When an Internet outage turns surreal

After dinner last night in Toronto, I returned to my room and settled down to do all the work that had accumulated.  I couldn't handle my email, however, because I could not get an Internet connection from the hotel's Wi-Fi service.  After verifying the problem occurred on multiple devices, I called the hotel.  They immediately transferred me to "technical support."

After about ten minutes of tedious muzak and reminders that they would service those of us in the queue in the order in which we entered it, a tech came on the line and asked what my problem was.

I explained that the Internet service was out at my hotel. 

She made me provide the hotel name (fair enough), my name, my room number, and whether I was in the room.

I did.  I asked why she needed all of that information--some made sense, some did not, at least to me--and she said, "Security."

I asked about the problem, and she said, "Yes, there is a minor problem with the hotel's Internet service."

"So," I said, "you'll fix it soon; is that right?"

"It's been escalated to our highest-level tech support team," she said.

"So it's not a minor problem?"

"It's a minor problem."

"So you'll fix it soon?"

"It's been escalated to our highest-level tech support team."

"Can you tell me what the problem is?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Security."

"Can you tell me when you'll fix it?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Security."

"I'm trying to figure out if I need to leave the hotel to find a place to work.  I don't want to do that if you will be fixing it soon.  Can you at least tell me if you're likely to fix it soon?"

"It's a minor problem."

"I understand.  Can you at least give me a timeframe in which you expect to fix it?"

"No."  Long pause.  "For security reasons."

"Seriously?" I said.  "You're really going to stick to that story?"

"It's for security," she said.

I gave up. 

Maybe this Internet connection company and the people who protect my allergy serum from terrorist attacks could combine to broaden their security empire. 

Volta

is a new (to me) Cirque show that by happy coincidence is running in Toronto right now and that I got to see today.  I'm happy to report that Cirque continues to be in fine form:  the show was magical, mesmerizing, and a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours on a rainy gray afternoon.

The story began a bit heavy-handed, but it quickly picked up speed and turned into a touching tale of accepting your differences and finding your own path with them.  The acts ranged from acrobatics to stunt bike-riding, and getting to see them up close was very cool.

As always, I can't recommend Cirque shows enough.  I feel privileged to have seen the one's I've had the chance to enjoy.

A Bouchercon idea SF cons should steal

Though a typical Bouchercon probably has a couple thousand attendees (I don't know the exact figures, so that is a guess), these cons don't seem as determined to have a ton of programming tracks as SF cons do.  Regardless of how many tracks there are, though, every Bouchercon I've attended has followed the same practice:  as soon as panels end, all the participants head to the book room and sit at tables, where they are available for discussion and book signings.

I love this idea.  You listen to a panel, hear some writers you like, and want to know more.  That's common enough.  At a typical SF con, you might never see those writers again.  At a Bouchercon, you can go to the book room, pick up one of their books, and get them to sign it.

The plan works.  Here's a shot of this Bouchercon's book room as it is beginning to fill up a few minutes after the end of a slate of panels.

Click the image to see a larger version.

A few minutes later, the room was thronged, people were buying books at nearly every dealer table, and writers and fans were chatting away at the far end of the space (not visible above).

I don't know if the concept would play as well at SF cons, but I'd love to try the experiment a few times.

You can't tell the books from the writer--or the writer from the books

I'm always surprised by the number of times at cons that I hear something along the lines of, "She doesn't look at all like I expected."  Even ignoring the fact that you can Google pretty much any writer these days and find pics of them, it's always a bad idea to assume that a writer's appearance and their work will have anything in common.  In addition, over time many writers change the types of books they write, so any one association would make no sense at all.

Enjoy the books, enjoy the writer, and don't expect them to look at all alike.

Two things I particularly like about Bouchercons

First and foremost, everyone I've ever met at a Bouchercon loves to read.  I'm as much a media fan as most folks, so I also appreciate the many media aspects of SF cons, but it's also great to go to a con at which everyone loves to read books. 

Unsurprisingly, at a typical Bouchercon, such as this one, the dealers' room--which Bouchercons tend to call "the book room"--contains either exclusively or nearly exclusively books.  I love wandering aisles of booksellers and seeing what's on offer. 

