Conventions

Finished the convention having dinner with some old friends from Chicago, Lena and Esala, who moved to New Orleans a few years ago — great to catch up on everyone’s lives, and see their adorable son, who is now FIVE. Jeremiah is SO BIG. I can’t even. We had tapas at Lola’s — the garlic […]

I didn’t eat or drink much at the hotel (Hyatt Regency New Orleans), but the Bayou Sapphire (Bombay Sapphire Gin, Blue Curacao, lime juice, mint, simple syrup) was tasty, and the ravioli (with sautéed shrimp and crawfish tails in a Cajun cream sauce) was pretty yummy too. For hotel food, pretty good, though pricey, of

After dinner, Ellen Kushner pointed out we were right by the river, so we walked down to it, and then walked back along the river for a while. Just lovely. In retrospect, I kind of wish I’d taken a little more time to just walk around New Orleans; I had scheduled a bunch of interviews

Lovely dinner at Tujague’s with fabulous company. I ate: • Oysters Bienville our house baked Bienville filling topped with corn fried oysters with a drizzle of truffle oil — YUM • Boudin Balls house made, served with pepper jelly — this is a spicy Cajun pork and rice sausage, and I thought they were quite

We didn’t eat here, and I don’t know the name of this New Orleans restaurant, but gosh, it was pretty to walk past.

My former student Emily C. Skaftun signing books in New Orleans at World Fantasy, with Daryl Gregory. Emily’s collection is _Living Forever & Other Terrible Ideas_, which is just a GREAT title.

Sheree Renée Thomas and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki signing books at World Fantasy in New Orleans.

Very nice dessert spread (plus some tasty jambalaya and savory munchies) at the World Fantasy mass autographing session. The caramelized fruit over ice cream was my favorite, but it was nice to try a few varieties of king cake — I think I like the one with jelly best.

Dinner at Margie’s Grill in New Orleans, which was super-cute. I had: • very tasty ginger & lime mocktail • complimentary cracklin (crispy Home Place Pastures pork belly dusted with chili BBQ rub & lemongrass curry sprinkle) — yummy • CAMBODIAN CRAB SALAD (sliced apples & fresh picked Louisiana crab meat; dressed with chili, lime