Originally I was going to do this lovingly detailed post discussing everything I did at the con and everyone I met. But I've got line edits in hand for Labyrinth of Flame, and I'm pushing hard to get all the prose-level fixes done so I can hand off the book to the copy editor. That doesn't leave me time to write long blog posts. But I can share pictures that capture a few of my con highlights:
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| I got to meet veteran fantasy author Kate Elliott! I read her recently-released YA novel Court of Fives on the plane to Spokane and loved it. I wanted to steal her Black Wolves ARC - that's her latest adult epic fantasy, coming out this fall. But she only had one ARC with her, so I restrained myself (with difficulty). |
Meeting Kate Elliott was extra-special because she (along with the also-awesome Alison Croggon) helped motivate me to keep plowing through Labyrinth of Flame's first draft, at a time when I was struggling to balance writing and work and life and feeling like I was failing on all fronts. I can't thank her and Alison enough, and it was lovely to meet Kate in person at last. (One day I hope to thank Alison in person, too!)
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| The r/Fantasy fan table! Awesome mod Melissa is on the left, while Kate Elliott (right) types away for her AMA. |
Another highlight was hanging out with folks from r/Fantasy, both at the fan table and the excellent Drinks With Authors party. Huge thanks to moderator Melissa Shumake and author Megan O'Keefe, who did a fantastic job of organizing on short notice!
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| Giveaway table at the Drinks With Authors party |
One of the best moments at the party was running into a friend from Caltech I hadn't seen in twenty years - Divya is a fellow mole from Blacker Hovse, and she's also an SF writer, how cool is that! We had no idea we were both authors. Can't wait to check out her work.
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| Moles reunited after 20 years! Me and S.B. Divya |
Similarly, I was delighted to meet up with a friend I first met years ago when we were both skating at the U.S. Adult National Championships. Sharon's not only a figure skater and SF fan, but a mountaineer/climber - we joke that we were separated at birth. I hadn't seen Sharon in ages, so it was great to catch up.
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| Figure skaters for the win: Sharon Reynolds and me |
I also got to see a former member of my critique group: Catherine Montrose (who writes as Catherine Cooke) moved from Denver to Seattle a while ago, and we still miss her lots!
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| Without Catherine's insightful critique, the Shattered Sigil books wouldn't be half as good |
Lots more awesome folks I didn't get pictures of (like Karen Bovenmyer, and Joel Pearson, and Luke Matthews, and Lyndsey Zusi!) Amid all the socializing, I did go to some actual programming at the con.
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| Martha Wells reading from the 2nd of her upcoming new Raksura duology. Cannot wait for these books! |
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| Jo Walton, Jack Campbell, Chip Hitchcock, and Ann Leckie discuss the work of C.J. Cherryh (my all-time favorite science fiction writer) |
Plus I did a signing, and a pop AMA ("Ask Me Anything") on r/Fantasy, and hung out with my book reviewer brother Matt Hilliard and his girlfriend Rachel. Oh yes, and managed two separate trips to the local climbing gym! Once to take Labyrinth of Flame Kickstarter backer Melissa climbing, and once with anyone I could drag away from the con.
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| Climbing with Joey Hewitt and Alex Ristea |
Alex posted a few more pics of our climbing fun on twitter:
My one comment on the Hugos is that I did go to as many WSFS business meetings as possible, so I could support the E Pluribus Hugo proposal for changing the method of tallying nominations to a system that will be better representative of fandom's broad range of tastes.
I was disappointed my flight left too early on Sunday for me to participate in the final vote on the proposal (though I convinced a friend to go and vote for EPH, so at least the proposal didn't lose a vote!). At the airport I was glued to my smartphone, hitting refresh on Rachael Acks's liveblog of the business meeting, hoping to see if EPH passed. Which it did, hooray! The proposal still has to be ratified at next year's Worldcon in Kansas City before it can take effect, but I hope that by 2017, the new (and better) system will be in place.
Even before then, this next year I encourage everyone - regardless of political persuasion or taste in SFF - to nominate whatever 2015 books you've read and loved. I think a lot of Worldcon members are scared to nominate because they feel they haven't read widely enough in the field, or if they are voracious readers, it's too hard to winnow their list down to only a few choices. (I've certainly been guilty of that last.) Heck with that! Get out there and nominate, even if you have to throw a dart to choose between your favorites. The more people participate, the more likely it is the Hugos will have a shortlist of great reads from all over the SFF spectrum.
And now, back to line edits...
I'm so glad we had a chance to catch up! And it was a special treat to get to sit with you in the airport too :)
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