State of the Schafer, GeyserCon Edition

Well, GeyserCon was a lot of fun. As cons go, it's on the smaller side, comparable to something like MileHiCon in Colorado. (This makes sense, given that NZ's total population and land area are also roughly equivalent to that of Colorado). I rather like the intimacy of smaller cons, which tend to feel like a laid-back family reunion rather than an overwhelming extravaganza.

Granted, the family reunion vibe can be a little nervewracking for an introvert who's brand new to the family. At GeyserCon, like any SFF con I've ever attended, much of the socializing happens in the hotel bar. When you enter and see a lot of tight-knit groups of friends deeply involved in conversation, and you're a stranger to most everyone, it's tough to overcome social anxiety and try to join an existing circle. SF author Kay Kenyon wrote a great post about how to handle con bars as an introvert that I highly recommend to anyone else who, like me, shudders at the thought of starting conversations with strangers.

Another big help is to have friends provide some online introductions in advance. Back when I first moved to New Zealand, SFF reviewer Paul Weimer gave me a virtual introduction to Jo Van Ekeren, who lives in NZ and is a veteran of many WorldCons. She offered to split a room with me at GeyserCon, and proved to be a most excellent roommate and guide to Kiwi fandom. One of my favorite memories of the con is talking about SF books with her until late into the night.

Fellow author and good friend Helen Lowe was working too hard on finishing the fourth novel in her wonderful Wall of Night series to attend the con, but she made sure to ask some of her friends to keep an eye out for me, which they very kindly did. Also, con Guest of Honour Kaaron Warren, who had a story in the Evil is a Matter of Perspective anthology along with me, sought me out to say hello, which was really lovely of her. When you're shy, it makes such a difference to have people actively reach out to you. I hope I can repay the favor to other newbies in years to come. 

As always happens at a con, once I got over my initial shyness, I met all kinds of lovely people who were unfailingly friendly and welcoming. Plus, the con programming (organized by award-winning Kiwi author Lee Murray) was great. One of my favorite talks was given by Peter Brownbridge, a Geothermal Inspector from the Rotorua District Council. The town of Rotorua is located within the caldera of a volcano, and an active thermal field lies beneath the streets. Peter's job is to respond to reports of geothermal events, identify damage, and arrange necessary repairs. The surprises range from geysers going off in people's gardens, to deadly hydrogen sulfide gas infiltrating buildings. It was really fascinating to hear about the challenges of living in an active volcanic zone, and how the city manages the consequences. 

I also thoroughly enjoyed Lee Murray's interview with Kaaron Warren. Kaaron is a wonderful storyteller; her writing portrays the eerie, haunting, and unsettling corners of human nature, yet in person she's quite warm and witty. After hearing her discuss her latest novel, Tide of Stone, which is about the keeper of a tower containing condemned prisoners who endure a horrible sort of immortality, I had to buy it. Another con Guest of Honour, Alan Baxter, who's a long-time martial artist, gave a fascinating talk on what it's like to fight hand to hand, and how you can capture the feeling of a fight using various writing techniques. 

It was neat to see the award ceremony for the Sir Julius Vogel Awards, which are the NZ equivalent of the Hugos. Congrats to all the winners! And since WorldCon will be held in NZ next year, 29 July- 2 Aug in Wellington, plenty of discussion was had about that. Prices for memberships go up in only a few days, so if you're at all thinking you might come, definitely register. (And yes, if at all financially feasible, you should come! It's going to be awesome.)

 In any case, GeyserCon was a blast, but all fun has to end sometime. The day I was to head home, I woke up with a sore throat, which only worsened as I traveled. By the time I got back to Queenstown, I had to accept the truth: the virus that had made my son miserable for 5 long days had caught up with me at last.

I've spent the last week flat on my back in bed, too sick to write or do anything much useful. My husband had to take on an unexpected extra week of solo parenting, poor guy. (Because he is a wonderful husband, he rose to the task.) 

At long last, I'm recovering. All I've got left is laryngitis and a slowly disappearing cough. I'm back to writing, and hopefully very soon back to skating and hiking and everything else, because boy am I sick of lying like a slug in bed. I did at least read some great books, and watch the best TV miniseries I have seen in ages (HBO's Chernobyl), but I'll leave discussion of those to another post. Much like my illness, this one is long enough already. I'll leave you with some I took while wandering around Rotorua. 

Lake Rotorua--water fills much of the volcano caldera.

Geothermal steam rising from behind the con hotel

Dead zone beside a hot spring

According to Geothermal Inspector Peter Brownbridge, this area behind the hotel was created when a manmade geothermal bore "went rogue" 

Rotorua Museum in Government Gardens, which are also known as Paepaekumanu

Steaming hot spring near the museum

View on my flight home to Queenstown. Alas, I was on the wrong side yet again to see Aoraki / Mt. Cook, but there's no such thing as a bad view of the Southern Alps.

