Der Feuervogel aufersteht.

I just sent invitations to 11 people for my track at the con.

Now I wait for their responses.

1. summary report

2. Thoughts on the Hugos

3. On the 2015 WorldCon bids

Hi!

I'm back from WorldCon! I blogged about it yesterday on my blogspot blog. I have 2 more posts to make on the experience, and I'll link all 3 later.

I am definitely too old for anime cons. The only reason I went to Animazement this year was to see Ichiro Itano (the man who invented the Itano circus) and get his autograph. So I paid $45 for a little over an hour, then to go spend money in the dealers room.

I don't know half the costumes they're dressing up in. The Raleigh convention center is huge and echoey, so squeals and random Marco Polo carry everywhere.

Really, I can see most of the people I saw there at my house or something. For free.

The vegan Carolina BBQ at the Remedy Diner is pretty awesome, though. (Eastern Carolina, for people who may have an opinion on the matter.) The veggie menu is longer than the non-veg menu, which is pretty sweet. ALSO THEY HAVE BLENHEIM'S GINGER ALE. YES. BECAUSE GINGER ALE SHOULD HURT.

+826, 12473/90000.

Yesterday I spent a couple hours revising the synopsis of Iron and Rust, because I finally received Gray's contact info for my kickstarter reward from Bull Spec. I sent that off today. I also filled out my Hugo nomination ballot.

I need to get plane tickets to Chicago for WorldCon. Add that to the massive expenses this month tally. At least I have enough frequent flier miles for one round trip...

(I know, weird, 3 posts in one day. I'm apparently moving out of my slug/just wanna play video games phase.)

Something skogkatt said to me in discussions after I was rejected from Viable Paradise this year got me thinking. For the tuition, hotel, food, and travel expense to Martha's Vineyard, I could go to a con and meet a lot of people. Maybe even two cons. I could to go World Con, even.

So I looked into next year's, and it's in Chicago. Cool, I've never really been to Chicago. Oh, problem: it's Labor Day weekend. I've kind of set that aside for Dragon*Con. 2013 is going to be in San Antonio (eh)...also Labor Day weekend. Bother. Honestly, I'd rather go to Chi-town than San Antonio in late August/early September.

And Ben likes going to D*C, too. If we buy next year's badges at the con, they're half price. Which is pretty awesome! But if we'll be in Chicago instead, not exactly useful.

But World Con would be a better con to go to as far as my career is concerned. D*C is huge and awesome, but not exactly the kind of place you network. (Unless you're a program participant/guest and can hang in the green room, which...yeah, not so useful for me, right?) I'm fairly well connected to the local scene, and being literary chair at the new con is going to add to that, but I don't know a whole lot of people outside the southeast. (A few Bostonites, a couple people in New York, some Californians...that's about it that I can think of.) There have also been writer's workshops at them, but there's nothing on the website about it yet.

WorldCon 2012 badges are currently $175, and the rate goes up after 9/30 (to what, it doesn't say). The D*C hotel land grab starts 10/1. I'm somewhat tired of the land grab, tbqh. We'll need to decide by then. I lean toward Chicago (4 hotel nights (would be great if we could get an additional roomie or two), 2 plane tickets, $350 for badges) over D*C (4 hotel nights (shared), $60 in gas (shared), $150 for badges), but Ben isn't convinced.

2014's going to be in London, most likely (it's the only bid), but we can't afford London, either getting there or room costs or eating (when a dinner costs 10 pounds, and it's 2 pounds to the dollar, that's a $20 dinner!), not unless a miracle happens in Ben's job and he gets a raise, or I get a lot of shifts. But 2014 is a year I don't want to get too far from home, because Crankypants will be 17 and still diabetic, and I would hate myself forever if she died while I was gallivanting.

I don't know. I guess we'll have to make a decision by the end of September. Do any of you plan to attend (or could be persuaded)?

My train leaves in an hour; I need to stop at the ATM on the way to the station, so I'm leaving in about 20 minutes.

stormsdotter hope to see you there.

