On the road again: Renovation (WorldCon), Reno, day 6

A trip home from the West Coast always starts earlier than I like, and today’s was no exception. Aside from the hour at which it began, however, the morning went well, with a smooth checkout, a short cab ride to the airport, and quick and painless passage through check-in and security. The Reno airport even offered free wireless, so I was able to work up to the minute they called us to board.

By using accumulated airline miles I was able to ride in first class on the way home, which was a blessing for my back and for work. The first leg even offered bandwidth, so I was able to stay current on work until we hit DFW.

Airline food, like all other aspects of air travel, has declined greatly in quality in the last few years. Lunch today was a salad with bits of slimy and gummy barbecue chicken on it. Accompanying this treat was a hummus that resembled congealed, molded baby puke. Dessert was a cookie of dubious origin, something brownish, crumbly, and vaguely sweet. Thank goodness Diet Coke and the water they pour come from containers others have prepared.

The day's best food news was that the stay in Dallas was long enough that I could grab a Red Mango parfait. I am, as I’ve noted earlier, one local Red Mango establishment away from being addicted to that stuff.

The next flight did not offer bandwidth, but I was able to work via stored email.

The only non-work time of the flight went to the dinner, compared to which the lunch was haute cuisine. A piece of salmon-like pinkness that I dared not touch sat atop the driest rice I’ve eaten since I tried a few grains of raw rice. The roll was dry desert sand held together with dark magic. The dessert was a cruel joke on cheesecake, a gelatinous mass straight out of the tentacle of a Lovecraftian elder god. Yum.

All that said, I cannot really complain. I had comfortable seats with shoulder room and could work. I made it home only a bit late. My luggage took its turn on the carousel and appeared before me. Asking more from a pair of flights than those things is just being greedy.

At the Reno airport this morning, a fair number of fans were praising the con, noting how well run it was, how well the facilities worked, and what good times they had. Upon reflection, I have to agree. The folks behind the Reno WorldCon did great work and put on one of the better WorldCons I’ve attended. Well done, Reno WorldCon staff and volunteers!

On the road again: Renovation (WorldCon), Reno, day 5

The morning arrived entirely too early for my taste, as it usually does. After a business meeting, we grabbed some lunch and then attended a panel on The Fisher King. All of the panelists had a lot to contribute on the topic, but none really seemed into it, so it never jelled.

Next up was a very interesting panel on cover design. I gained some insights, which is always nice, and I enjoyed listening to the art-director panelists discuss their work processes.

I passed a little time playing blackjack, made a little more money, and headed out with two others to see Conan the Barbarian. I'll review it more fully later this week.

Work filled the next few hours, then dinner. The food here has been consistently good--not great, but always at least adequate and usually a bit better than that. I have no complaints on that front.

I chatted with Griffin for a while afterward, then headed back to work, pack, and so on.

Tomorrow, the long journey home.

On the road again: Renovation (WorldCon), Reno, day 4

One thing you have to love about casino towns is the ability to get breakfast at any time of the day or night.

I slept as late as my obligations would permit, then caught up on work before showering and heading out. First stop was the Baen upcoming books panel, where Publisher Toni gave me the mic to talk about the paperback of Children No More, The Wild Side, and the upcoming No Going Back. The audience was great, as always, so the talk was fun, as was the rest of the slide show.

By the time the panel ended, we were past due for breakfast and lunch, so we found the casino diner that was still serving breakfast. That meal is always best in the early afternoon, so I quite enjoyed it.

Three of us headed out shortly thereafter to a local theater to catch Fright Night. I'll post my review of it in a later entry.

More work filled the time until we cabbed over to the other con hotel for the Hugo awards. I've gone to this ceremony at every WorldCon I've attended, which is all but about five of them since 1978, and I've always found it a touching celebration of the SF community. Of course, like so many other writers, I've also always imagined myself receiving one, but now, four books and somewhere around a dozen and a half stories into my SF writing career, I don't expect that will ever happen.

You can find the winners at many places online, including on the con's site, so I won't list them here. My congratulations to them all; well done, folks.