State of the Schafer, Vol 6

Yikes, what a week. My son came down with the flu and was absolutely miserable for five very long days. (And nights. The high fever gave him screaming nightmares. Good times for all.) His head and eyes hurt so much he couldn't read or even watch TV for very long, which left me as his main source of distraction from pain and fever. It's always heartbreaking as a parent to see your child in pain yet be helpless to make that pain vanish; I'm just glad my son is still young enough to find some comfort in my presence. But needless to say, I did not get much writing or anything else done. I have never been so glad that I'm not facing any deadlines.

Happily, the kiddo has at last recovered, and my own immune system seems to have held out against the virus, with the help of lots of hastily snarfed vitamin C. I was terrified I'd get sick and have to cancel my planned trip to GeyserCon. But hooray, I am healthy and typing this in Auckland airport while waiting for my puddlejumper flight to Rotorua.

Writing progress:

I've only managed about 2K more words on The White Serpent since my last update, but I'm hoping to carve out a decent chunk of writing time each day in Rotorua. I always need a little down time anyway at cons, especially when it's my first time at the con and I don't know many people. I love meeting and making new friends, but the extra social effort required is always a bit of a challenge for an introvert like me, so it's nice to schedule myself some quiet time each day when I can write and recharge.

Skating update:

I did manage to squeeze in a skating session before flying out of Queenstown, which was a huge mood lifter after a very long time stuck inside the house with my sick kiddo. I was so delighted to be on the ice again that I even summoned the guts to try my axel.

The forward "leap of faith" take-off for the axel makes it the most intimidating of all the skating jumps. If you don't fully commit to the jump, it's likely to end badly. (How badly? There's a reason for the old stress fractures lurking in my lumbar spine.) You need to kick your free leg through and then instantly shift your weight from take-off to landing side, while simultaneously yanking arms and legs in to generate the required rotation.

All that can go wrong in a whole lot of ways. The axel is the only jump I've ever learned where sometimes, long after you think you finally have it down, you jump and your body suddenly says, "NOT TODAY, SATAN!" and bails mid-air. (This is so common a failure it's got a name: the "waxel", seen on occasion even in Olympic programs.)

So, yeah. Trying the axel again for the first time after 4 years off the ice was a nerve-wracking experience. I kept worrying that my body had completely forgotten how to do the jump and disaster would result. (I do wear gel pads over tailbone, hips, and knees when practicing, but still. No such thing as gel pads that can protect the spine.)

I comforted myself that I'd taken at least one hard fall already on footwork the other week, and my back survived. After some deep breaths, I went out for some axel attempts...and LANDED THEM, HALLELUJAH! Or rather, landed most of them. But even on the axels I didn't cleanly land, I didn't fall. And those I did land nice and solid on one foot...the elation was immense. I still grin wide just thinking about it. Even my coach was delighted, doubtless thinking of how much time it'll save if she doesn't have to re-teach me the jump.

It's only a single axel, sure, not a double or anything really impressive, but still. I came off the ice feeling like a superhero. That seems weirdly appropriate as the start to a science fiction/fantasy convention weekend.

Reading Corner:

I finished Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire, which was just as good as everyone said. The story reminded me of C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner, with an ambassador struggling to navigate complex and deadly politics in a culture they can never understand as a native does. I liked Martine's protagonist Mahit more than Cherryh's Bren, which helped make the reading experience much more engaging. If you're looking for science fiction with a lot to say about issues of culture and colonization, or if you just enjoy SF with interesting worldbuilding and character interaction, this one's for you. I'm eagerly looking forward to the sequel.

I then devoured Rachel Neumeier's Door Into Light, the long-awaited (at least by me!) sequel to her 2012 novel House of Shadows. I adored House of Shadows for its lyrical, atmospheric prose, mythic magic, and interesting characters, particularly the bardic sorceror Taudde, who struggles to navigate questions of morality and honor while living in an enemy country. The story in House of Shadows stands well alone, but leaves plenty of room for futher intriguing developments--and ever since reading the opening snippet of the sequel on Neumeier's blog, I have been absolutely panting for more. I'm happy to say Door Into Light did not disappoint me. I thoroughly enjoyed being back with Taudde and Leilis and all the other characters. I think I'll be re-reading both books again soon, just to savor the experience once more. I particularly recommend the duology to anyone who loves Patricia McKillip; it reminds me of her work in all the best ways.

Right now I'm partway through Sangu Mandanna's A Spark of White Fire, which is YA space opera inspired by Indian mythology, with meddling gods and magic and sentient spaceships. I'm really liking it so far. Hooray for great reading streaks!

Pic of the Week:

Sunrise on the way to GeyserCon