Thursday evening, the lovely skogkatt got here, so she and Ben and I went out to the Wooden Nickel for beer and food (dinner for her, tater tots for us, and some AMAZING pear bundt cake). I love the Nickel.

Friday Julia and I headed off to Atlanta, stopping at Cup a Joe for breakfast and arabica and Weaver Street for picnic comestibles (tabouli and hummus on seven grain, omg yum). There wasn't much traffic, which was great, and we stopped at the welcome to South Carolina to eat our sandwiches. I took over driving somewhere in SC (and probably did horrible things to the clutch because the Honda isn't my Mini and I had trouble hitting the release point right, and reverse managed to elude me consistently), and we rolled into the hotel around 3:30, checked in, and got badges.

Julia's weekend consisted of being the point person for the Outer Alliance and interviewing people, and mine either of trying not to look like a lost puppy following her around or trying to talk to strangers. But with Julia, I managed to actually meet some people and not feel quite as out of place.

The ratio of men to women was REALLY HIGH, so I ended up mostly hanging out with gay guys (three of whom complimented my awesome swirly shirt which, as promised, looks better on a person than being held up), though I got hit on by a (straight, not even bi) guy. Figures.*

Between panels, I thought it would be nice to get a breath of fresh air, or at least not over-air-conditioned extra-dry air, so Julia and I went outside. I saw a person walking toward the hotel in a brown outfit with goggles on the head (which I initially thought was steampunk), then as they got closer and I could see the outfit better, I realized it was America (from Hetalia). I bounced a little bit and said "awesome costume" or something to that effect and got a picture and chatted briefly.

Then I was getting a drink in the con suite and making small talk about Cheerwine (it's good...), and my head was going, man, she looks familiar... and then I realized it was the America cosplayer from the previous day! *waves to narroch*

What all did I do? Went to the Match Game panel, which was funnier than I'd expected, went to a few readings, a few socials, the Hellebore and Rue launch party, the Outworlders party (where I got to talk about hot soccer players with one of the guys, because eventually everything with me will turn toward soccer briefly), shared cat photos (queer nerds are cat people. I know, shocker, right?), had a little to drink, bought a couple books, and met some people.

The con is small (150ish), so it's a good size to be able to get to know people a little bit, without feeling too sparse (though panels had 5-10 people at them usually). Unlike something massive like D*C, where I've never managed to actually MEET anyone (and half the time I can never find the people I know are there and am nominally travelling with**), I met a few people who I'm adding on facebook and will be seeing at future cons, and I met Steve Berman who gave me a free book when I said I was broke (since I'm unemployed and Ben's income is marginally sufficient...). Meeting other writers and businessy people is important if you're a growing writer. Networking. I am terrified of it.

So we drove back Sunday afternoon, slightly later than intended because someone grabbed Julia to interview them. Traffic is much nicer than during Labor Day weekend, and we made good time. Stayed up way too late hanging out, but that happens.

And as I wrote this, I realized she left this morning without me giving her money for the room. At least she's not far yet, visiting friends in Durham. *facepalm*

All caught up on my corners of the internet and contemplating lunch. I should contemplate a nap at some point, so I don't spend the next few days too brain-fuzzy to get my editing done. I'd love caffeine, but I had some yesterday to be able to drive. Stupid migraines.

Depending on a variety of factors, I might go again next year. Gaylaxicon is in October in Minneapolis, which I can't afford to get to. (Hello, airfare.) I didn't see anything about pre-reg for next year's Outlantacon, so I don't know when it is. We'll see, I guess.

* And "I'm married" didn't deter him >:[ I'm bi and poly, but that doesn't mean I want to sleep with YOU, dammit. I know there's a button with a pithy version of that in existence; anyone know where to find it? Also, having a conversation with you doesn't mean I want to sleep with you. It means I am performing the skill "Social Interaction" which humans learn as they age. Fucking patriarchy.

**most common phone/sms conversation at D*C: "Where are you?"

Despite Ben both going to the front desk and switching the bill to our card *and* his calling to confirm it, our credit card does not seem to have been charged.

I don't know if they kept the charge on W's card or what.

I am quite perplexed.

