World Fantasy Con, Day 1
Oct. 30th, 2003 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hildy89I came over to the con after work, worrying that I would miss out on too much. For my first trick, I attempted to find the hotel, based on the instructions from a lady at work. She used landmarks, not actual street names. So I found a map that showed me an actual route so I could gauge when I got lost. Needless to say, I did. I am nothing if not consistent in my lack of direction. I found the Hyatt and checked myself in a registration.
Then they allowed me to choose my swag, hereafter referred to as simply "The Bag". This remarkably sturdy canvas bag had bright "search and rescue" orange trim on the bottom and handles. The Bag was filled with books. Yomiko Readman would be delighted with the opportunity to acquire so many at once. Think of it as a Trick or Treat bag for fantasy readers. They included a wide variety of fantasy volumes and lesser known authors, mostly stuff I might not have bought otherwise. I didn't really get a chance to look through the loot until after I found Jennifer and Melissa listening to the last of the readings. Then we compared notes. Occasionally people would recycle their books at the registration desk so you could scoop up whatever you missed.
After determining that none of us wanted to walk that far, We found dinner at the Dubliners Irish pub. Those bags weighed a ton. I continually joked about getting back all the calluses that I had lost from gymnastics. My shoulders and back will not like me in the morning. I really need to rethink how many I bring with me tomorrow for the signing.
We came back to the hotel for two panels.
The first one was "Don't Open That Door: The Role of Stupidity in Fantasy Fiction" which was a hoot. Esther Freisner is always fun to listen to, but Sarah Hoyt equally knew how to bring down the house. Esther recounted a funny anectdote where she was home alone with her daughter when they heard a noise. Rather than panicking, they grabbed the nearest weapons to hand at the fireplace. Esther grabbed the poker and her daughter grabbed the broom, prompting Esther in her usual fashion to say that "No, the shovel should be your next choice." The panel focused a bit more on film rather literature for my tastes, but offered some interesting insights on the whole horror movie stereotypes. Interestingly, the original "The Haunting" movie was held up by Esther as still one of the scariest creepiest movies she had ever watched and the sfx was minimal on that movie as I recall.
The second panel was on the short story collection. That provided some telling comments on the differences between the main houses and the independent publishers. Three of the panelists were small press publishers, with the last the publisher of Fantasy & SF magazine. Marty Halpern commented how much his authors liked keeping their collections still in print, so when they did come out with a novel, other people could go "Ohh. More stories I haven't read." He also mentioned that Golden Gryphon's best selling collection has been Kage Baker's Company short story collection which I want. They did a print run and they sold out pretty quickly for a short story collection.
We tried to go to Ellen Kushner's party upstairs but that was jam packed. Finally we opted to head home on the Metro, avoiding some very trashily dressed young things in Halloween garb, headed for the parties I presume or coming back. At least I hope they were costumes. At least the weather was nice. I remember freezing my butt off that Halloween to see ASH at that Tysons club however many years ago. And I was in a nice warm velvet dress, not the skimpy French maid type outfits.
Then they allowed me to choose my swag, hereafter referred to as simply "The Bag". This remarkably sturdy canvas bag had bright "search and rescue" orange trim on the bottom and handles. The Bag was filled with books. Yomiko Readman would be delighted with the opportunity to acquire so many at once. Think of it as a Trick or Treat bag for fantasy readers. They included a wide variety of fantasy volumes and lesser known authors, mostly stuff I might not have bought otherwise. I didn't really get a chance to look through the loot until after I found Jennifer and Melissa listening to the last of the readings. Then we compared notes. Occasionally people would recycle their books at the registration desk so you could scoop up whatever you missed.
After determining that none of us wanted to walk that far, We found dinner at the Dubliners Irish pub. Those bags weighed a ton. I continually joked about getting back all the calluses that I had lost from gymnastics. My shoulders and back will not like me in the morning. I really need to rethink how many I bring with me tomorrow for the signing.
We came back to the hotel for two panels.
The first one was "Don't Open That Door: The Role of Stupidity in Fantasy Fiction" which was a hoot. Esther Freisner is always fun to listen to, but Sarah Hoyt equally knew how to bring down the house. Esther recounted a funny anectdote where she was home alone with her daughter when they heard a noise. Rather than panicking, they grabbed the nearest weapons to hand at the fireplace. Esther grabbed the poker and her daughter grabbed the broom, prompting Esther in her usual fashion to say that "No, the shovel should be your next choice." The panel focused a bit more on film rather literature for my tastes, but offered some interesting insights on the whole horror movie stereotypes. Interestingly, the original "The Haunting" movie was held up by Esther as still one of the scariest creepiest movies she had ever watched and the sfx was minimal on that movie as I recall.
The second panel was on the short story collection. That provided some telling comments on the differences between the main houses and the independent publishers. Three of the panelists were small press publishers, with the last the publisher of Fantasy & SF magazine. Marty Halpern commented how much his authors liked keeping their collections still in print, so when they did come out with a novel, other people could go "Ohh. More stories I haven't read." He also mentioned that Golden Gryphon's best selling collection has been Kage Baker's Company short story collection which I want. They did a print run and they sold out pretty quickly for a short story collection.
We tried to go to Ellen Kushner's party upstairs but that was jam packed. Finally we opted to head home on the Metro, avoiding some very trashily dressed young things in Halloween garb, headed for the parties I presume or coming back. At least I hope they were costumes. At least the weather was nice. I remember freezing my butt off that Halloween to see ASH at that Tysons club however many years ago. And I was in a nice warm velvet dress, not the skimpy French maid type outfits.
