It's been a wonderful convention (as usual). I didn't get to spend quite as much time with Jed as I would have liked (he had to run off Sunday afternoon to a Swarthmore reunion), but what time was there was good. Umm...I'm not sure there was anything else disappointing about the con -- oh, I didn't go swimming, and I got really really tired (I had planned to rest more). But both of those are just because I was having a lot of fun running around doing stuff, so I can't really complain, can I?
Some highlights include:
- Getting a chance to meet the de Lint's again and talk more with
Charles -- I didn't want to harass him at ConDuit, but at WisCon, there
was more time and a better environment for talking -- and it turns out
Lawrence Schimel is a good friend of his, so the three of us chatted for a
while (mostly them, but I had fun listening). Charles is just as sweet as
his books. And he turns out to be a good musician -- if you're lucky, his
wife Maryann will talk him into doing that CD they mention
occasionally.
- Throwing a Clean Sheets / Circlet Press / unnamed magazine party
Saturday night. Cecilia Tan had a wedding this weekend, so I offered to
represent Circlet for her and sell some books; she insisted that if I sold
books, I should get a bookseller's commission. So I sold some books (not
as many as she normally does, but still) and made back most of my expenses
for the con, which was nice! And while I was selling, I got to talk to a
lot of interesting people, and the other people wandering around our party
(Jed and Cliff helped host) seemed to have a good time. It was the way I
like a party -- not too empty, not too crowded. I imagine this will be a
regular event -- though next year, remind me to request Friday night --
there are fewer people, but you're not opposite the TOR party! :-)
- Meeting Pamela Dean! I had no idea she was going to be at the party
-- she's one of my heroes. Tam Lin was and is one of my
favorite books, and is the book I would hand to a seventeen-year-old girl
going off to college, saying -- "You must read this." I wasn't braced for
the meeting, either -- usually when I know I'm going to meet a famous
author I sort of mentally brace beforehand so I don't turn into drooling
fan girl. But she was just sitting (without name tag) next to Debbie
Notkin and Nalo Hopkinson in the hotel lobby, and I sat down to chat with
Nalo, and to be honest, I hardly registered Pamela, probably in part
because Nalo is surrounded by a charm field as far as I can tell (I've
known her for a year now and consider her a friend and still have to exert
willpower to not turn into a drooling fan around her -- she's sexy and
intelligent and articulate and strong-willed and has an incredibly
expressive face and I could go on and on....just go read Midnight
Robber instead, eh?), so that when this woman reached into a pocket
and pulled out a name badge reading "Pamela Dean" and put it on, I was
totally not braced for it. "You're Pamela Dean?! I LOVE your work!" etc.
and so on. :-) I'm such a goober, but she didn't seem to mind.
- Playing Mafia again -- Jonathan Lethem wasn't here this year, but we
had a blast anyway. :-) And I was Mafia three times and won two games of
it (and the third we were appallingly unlucky -- lost two of four gang
members fairly accidentally very early off). I think I'm actually getting
pretty good at the game -- which means that my deception muscles haven't
entirely stagnated, which is kind of nice. Yes, I try these days to live
my life entirely honestly and openly ('cause I got so tired of lying and
such in high school), but being able to lie skillfully is a useful talent,
and I'd rather have the ability in reserve in case I ever really need it.
The U.S. could be in the grip of rabid arch-conservatives at some point,
and I might have to lie to a government brute, for example. You never
know...(sheesh, that Heinlein survivalist streak is still in there, isn't
it? Formative writer, he was -- what would I be like if I'd never read
Heinlein? Hard to imagine...)
Now I better figure out how to ship the rest of Cecilia's books back to her, and pack, and look at bus schedules. I don't think I'm leaving until 2, so I should get to stroll about a bit more and chat with people. After that I'll be taking that bus back to Chicago, hooking up with Roshani, hanging out with her and Tom tonight, and then an early morning flight tomorrow to Salt Lake. Not quite ready to go home yet, but by tomorrow night I think I will be. Talk to you soon!