Again, don't take this as meaning I don't like the many other types of dealers at SF conventions; I have no problem with any of them and quite like some of them.  It's just great to be in a room so filled with booksellers.

The closest analog in the SF world is the World Fantasy Convention, which I also very much enjoy.  Because I read heavily in both SF and mystery, though, coming to Bouchercon is a special treat. 

30 years ago right about now

I was in this same Toronto hotel, looking out at the city, getting ready for a long day of consulting work.  That work would take me on the last step of a journey that would next lead to me moving to an apartment here in Toronto, where I lived for 16 weeks over the winter of 1987 and 1988.  I came to love this city during that time and have come back on multiple occasions since then.

This trip, I'm here to attend Bouchercon, the world mystery convention.  I also intend to take some time to reacquaint myself with this fine city. 

I'm very fortunate to be able to be here. 

Now, though, I'm going to crash after a rough day of work, travel, and work. 

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 6

Ah, they joys of travel. Today's journey home started smoothly enough with a quick and on-time check-out and the car to the airport showing up on time.

The ride itself was a bit harrowing, however, because our driver gave very little of his attention to driving and instead focused on running a multi-car business from his phone. He made call after call, pausing only to read his email, all the while hurtling at 130 km/hr--on a highway with a posted limit of 100 km/hr. I have rarely been so happy to be out of a cab or other city transport.

Once at the airport, everything proceeded in the sort of slow, plodding pace you normally associate with a forced march or a funeral. Everyone was pleasant enough, but no one was in any sort of hurry. It all worked out, though, and I had time in Pearson International to grab email at the Admiral's Club and a weird sandwich (turkey, brie, and cranberry on triangular bread) for lunch. 

The flight to LaGuardia passed pleasantly, though our flight attendant, who fancied herself both a comedian and a dancer, rarely let anyone's attention light on anything except her. I finally gave up my futile attempts to read and tried to escape her performances by faking sleeping.

LaGuardia was its normal dirty, crowded, loud self.  Despite all that, from months of commuting there many years ago, I still have a fondness for it.

The flight home was fine--once we finished sitting on the tarmac for over half an hour. 

Alas, my suitcase never appeared on the luggage carousel, so I had to waste another half an hour while the American baggage agent assured me that although they had lost track of it in Toronto, the bag would eventually turn up.  I actually believe them, because that's been my experience in the past, but I won't relax fully until I see it.

It was good to go to the con, but it is good to be home.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 5

The big con event of the day was the World Fantasy Awards banquet, which I attended. 

I discussed with others whether the food here was the worst of any WFC banquet, and our final consensus was that no, it was not:  it was equally as mediocre-verging-on-bad as all the recent rest.  I was hungry, and the conversation was pleasant, so I ate it, but I did myself no favors by doing so. 

The awards ceremony was, on the other hand, a well-executed affair.  Toastmaster Gary K. Wolfe gave a funny and sometimes pointed opening speech that I thoroughly enjoyed.  He then handed out the awards efficiently and with grace, calling on a few folks to help him along the way.  I was particularly pleased to see Tim Powers' The Bicycle Repairman and Other Stories win for Best Collection.  If you don't know his work, you should; it is consistently marvelous. 

I spent more time socializing at this con than at most, though admittedly mostly with the same relatively small group of friends.  Still, that is an improvement for me. 

Tomorrow, I head home!

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 4

A quick check of the opening sentences of blog entries makes clear to me that I am obsessed with sleep--how little I get of it, how much I want it, and so on.  I'm tempted to stop mentioning it, and I probably will, but not today.  The reason is that last night I slept for eight glorious hours, a wonderful treat indeed.  I woke up today with a slight sense of the energy that I used to feel all the time in my body.  It was great.

Food out here in the Toronto suburb boonies is not particularly good, so I'm having to forgo the usual fancy dinner reports because the dinners are anything but fancy.  Still, both lunch and dinner today were serviceable meals and pleasant times with friends.

