From WorldCon I am Returnéd
I flew back into Ireland on Friday morning and the last dregs of jet-lag are only now leaving my system. So, it's time for all sorts of things. I want to get back into blogging; I want to concentrate even more on my writing. There are too many projects piling up on my plate to keep on with my old lackadaisical habits.
Anyway, on with the show...
WORLDCON 2012 TRIP
Food & Folk
I had an amazing time in Chicago. I could do an entire post just about the great vegan food I had there. For now, I'll just say that Native Foods on S. Clark Street is heaven. I'd also like to thank the staff of The Protein Bar for keeping me alive with their "Green City Vegan" wrap. Chipotle too, a fast food chain never meant for vegans, allows customers to customize their own burritos, so that even I could leave the place full and smiling. Argo Tea, made tasty vegan muffins as well as cappucinos frothing over with almond milk.
Even the Airline -- American Airlines -- provided a decent vagan meal, especially on the return leg. I know airlines aren't supposed to feed you well, but there you go.
All Hail!
Obviously, however, we go to Cons to hang out with other people, and in this aspect, WorldCon was spectacularly successful for me. I've been making friends over the years, but the main groups I kept company with were:
The Brotherhood Without Banners -- a fabulous group of people who throw parties hard enough to shatter continents. I love them to bits. The main reason why anybody should want to be George R. R. Martin, is to have fans such as these. I'm proud to be one of them.
The Black Gate crew. This was mostly a raiding party of writers and editors that happen to have Black Gate magazine in common. I feel like I've known them for years through our online contacts, but this was my first opportunity to see how they match up to the little thumb-nail photos of their biographies. James Enge, Howard Andrew Jones, Tina Jens, Rich Horton, Donald, Kristen, Andrew Zimmerman Jones... I'm sure I've forgotten several others, including the evil editor John O'Neill, but it will come back to me.
The Shamrokon Committee -- AKA the Irish crew. I didn't see these guys as much as I would have liked, but then again, they'll all be at TitanCon and later, Octocon. I did get to sit at their table for a while and even sold a membership or two.
Special thanks go to...
lady_narcissa
who practically ran a hostle in her apartment for bwbers, including myself.
LANSING TRIP
So, after WorldCon, I did a reading and a signing in Schulers Books and Music in Lansing Michigan.
Why Lansing?
Some years ago, the owner of the Bibliopunkk review site wrote a glowing tribute to my first novel, The Inferior. It turns out the lady also worked in Schulers and together with her colleagues, sold the hell out of my book. So many did they sell, I felt I couldn't pass up the chance to drop in on them to say thank you.
I'm so glad I did. Lovely, lovely people turned up. They listened. They smiled. We all took photos and chatted and smelled pizza on the air together. I had a great evening and only wished I lived closer so I could go again.
If you're ever in the area, drop in to Schulers and grab some books!
WORLDCON 2014
Now that it's official, I can announce that I will be working on the YA prgram items for WorldCon in London in 2014. I am open to ideas from anybody about anything. If you can think of a panel idea we could have, or an author we should ask, please don't hesitate to PM me with a suggestion.
All ideas are welcome, but as the Con will be held in London, people in the YA community who can reflect that city's culture and its diversity would be particularly welcome.
I have blind spots, please fill them in for me :)
MORE SOON
More soon. I'm back in the saddle now, yes I am.
Anyway, on with the show...
WORLDCON 2012 TRIP
Food & Folk
I had an amazing time in Chicago. I could do an entire post just about the great vegan food I had there. For now, I'll just say that Native Foods on S. Clark Street is heaven. I'd also like to thank the staff of The Protein Bar for keeping me alive with their "Green City Vegan" wrap. Chipotle too, a fast food chain never meant for vegans, allows customers to customize their own burritos, so that even I could leave the place full and smiling. Argo Tea, made tasty vegan muffins as well as cappucinos frothing over with almond milk.
Even the Airline -- American Airlines -- provided a decent vagan meal, especially on the return leg. I know airlines aren't supposed to feed you well, but there you go.
All Hail!
Obviously, however, we go to Cons to hang out with other people, and in this aspect, WorldCon was spectacularly successful for me. I've been making friends over the years, but the main groups I kept company with were:
The Brotherhood Without Banners -- a fabulous group of people who throw parties hard enough to shatter continents. I love them to bits. The main reason why anybody should want to be George R. R. Martin, is to have fans such as these. I'm proud to be one of them.
The Black Gate crew. This was mostly a raiding party of writers and editors that happen to have Black Gate magazine in common. I feel like I've known them for years through our online contacts, but this was my first opportunity to see how they match up to the little thumb-nail photos of their biographies. James Enge, Howard Andrew Jones, Tina Jens, Rich Horton, Donald, Kristen, Andrew Zimmerman Jones... I'm sure I've forgotten several others, including the evil editor John O'Neill, but it will come back to me.
The Shamrokon Committee -- AKA the Irish crew. I didn't see these guys as much as I would have liked, but then again, they'll all be at TitanCon and later, Octocon. I did get to sit at their table for a while and even sold a membership or two.
Special thanks go to...
lady_narcissa
who practically ran a hostle in her apartment for bwbers, including myself.LANSING TRIP
So, after WorldCon, I did a reading and a signing in Schulers Books and Music in Lansing Michigan.
Why Lansing?
Some years ago, the owner of the Bibliopunkk review site wrote a glowing tribute to my first novel, The Inferior. It turns out the lady also worked in Schulers and together with her colleagues, sold the hell out of my book. So many did they sell, I felt I couldn't pass up the chance to drop in on them to say thank you.
I'm so glad I did. Lovely, lovely people turned up. They listened. They smiled. We all took photos and chatted and smelled pizza on the air together. I had a great evening and only wished I lived closer so I could go again.
If you're ever in the area, drop in to Schulers and grab some books!
WORLDCON 2014
Now that it's official, I can announce that I will be working on the YA prgram items for WorldCon in London in 2014. I am open to ideas from anybody about anything. If you can think of a panel idea we could have, or an author we should ask, please don't hesitate to PM me with a suggestion.
All ideas are welcome, but as the Con will be held in London, people in the YA community who can reflect that city's culture and its diversity would be particularly welcome.
I have blind spots, please fill them in for me :)
MORE SOON
More soon. I'm back in the saddle now, yes I am.
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