Last weekend was Ad Astra, what I think of as my “home CON” since it’s the first one I ever went to, and I can ride my bike to it. Though to get there Saturday morning I rode through Charles Sauriol Park, and the hill at the south end coming out to Winford Drive is killer, and I wouldn’t want to do it in the rain. It’s paved like a real road, but not maintained, and extremely steep. I was worried about losing traction the whole way up, a feeling not improved by the pine needles strewn about in patches. I didn’t ride back the same way, because I’m chicken and didn’t want to go down that hill.
Anyway, I went to three panels on Friday (weapons check guy, Where do ideas come from, and How will you survive the apocalypse). I was surprised how unprotective the ideas people were -- they talked about ideas they were still working on that they hadn’t managed to get to work yet, that they still wanted to use. But I guess ideas really are a dime a dozen, and it’s what you do with them that counts.
Saturday I went to Surviving your first con, Editing anthologies, and Marketing and self-promotion, then I went home and got the boy and we toured the dealer room (I hate the dealer rooms, and I hate saying that, but it’s really stressful for me when people try to make me buy their stuff) and the art show, and then a show about fighting in the middle ages, which was great. Then we went to something about the history of SF that the boy found incredibly boring, that ended with five minutes of crazy about peak oil. Then we went to our usual Saturday evening restaurant. I took Ed and the boy home, but the hydro was out so I couldn’t get my car in the parking garage, so I went back and wandered into the Chizine book release party, which turned out to actually be fun. I saw Peter Watts’ leg. (I must actually thank the anonymous person who, when I said “Oh my god, it’s Peter Watts! He can walk around” basically pushed me in Peter’s direction and said “Let me introduce you to him. Peter, this is a fan” and then disappeared. I saw the awesome flesh wound and told him the boy says “Starfish” should be “Sea Star”.) I bought some books. I wandered into SFContario’s party and looked at InterWeave Knits Spring 2011 with someone who was doing a really nice counterpane tunic from that, and then I went home. The hydro was on again so I could get in the parking garage. Yay!
Sunday I listened to people talk about why professionalism is important, then how to sell your first novel, then Ellen Datlow, Stephen Jones and Don Hutchinson riffing in a freeform manner, then editing a novel.
And that was what I did last weekend.
Anyway, I went to three panels on Friday (weapons check guy, Where do ideas come from, and How will you survive the apocalypse). I was surprised how unprotective the ideas people were -- they talked about ideas they were still working on that they hadn’t managed to get to work yet, that they still wanted to use. But I guess ideas really are a dime a dozen, and it’s what you do with them that counts.
Saturday I went to Surviving your first con, Editing anthologies, and Marketing and self-promotion, then I went home and got the boy and we toured the dealer room (I hate the dealer rooms, and I hate saying that, but it’s really stressful for me when people try to make me buy their stuff) and the art show, and then a show about fighting in the middle ages, which was great. Then we went to something about the history of SF that the boy found incredibly boring, that ended with five minutes of crazy about peak oil. Then we went to our usual Saturday evening restaurant. I took Ed and the boy home, but the hydro was out so I couldn’t get my car in the parking garage, so I went back and wandered into the Chizine book release party, which turned out to actually be fun. I saw Peter Watts’ leg. (I must actually thank the anonymous person who, when I said “Oh my god, it’s Peter Watts! He can walk around” basically pushed me in Peter’s direction and said “Let me introduce you to him. Peter, this is a fan” and then disappeared. I saw the awesome flesh wound and told him the boy says “Starfish” should be “Sea Star”.) I bought some books. I wandered into SFContario’s party and looked at InterWeave Knits Spring 2011 with someone who was doing a really nice counterpane tunic from that, and then I went home. The hydro was on again so I could get in the parking garage. Yay!
Sunday I listened to people talk about why professionalism is important, then how to sell your first novel, then Ellen Datlow, Stephen Jones and Don Hutchinson riffing in a freeform manner, then editing a novel.
And that was what I did last weekend.