Back in Austin

I left the World Fantasy Con hotel this morning and drove the couple of hours from San Antonio to Austin and through to Round Rock.  The drive proved to be easy, fast, and pleasant. 

I've already had work meetings, barbecue, ice cream, and more work--not the most fun dessert, but it is what it is.

Amazingly, the weather here may turn cold.  I do seem to have a talent for picking odd weather times to be in Austin, having been here for snow storms and floods. 

Now, it's time to crash.

An odd pair

An odd pair of events formed the bookends of my day.

The first was the World Fantasy Con awards banquet.  As a couple hundred (my guess) of us gathered in a fairly low-ceiling room in the hotel watched from our tables after eating banquet food, our increasingly aged group presented its annual awards.  I was happy for the winners, and the food was surprisingly decent overall, so as award banquets go, it was okay. 

The other was a showing of Thor: Ragnarok at a nearby theater.  I enjoyed the movie a great deal and found it both as much fun and as vivid in imagery as the reviews have suggested.  I definitely recommend it. 

Tomorrow, I change cities and begin the usual rounds of meetings.

Urban legends, barbecue, ice cream, and the UFC

After some work, I headed to my first--and only--panel of the convention.  The topic, "Urban Legends in the Age of Fake News," didn't excite me, in part because I refuse to accept the notions of alternative facts or a post-truth era.  Nonetheless, the panel seemed to entertain its audience, and the discussion moved along reasonably quickly, so I left feeling okay about the endeavor.

Lunch afterward took us to the Smoke Shack, a local barbecue joint that proved to be quite good.  We opted to share multiple dishes, including the brisket Frito pie, brisket mac-and-cheese, and brisket grilled cheese sandwich,

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as well as a two-meat sampler of brisket, sausage, mac-and-cheese, and creamed corn.

Every single dish was delicious, with the standalone brisket being the weakest link.  It was better than any brisket back home, but worse than yesterday's brisket at 2M.  The standout was the terrifying and life-threatening brisket grilled cheese sandwich, which was flat-out delicious--though obviously unhealthy.

After talking with friends, I retreated to my room to catch UFC 217, from the prelims to the PPV.  The only bad news was that I missed the first half hour of the prelims, because the football game on Fox Sports 1 ran long and the hotel didn't offer Fox Sports 2, which is where the Fox Sports programming gods moved the UFC. 

I had a great time watching the fights, which were uniformly strong.  The room-service dinner was passable--almost everyplace can manage a Cobb salad--and the fight card truly was great.  All three championship fights went to the challengers in great battles that ended in finishes. 

As a further treat, tonight I get an extra hour of sleep (well, we all do, but I do, too)!  I love that treat.

Of San Antonio barbecue and World Fantasy Con

San Antonio's barbecue scene has redeemed itself, thanks to a very good lunch at 2M Smokehouse.

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I had to go late to lunch due to work, so they were already out of almost everything, but we were able to snag some brisket and some pulled pork.

The brisket was moist and rich and flavorful--everything it should be, and way better than anything I've encountered back home.  It restored my faith in local brisket.  The pulled pork was also quite good, though the better barbecue joints back home can best it.

Overall, I left lunch full and happy to have had good brisket again.

I arrived here in San Antonio on Wednesday for the World Fantasy Convention, but you may have noticed that I've barely mentioned the con.  That's because aside from a quick tour of the art show, a fifteen-minute pass through the dealers' room, and a dinner with folks from my publisher, Baen Books, I haven't really been able to attend the con.  Work has kept me pinned to my room except for meals.

The same was largely true today, but I did manage to get out and participate in a longstanding WFC tradition, the Friday night giant autograph session.  In these gatherings, every author or artist present grabs a name tag, picks a spot at a table, plops onto a chair, and hopes people bring them books and other items to autograph.

This shot shows only one angle on the room, which for the fifty minutes I stayed was crowded and full of folks chatting, visiting, and getting books signed.  A few folks even brought me books to autograph, for which I was grateful.  I've been the person at the table whom no one visits, so having anyone bring by books is a treat.