This thread discusses several incidents of sexual assault at Dragon*Con this year. This is the first time I've heard of it happening, but that doesn't mean it's never happened before. It just means that this year was worse than years past. And the assaulters weren't all con members (some were LSU fans in town for the game), so the con's policy of yanking badges won't do any good.

We need to get the hotels, con staff, and fellow con attendees to prevent such issues from happening again. We need to get a stated, publicized anti-harassment policy on the con webpage and in the con materials (program guide). The location of security staff in all areas of the con needs to be better publicized/signed/whatever.

People need to get through their heads that a women wearing a skimpy outfit isn't asking to be hit on, let alone groped or worse.

People need to know that this sort of shit won't be tolerated. At all.

I think that sums up my con.

- Thursday evening I got tired waiting in line outside to get my badge, so I trekked back to the hotel (not a con hotel).

- Friday morning I woke up slightly nauseous and having a raging anxiety attack, except I didn't know it at the time. I almost passed out trying to stand up from the toilet-kneel. Because we couldn't find a nearby urgent care center that could do IV fluids, I ended up at Piedmont Hospital ER. They let me go around 1 pm, and I saw some con.

- Saturday morning, I woke up slightly nauseous and extremely exhausted. Considering I'd gotten about 3 hours of sleep a night since Wednesday (not so coincidentally when I started the Levaquin), that's hardly surprising. Despite knowing that one of the side effects of Levaquin is anxiety, and taking deep breaths and thinking of something else and all that, I still flipped the fuck out. But then, not being able to move your legs or feel your body is kinda fucking terrifying. So we got a nice cab ride to an urgent care center (after Ben called the concierge and learned that the hotel's on-call physician charges $200 to do anything but talk on the phone), where they changed my antibiotic to a Z-pak. They also gave me phenergan and said to take one when I got back to the hotel.

I was in bed from approximately noon Saturday until 8 am Sunday. I slept about 90% of the time. I felt much better.

- Sunday I actually participated in con activities, including a Q&A with the Phelps brothers (the Weasley twins). I went to a politics in SF panel, which I was prepared to be horribly offended on, because John Ringo was on it, and ready to leave the room if need be. However, it was a lot more awesome than expected. Eric Flint is a Trotskyist; Elizabeth Moon is a self-proclaimed centrist, but I think she leans a little left; John Ringo is a "minarchist." There were other panelists, but they didn't get many words in edgewise. The only time I wanted to deck somebody was when Ringo was being a condescending dickwad about "this little thing you might remember, Eric, called ... World ... War ... Two ..." and talking to him like he was a five year old child (even though Flint has a good 25 years on him and admitted to having been conservative in his youth but he grew out of it by meeting real people in the world and working in a factory.)

One of my favorite lines was Moon's (paraphrased): The only type of politics I can't stand is the smug, self-satisfied kind.

But around 7:30, I started getting really tired again, so instead of ordering pizza and whatnot for masquerade watching, Ben got pizza in the food court, I took a couple bites, and I crocheted on the bed during the show. It's sort of like relaxing.

- Today we made a last swing through the dealers rooms, bought some random crap, and some nice prints from Echo Chernik. Then it was drive time, once we got an elevator from the 29th floor, anyway. That only took like 45 minutes.

Around 6, I started feeling tired and dizzy again, but I took my antibiotics and had some Sun Chips, and Ben just got back from getting me some Gatorade, which I'm going to go drink some of and get to unpacking my suitcase. I'm very sad I didn't get to wear any of my cool clothes or shoes, but as unstable as I was, 3" heels just were NOT on.

- The fabulous tammylee is working on my website design! I have zero design skill, and am completely not a visual person, so I'm glad to have friends who have these skills and abilities that I lack entire.

- I haven't found my Bundesliga team yet. I enjoyed the 2. BuLi match between Hertha Berlin and Oberhausen yesterday, and I liked the way the Berliner played (and, as you know, Bob, I have a -5 weakness to Berlin). The VfL Wolfsburg:Bayern match was good, too, and the Wolves played well, even if they lost 1:2, when Basti scored in the 90th minute. Today, I caught the second half of the Werder Bremen:1899 Hoffenheim match, to which Werder's defense apparently didn't bother to show up, and they lost 1:4. But Marko Marin is the most adorable thing ever.