I watched a few panels, did some work, and talked a lot with friends new and old.  I particularly enjoyed the presentation by top artists Todd Lockwood, John Picacio, and Charles Vess on their creative processes.  Vess works entirely traditionally, Lockwood almost entirely digitally, and Picacio regularly employs a mix of both techniques, so the discussions and slides were interesting and informative. 

I also cruised the art show for a second time.  Particularly impressive were the huge Charles Vess canvas and the two lovely pieces from Howard Fox, an artist who is new to me.  I'm already a Vess fan, but now I'll be keeping an eye out for Fox's work as well. 

Another pass through the dealers' room proved my self-control was intact, because I bought nothing.  I did sign stock for one dealer, a task that is more fun than work.

Among the various con functions I sprinkled a fair amount of work, so I end the day caught up with my goals for it, which is always a good feeling.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 3

Today I managed to do a better job of interweaving work and con stuff than on most con trips.  I got up early, worked, and then went off to what I was sure would be an empty room for my reading.

To my pleasant surprise, 13 or 14 people attended--and only six of them were friends.  For only the second time, I read aloud the Lobo Christmas story, "Lobo, Actually."  I was pleased by the audience's response, because everyone agreed that they liked it and the story worked.

After a panel on urban fantasy, I grabbed lunch with friends and did some work, then caught part of another urban fantasy panel.  To say that topic was all over this con would be quite the understatement. 

More work, then I went to Dave's panel on the importance of reading older works in the field.  The conversation, which old friend Brett Cox moderated and which included guest-of-honor Elizabeth Hand, was interesting and even occasionally lively. 

Work, then the Baen dinner, where a group of Baen writers and friends enjoyed a very good steak meal courtesy of Senior Editor Jim Minz.

From there we had to hustle back to do the traditional WFC group autographing session, an exercise in humility (or humiliation; it's hard to tell) for lesser-known writers.  I was pleased that during the course of the session at least half a dozen folks brought books for me to sign.

A group of us then party-crawled a bit, and I ended the day working, as usual. 

As cons go, a pretty good day.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 2

I actually slept last night, which was wonderful.  I spent the day in an ongoing mix of work, time with friends, and a little con stuff. Though work dominated my hours, I did get some of the other good stuff as well. 

I prowled the dealer's room for the first time, but I didn't buy anything; I'm still scouting.  It's always great, though, to see a dealer's room full of books. 

Dinner was a lovely time with friends including Dave and Tom Doherty, the head of Tor, the largest SF publisher in the country (probably the world).  Tom has been working in SF publishing for decades, and I could listen to his stories for days.  I wish he would write an autobiography of his time in the field; it would be a fascinating book full of stories that only he could tell.

Later, a group of us gather to chat and share a late dessert.

A slow start to the con, but overall, a good day. 

Now, to figure out what I'll read at my reading in the morning!

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Toronto, day 1

Hurricane Sandy's closing of LaGuardia airport led to a series of travel adventures that ended up starting my day at 5:45 a.m. and getting me to my destination about 7:00 p.m.

The flights for which I'd purchased tickets were no longer available, so a new set was to take me through O'Hare. When I arrived at the airport at 6:25 a.m., however, I learned that the flight to Chicago was delayed so long that I would miss my connection.  The only alternative American could offer me was to go through DFW, so I waited an extra 45 minutes in RDU and several hours in DFW. I had neither an upgrade nor an exit-row seat on the way to DFW, so I didn't have the space to work.  I used the flight to fitfully doze and twitch in my seat; I do not sleep well on planes.  The flight to Toronto was vastly better, because I got an upgrade and bought bandwidth and worked the whole time.

Now, though, I am happy to report that I am at the con hotel.

Calling the convention a "Toronto" World Fantasy Con is more than a little misleading. Yes, Toronto is the nearest big city, but the cab ride here took over 45 minutes from the airport, and going downtown for a meal is too great a time commitment to be manageable.  That's a shame, because Toronto has a great and rapidly growing food scene.

Still, I made it, and now I finally get to sleep; last night's 110 minutes of sleep were simply not enough. 

Tomorrow, the con starts in earnest!