Tomorrow, I have my only panel.

Home

Columbus and the con were generally good, but after sleeping late and for a bunch of different reasons, we decided to head out.  A late lunch at North Market preceded a very long day of driving through rain, mountains, and a whole lot of night.

A key lesson from this trip is that when it comes to highway rest stops, the following is clearly true:

North Carolina >> Virginia >>> Ohio

Sorry, Ohio, but that's just how it is.

A little of this, a little of that

The con began entirely too early for me today, because I was on a ten a.m. panel.  To my pleasant surprise, several dozen people joined us at that unreasonably early Saturday hour to discuss the use of the other in horror fiction.  The conversation stayed interesting, and everyone seemed happy to have attended the panel.

After some work and lunch, I spent time in the dealers' room and the art show but ultimately bought nothing.  I then did a reading, at which a half dozen folks, almost all of whom are friends, heard an unpublished mainstream story I have shared only one time before.

More work, some conversation, and then it was time for a World Fantasy Con tradition of mine:  dinner with a group of friends in publishing.

I spent time afterward listening to one panel and chatting with friends.

All in all, another very reasonable con day.

Giving Columbus its due

When I was growing up in Florida, I figured a good way to know which states were least desirable was to see how many of their license plates turned up in tourist-attraction parking lots.  If a lot of your people came to Florida, you probably didn't like it where you were--or so my reasoning went.  Based on that line of thinking, I grew up convinced that the least desirable states were New Jersey and Ohio.

Yes, my thinking was flawed, but I was a kid.

Having shared these thoughts with others over the years, I feel obliged to say that Columbus--or, more precisely, the small parts of it I've explored while here--is a pretty nice place.  The restaurants have been uniformly decent or better, the variety is wide, the ice cream (Jeni's) is (of course) extraordinary, and all in all it's been a fine place to visit.

I particularly like the North Market complex, which mixes food stalls with some specialized grocers and other vendors.  It's hip enough to have the hot chicken I mentioned in an earlier entry,

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a nifty looking pretzel shop,

and a surprisingly good barbecue stall.

I had to sample all three key meats--brisket, sausage, and pork--and all three were pretty darn good.  I haven't had sausage or brisket as good in Raleigh.  In fact, both were up there with comparable offerings from low-end Austin barbecue joints.  (High-end barbecue places in Austin still rule.)

The people have been busy but friendly enough, the weather brisk but decent, and the place fun to walk.

I'm happy to have to revise my opinion of (at least this part of) Ohio.

A solid con day

I slept later than usual, which was quite a treat.  After an hour-long work phone meeting and some email catch-up, I headed to North Market for lunch.

After surveying the many wonderful food stalls there, I stuck with my original intention and grabbed a plate from Hot Chicken Takeover.  I was curious to see what the hot chicken fuss was about.  Though this was only one sample, it was basically just fried chicken with spicy skin.  I enjoyed it, but it was in no way as exciting as some reports have made it sound.  Perhaps I need to try other places.

While wandering the shops there, I stopped and asked a florist for the identity of the strange green plant of my photo yesterday.  It was an Oscar, a member of the milkweed family.  Inside the green balls are black seeds, so it really is a sort of alien-looking pod flower.

After a tour of the art show and some more work, it was time for my first panel.  Titled "When to stop," it was all about how to decide when to stop a long-running series.  Of course, we inevitably ranged over all sorts of topics related to series fiction, but the panelists were all fun, intelligent, and entertaining.  They made my job as moderator rather easy.  The audience seemed interested and happy to have attended, and various folks asked interesting questions.

Next up was a dinner courtesy of my publisher, Baen Books.  Senior Editor (I think that's his title) Jim Minz was an entertaining and fun host--as always.  I enjoyed the meal and the company.

After some time talking with friends in the sort of perpetual bar party that is every WFC, I headed up to work and then to crash.