- I'm almost finished with "Valkyrie One." I guess. I mean, I could keep poking at it and editing it and changing words here and there, but it's at that point where if I *don't* stop poking at it, I'll never send it off.

- Dragon*Con is in less than two weeks. Holy shit.

- I haven't been sick since Sunday. I'm not optimistic about this continuing indefinitely, however. My GI appointment is Monday at 4. I'm avoiding excess soy (soy protein, TVP, soy milk, etc) on the supposition that it could be endometriosis, which is aggravated by xenoestrogens, like some of the components of soy.

- I've been stable at 137 lbs since Tuesday.

- It's time for lunch.

For planning & budgeting purposes. Note that the hotel prices I'm using are estimates in some cases (any con where there are more than one hotel) and exact in others (where there's only one hotel and the website lists tax rates), and in all cases assume I'm not sharing it. I'd love to share rooms with people, though. I like saving money. (You can also see the cons I can drive to vs the ones I need to fly to.) I've also given them ratings of 1-5 on how much I want to go to each of them.

link to google spreadsheet

I may consider applying to be a guest/participant at some of them, most likely the more local ones.

I think I have a solid second draft. I'm going to read it tomorrow, possibly printed, possibly on my screen, not sure yet, then send it off to betas.

One of the first-rounders said she'd be able to. Anyone else?

In other news, I have work on Monday a bit west of Asheville, so I'm driving down Sunday evening and crashing with tsubasa and after work Monday. (I'll be working 9-9, and I only get reimbursement for hotel for the number of days worked, even if it's a really bad idea for me to stay just one night because it's a 4-hour drive each way.)

Then I'm going to be staying with friends in Cary during NASFiC to save the 45-minute-each-way drive late at night (because I'll be wanting to hang, no doubt, and possibly drinking). So I'm going to be home, uh, Tuesday and Wednesday nights next week. (I won't be *far* ... I'll just not be *here*.)

I barely leave the house for *weeks*, then I'm barely home. Feast or famine...

If I ever agree to road trip to Boston again, remind me of this post.

The con itself was pretty fun. I volunteered 8 hours, so I got a free membership for next year. I can save $50 out of ... 3-4 nights hotel plus airfare and all the other con expenses.

I went to a couple really good panels, which I may write more about once I've slept. I've been up for about 36 hours now, with several naps in the car.

I met some interesting people, like the editors of a couple magazines and was at a party Peter Straub showed up to at one point (though I didn't talk to him any.) I tasted several varieties of Scotch whiskey (which apparently doesn't all taste like bogs; I didn't know that), since one of my current goals in life is to learn to enjoy whiskey. (Christ; I just looked up my favorite of the lot, an unpeated Caol Ila, and it's $65/bottle. Of course I have expensive tastes. :P )

I bought Total Oblivion, more or less from Alan DeNiro, who also sold me a copy of "The Man with the Knives" by Ellen Kushner (which is beautiful and heartbreaking all at once and worth every penny of the $15 for a CHAPBOOK with gorgeous art by Tom Canty.) Alan signed my copy for me. I also picked up The White Road by Lynn Flewelling and talked with Phoebe Wray, a fellow Broad, about her books, which I need to order from Amazon.

I met some of the Broads, and I read about half of U8: Alexanderplatz (1989) at the group reading. PEOPLE LIKED IT. A LOT. (Apparently someone asked at the Broads table about "the book the woman in the Germany jersey was in." Sadly it isn't out yet.) It could be problematic that the rest of my work is, uh, completely unrelated. Though I have more stories about Cold War Berlin in there that I haven't found yet.

On a similar topic, Locus Online reviewed the whole anthology. I can't decide what she thinks of my story, but it's not negative. Tilton focused on whether the story fit the anthology thematically (historical spec fic), and said about mine, "Here is one very much of its moment." And since evoking the spirit of 1989 was my goal, I seem to have succeeded. *tiny squee*

Anyway. I'm going to finish this cookie and collapse. More later, when I can think again.