Monday, July 24, 2006

One and a half panels

TrinocCon: the short version. (I hate con reports that go on for twenty pages and vow never to post one.) (For the record, I was not a guest at this one; I just went to hang out.)

Hysterical roast of David Drake Friday night; moving but not too somber memorial for Jim Baen Saturday night. Somewhere in between there were panels, I’m sure, but I missed most of them. This was partly due to the fact that the panels were weak in subject matter when they could have been great if they had been designed to let the amazing line-up of guests shine. But they wasted writers like Gene Wolfe, John Kessel and Dave Drake, as well as a host of editorial visitors from Tor and Baen on weak panels like “Humor in SF” and “Violence in SF” and "Do You Really Need An Agent?"etc. etc. On the other hand, I was having such a great time talking with a wide variety of folks that I can’t say for sure I would have attended a lot of panels anyway.

As I already mentioned, Alethea and Steve stayed at my house Thursday night. It was the second time I had ever met her and the first time I had ever met him. But they’re both writers and editors and they needed a place to stay, so I put them up. Then Friday night the three of us stayed at author James Maxey's (we’re all writers and editors and we needed a place to stay, so he put us up).

Saturday Oliver Hanson and a friend, Helena Bell (spec fic poet), also came to Raleigh for the con. So we had three of the authors (Alethea, James, and Oliver) scheduled to appear in the next issue of IGMS in one place. We had a great time. Oliver was the posterboy for patience because he got abused more than any man since Job (as well as being a great source of interest to our she-male waiter at dinner Saturday night (which, naturally, only got Oliver more abused). Helena was the class photographer and I expect her to send numerous pictures, which I will post as soon as possible. And I got to chop and hack large hunks of meat and bone with a real sword, so I was a very happy boy. Nothing makes an editor happier than a big, heavy, sharp sword. You want to submit something? Go ahead, punk, make my day.

From Thursday through Saturday night, I don't think I ever went to be before 2 a.m., so it was a great con. Even if I only attended one and a half panels…

2 comments:

Oliver Dale said...

You're going to give me an identity crisis. First it's Oliver Dale Hanson, then Oliver Dale, now Oliver Hanson... my head is spinning!

P.s. I had fun too... she-male abuse aside.

Edmund R. Schubert said...

I forgot which one oyu said only your mother called you...