so desired. I don't think I've ever been to a con that's done that.

The crazy special part--the "Speed Dating with Agents"--was probably the most nerve-wracking-yet-fun thing I've ever done related to writing. It's exactly what it says: you get in line for a specific agent you want to talk to, and when it's your turn, you have three minutes to do your pitch. Well--given that I hadn't really done a professional pitch like this before, I did what I could not to go down in flames. It did help that all the agents were super nice and willing to listen and had nothing but positive things to say, even if they weren't interested or thought it needed work. I pitched Love Like Blood to one who thought it was an interesting twist on the idea, though they felt there was definitely a glut of vampire books out there. She did suggest sending in the firs ten pages (I've a feeling that was said to quite a few, but it still felt good to hear). I pitched Walk in Silence to another, admitting that it wasn't quite finished, and they thought it was an AWESOME idea and that I just needed to get my name out there a bit more, and would definitely be interested. So yeah, there's that. :)

There's more I want to get into, but it's getting late here and I need to get some last minute writing done before the end of the evening. Perhaps I'll post a bit more over the next few days on some panel-specific thoughts I had.

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!

So the Walk in Silence project trudges along, but I'm happy that it's at least in a moving status! Due to busy weekends and other writing things going on, I haven't put too much work into it lately, but I'm continuing to read the books and find out more information when and where I can.

At this point it's still wobbling between a chronology of record releases and whatnot, a memoir of my listening habits at the time and what my mindset was, and a history of how radio (both commercial and college kind) evolved at the time. The first two are relatively easy as I have my stupidly huge mp3 collection, my old writings, and an ever-growing spreadsheet of dated events. The third is proving interesting.

I've gathered a handful of music scene books, band bios/autobios, and textbooks about the history of radio. It's actually pretty fascinating stuff, reading all this and putting it together, especially if you're a music nerd like I am. What I'm missing at this point is the voice of those (aside from myself) who listened to the stuff I did (and still do). I've put that plan into motion just recently by sending an email to the Emerson Alumni people who run the periodic updates, mainly asking if people are interested in being interviewed for this. For now I'm just focusing on the listeners and the college deejays. The interesting outcome of this 'open audition' email has already worked wonders--the woman who compiles the alumni email updates responded back stating it'll be going out tomorrow, and that she knows someone from NYC who might be a good contact, and that she'd be interested herself. So far, so good!

I'm hoping I'll have something a little more solid by the time I go to SFWC, because I'm thinking of trying to sell this book idea to a few agents and publishers while there. In particular I'm thinking of St. Martin's Press, who's put out a lot of good music books that I'm actually using for reference, but I'm of course open to anyone else who might be interested as well.