A solid day at a con.

When you think of me going to the World Fantasy Convention

in Columbus, Ohio, I know the first thought that springs to mind:  did I take any plant photos?

Thanks for asking.  I did indeed.  Two.

Outside the Subway where we stopped for lunch today stood this lovely tree.

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I love the way the wind has stripped the leaves off most but not all of the sections of the tree.

Enjoying a small cup of ice cream at a Jeni's shop here, I couldn't help but notice this weird green plant in this jar of flowers.

I'm sorry to have to say it, but they do not look healthy, not at all.

Tomorrow, the con cranks up!

Heading out to Columbus

I'm keeping this short because I have to head in the morning to Columbus, Ohio for the 2016 World Fantasy Convention.  I have to admit that I'm not looking forward to the nearly eight-hour drive, but most of the plane flights between here and there consume as much time as the drive, so driving it is.

I hope to write more later about what I'll be doing at the con, but the short form is that in addition to attending and talking with friends, I'm moderating one panel, participating in another, doing a reading, and holding down a chair during the Friday night mass autographing.

If you're also going to the con, come by and say hi.

Want to read a new essay I've just completed?

I certainly hope you do.  You should; it's interesting and argues a very particular thesis.

To read it, though, you have to attend this year's World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, OH, because the essay will be in the con's program book.

Keep an eye out for it!

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, day 5

Today followed the same pattern as most of my travel days in which I'm returning home:  Wake up, work, shower, drive, drop off rental car, go to airline counter, get boarding passes, go through security, eat, work, fly, work, fly, work, get luggage, go home, work, eat, work.  The pattern is boringly familiar but also necessary.  I need to think of better material for the blog on such days.

What stood out most today was that a surprisingly large number of trees in the Saratoga Springs/Albany area still had leaves, mostly yellow leaves, so I enjoyed the fall foliage as I drove.

The yucky Carolina weather was also a presence in my day, both in the bumpy flights and in the nasty drive home.  It was nothing out of the ordinary for this time of the year, but nothing pleasant, either.

I am now home, working and partially settled in, partially still unpacking.  I hope to be home for the next four weeks, which would be a lovely treat.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, day 4

The first non-work, non-sleep part of today involved paying for and packing up my art purchases.  I'm quite fortunate that friend and bookseller, Glennis, offered to drive art home for me, thus saving me a lot of packing and shipping hassles.  Thanks, Glennis; I owe you for this.

The annual World Fantasy Awards banquet filled much of the afternoon.  The food might well have been the worst banquet fare in memory, but it was still nice to chat with others in the community, commiserate over said food, and applaud the award winners.

After transferring the art to Glennis, I and a few others headed down the street to Saratoga Gelato, to get the bad banquet taste out of our mouths.  The gelato was indeed delicious and did the trick.

Later, we walked to Chianti for a dinner of Italian food.  The salad, a warm blend of lettuce and anchovies with a piece of cheese on it, was one of the weirder dishes I've tasted recently, but the pasta was quite good.  Compared to the banquet, all of it was heavenly.

Tomorrow, I journey home.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, day 3

Work kept me up very late, so I slept rather late today.  It was great to get seven hours of sleep, though my body is telling me that I could use a great deal more.

Lunch was a light meal--a small baguette with ham and Gruyere--at Mrs. London's Bakery & Cafe, an inviting little shop along the main street of Saratoga Springs.  I then spent time with friends and browsing the art show and the dealers' room.

For dinner I joined a big crowd of folks related to my publisher for a short walk to Jacob & Anthony's, where we enjoyed a meal of classic steak-house fare.  The table was too big and too full for me to be able to talk to most of the people at it, but the little conversational groups along its length seemed to be having a good time; ours certainly was.

At the art reception I settled on the art I wanted and bid on and won a piece.  I'm quite pleased with it.
After that, I chatted with friends in lounge areas and in the bars until I noticed it was after one, and I really wanted to work and then crash.