We were lucky to share a cab back to the hotel before most of the fans had made the trek, so access to the parties was easy and quick. After a few stops, though, I reached my social limit and returned to my room. Lest the melancholy of not being anywhere near the writer I had hoped I would be overtake me entirely and lead me to more self-pitying whining, I'll stop this entry and focus elsewhere.

On the road again: Renovation (WorldCon), Reno, day 3

After a very late night, I woke from two hours of sleep to do a work phone meeting and a bunch of work email. I then crashed for a few more hours and felt much better getting out of bed the second time.

Work, lunch, and then to Tim Powers' Guest of Honor speech. Its structure in many ways was like that of his novels, appearing to wander a bit here and there but ultimately proving to be a coherent and thought-provoking whole. His main thesis was that he wanted to look at the world from the fantastic angle, as opposed to the "stick to what is possible" approach of mainstream fiction, and that in this more fantastic perspective there is great value. I completely agree.

The next several hours went to the dealers' room, where I browsed the best selection of books of any WorldCon in recent memory, talked to multiple booksellers, and signed all the books of mine that I spotted. Wandering through books is always relaxing for me, so I quite enjoyed the time there.

Dinner was a Baen gathering that Publisher Toni hosted at a local steakhouse. Our table included several other Baen writers: Lois McMaster Bujold, Eric Flint, Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, Chuck Gannon, and Walter Hunt. I quite enjoyed talking with all of them and getting to know them a bit more.

After some time in a local pub with Griffin and Jerry (I'm a cheap bar date: one Diet Coke will do me), I played eight minutes of blackjack, won a little money, and retired to work and then to sleep.

Along the way, I completely forgot to finish and post this blog entry, which is why it's late. Sorry.

On the road again: Renovation (WorldCon), Reno, day 2

Verbal snapshots from a mostly work-filled day here at WorldCon.

The blackout curtains at the hotel are superb. The only visible light is the glow of the dehumidifier. All hotels should have to meet this standard.

On the way into the dealer's room, this vending machine:


As opposed to those useless single-purpose spoons? I'm never going to be content with a regular spoon again.

In the dealer's room, Sally Kibbee said to me something all writers like to hear: "Don't just stand there with your hands in your pockets. Sign books!"

Watching the Chesley awards ceremony, I was struck by how much passion so many in SF have for every aspect of the field. It's quite heartening.

While cruising the art show in the evening, the best line of the day, from a mother to her balloon-sword-wielding daughter: "No en garde in the art show, dear."

Words to live by.

At the Texas in 2013 party, brisket on white bread with Salt Lick's sauce. Yum.

After finishing my work, I spent a few very late-night hours in the poker room. Three other people at the table knew what they were doing, but fortunately for us, six did not. Won a little, had some fun, and enjoyed the people watching.

I time-shift entirely too easily. Despite what the timestamp on this entry says, it's 4:30 in the morning here. I have a work call in three and a half hours, but I can blame only myself for trading a few hours of sleep for the same time at poker.

On the road again: Renovation (WorldCon), Reno, day 1

Fun facts and lessons from a day of travel, work, and convention going:

Getting up at 4:00 a.m. sucks.

Leaving the house at 4:30 a.m. sucks.

Doing the above on 80 minutes of sleep sucks worse.

I still can't sleep on planes, but I can doze and make horrible noises when startled. I don't believe others near me appreciated the sounds. I don't blame them.

People will call me about email they sent three hours ago or chide me if I happen to talk to them before I have responded to the email--even if I was on a plane during most of those hours. A bit frustrating.

John Picacio did a panel today which the program book said was going to show his process in refining a real cover in progress. I went because he's a friend and, more importantly, an awesome artist. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the cover he was planning to discuss was the one for No Going Back. If you wanted to see his sketch work and his current polished revision--still to undergo more changes--you should have been there. It's very cool work indeed.

The hotel is smooth at upselling food. The cheap place couldn't take four of us for dinner, but the more expensive steakhouse could. The food there, fortunately, was good, as was the company, though I fear I talked too much.

Spokane is bidding for the 2015 Worldcon, which made me sad because of what I'd heard about that city. When I visited their bid party, though, they made a pretty good case for the place. Dunno.

I can't keep up with work without extraordinary effort. No news there, but I was foolishly hoping today would be different.

25.5 hours awake is enough. I'm crashing.