Con report, day 1-2, plus an explanation of World Fantasy, which is non-obvious to the casual congoer. I wish there were an easier way for newer writers to understand the landscape of conventions — World Fantasy and WorldCon sound like they should be similar, but they’re VERY different.
The short version is that World Fantasy is the main professional convention of SF/F — it’s really more of a conference for working writers, editors, agents, publishers. (The Nebula Awards convention is similar, though smaller, I think.)
WorldCon is an actual con, full of fans and costumes and filking and all the fun fan activities, along with the literary panels. WorldCon is usually over 5000 people, World Fantasy is more like 500-1000. More further down…
Roshani and I arrived at the hotel around 1 on Thursday, settled in. We got some Nepali food for lunch (at Niagara Tandoori Hut, but there are lots of little Nepali restaurants in this area, that serve a wide range of Nepali and Indian food — I got spicy momos, which were delicious, and Roshani got lamb biryani, also good).
Then we walked over to do the Maid of the Mist boat tour, which was terrific. (Every half hour departure, last one around 4:30 right now, I think).
The complimentary poncho does a pretty good job of keeping you mostly dry, but if you’re going to be taking photos, expect that your hands will get cold (it’s October, after all) and the device will get pretty wet from the heavy mist. My phone is water-resistant, and handled it fine.
As you can see in the first photo, despite poncho and scarf, a little water made its way onto the front of my shirt. So expect to get wet, but not drenched.
Most of the rest of the day was running into old friends and chatting with them, which was lovely. That’s the best part of World Fantasy — it’s the pro convention of the field, so after you’ve been in the industry for a while, you know a lot of folks, and this is where you’re most likely to run into them again. A little intimidating for new folks, I suspect, but generally, people will assume that if you’re here, you’re someone taking your writing / editing / etc. seriously, and will be happy to include you in general conversation at the bar, etc.
It’s a relatively expensive convention for our field — around $300 for registration, if I remember right. And then there’s the cost of travel, hotel, food in a usually expensive city. It’s really geared towards working pros (and expensive for most of us too!).
I wouldn’t recommend it to a beginning writer, but if you’re someone who’s finished your first SF/F novel and are hoping to sell it to a traditional house (small or big), World Fantasy is probably your best option for meeting editors and agents and other similar-stage writers (who can offer you information, commiseration, and general support on the journey). It’s also a good place for someone who’s published a few short stories in the pro magazines — editors you meet here may invite you to submit to their closed magazines, or to anthologies.
If the cost is prohibitive, while I can’t advocate for this (as a con-runner myself), I will note that there’s a long tradition of ‘bar-con,’ especially for World Fantasy, given the cost. This is where you don’t register and don’t attend panels or other programming, but just come in the evenings to hang out in the main bar.
That’s honestly where most of the action is at this convention — from about 4 p.m. – as late as you can stay up, which is around 10 p.m. for me these days. My days of staying up ’til 3 (or round the clock) at conventions may be over — I’m just too trashed the next day!
If you’re attending this year, and feeling lost, please do feel free to come up to me in the bar and grab a seat at my table, introduce yourself. I have a horror of anyone being left out (childhood geek trauma!), and will happily introduce you to the rest of the table.
This convention does provide quite a lot of food throughout, so keep that in mind if you’re on a tight budget. There’s the consuite during the day, and the reception in the evenings. And if you feel like gambling a bit, we happen to be right next to the Seneca casino — they’ll give you a $15 credit for gambling when you walk in, and as long as you’re at a table, you can avail yourself of the buffet. I haven’t tried that yet, but I probably will. I usually take $20 to a casino, and when I’m out, I’m done for the night.
If you have the funds to spare, there are some lovely places to eat and drink around here. Drinks last night at Seva were excellent (thanks to Jenna Hanchey for the suggestion to meet up there) — I had a Gunpowder Sour ($14, Dewar’s White Label Scotch, Chai, Fresh Cold Pressed Lemon Juice, Dehydrated Lemon Wheel), which was one of the tastiest whiskey sours I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t mind another one right now.)
I’ll try to take more photos of other people today — I took so many photos of the falls that I’m mostly just working on getting through editing and posting those. 🙂
Trying to remember what else I did yesterday — Roshani and I walked over the Rainbow Bridge to have lunch on the Canada side, I did a volunteer shift helping to staff the Locus table, did my reading — about 10 people, I think, which is more than I expected, since I was cross-scheduled against de Lint and Swanwick!
I read the first story in The Stars Change, and part of the Russ essay — they seemed to like both. And one of them ended up buying my cookbook too — Larry Smith Books has my cookbooks, The Stars Change, and a few copies of Tornado, my cancer memoir.
Plan for today — some computer work, breakfast with Roshani at our hotel (the Wyndham); I’d thought about going over to the Cafe of the Winds, but I think I need this time for computer work, alas. E-mail doesn’t stop, dangit.
11:20, I have a little video interview with Locus, at 2, I have a drink scheduled with an old friend, at 3 I’m on a panel, and then I’m probably mostly hanging in the bar for the rest of the evening (come say hi!), until the Mass Autographing Session at 8 p.m. I’ll find some folks to have dinner with at some point, maybe do some lap swimming so I’m not just sitting all day.
Onwards.