Tomorrow, the awards banquet.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, day 2

I worked a lot again today, but because I can't say anything about what I'm doing, I'm going to stop mentioning it for the rest of this trip.

Lunch took a group of us to the Putnam Market, where the crowds were hard to take but the food was very good.  Afterward, we enjoyed a light dessert at Saratoga Gelato.  The gelato there wasn't up to what I enjoyed in Italy, but it was still quite good.

My second and final panel of the con was about politics, economics, and power dynamics in fantasy realms.  We talked about many aspects of these issues, and once again the audience seemed fully engaged.

I next roamed the art show and the dealers' room for a while.  I could get in so much trouble in both of them.  This art show is strong, and I very much enjoyed getting to see so many wonderful original works.

World Fantasy Cons have a tradition of a mass signing, which normally occurs, as it did here, on Friday night.  Largely because each con-goer received a copy of the special WFC edition of Onward, Drake! in her/his book bag, I spent more than an hour straight signing books, a nice change from my usual lonely time at the signing tables.

Several of us then headed across the street to Forno Bistro for a late Italian dinner that was good, if not exceptional.

As at other World Fantasy Cons, the bar here was hopping with folks talking, and I joined that crowd and chatted with friends.

A good con day.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, day 1

I expected to dislike Saratoga Springs, but so far I've quite enjoyed my time here.  It's a nifty little town, with a fun main street and plenty of good restaurants.  I'm very happy to have been wrong about it.

My day went primarily to work, lunch, and more work until my 3:00 panel rolled around.  Lunch took a small group of us to Compton's, a little diner that appears to have no Web site.  The food was exactly what one would expect walking up to the place, so I had a completely reasonable breakfast for lunch.

On the way to my panel, I browsed the dealers' room for a bit.  It was, like most such rooms at World Fantasy Cons, full of books, which made it very entertaining and very tempting for me.

My panel today was titled, "Real World Nomenclature, Taboos, and Cultural Meaning."  We talked about the choices writers make when they create fantasy worlds and when they write historical fantasies.  The discussion stayed interesting and the fairly large audience remained engaged for the full hour, so I had a good time doing it.

I then took a spin through the art show, which proved to be very good.  I want many pieces in it; time will tell if I decide to spring for any of them.

I spent the next couple of hours working before heading to dinner with a different group of friends.  Our meal at 15 Church was tasty, and everyone left both full and satisfied.

My company is closing tomorrow at noon for a few hours to go to see Spectre, the new James Bond movie.  (We've done the same thing for each of the three previous Daniel Craig Bond films.)  Because I am here and could not go with everyone else, I instead went to see the film tonight.  I will talk more about it after the con, but I will say that I very much enjoyed it.

Work took me until late in the night, so now it's time to rest a bit before another day of work and con stuff.

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Saratoga Springs, day 0

I woke up early, showered, and headed to the airport for a day with a lot of travel in it.  The first flight deposited us in Philadelphia in time for lunch.  If you go to a one-short-order-cook cheesesteak shop at the Philly airport and order (to share, of course) a cheesesteak and cheese fries, you get this beast.

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Provolone on the sandwich, the whiz on the fries; it's the complete Philly cheese experience.  It's also a heart attack in Styrofoam--and tasty, too.

After a very small Red Mango treat, we boarded a plane for Albany.  A car rental and a half-hour drive later, and we reached our destination:  Saratoga Springs, New York, home of this year's World Fantasy Convention.  I registered, checked into the hotel, and settled down to catch up on the work I had not finished on the planes.

I worked a bunch for multiple hours and then joined friends for a very tasty Spanish dinner at Boca Bistro.  We shared multiple small plates, and all of them were quite good.

Tomorrow, the con begins!

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Washington, D.C., day 5 /Portland, day 1

The bandwidth in the DCA Admirals Club at 6:50 in the morning was quite a treat.  By 8:00, though, it was merely tolerable.  I accomplished a lot in the 70 good minutes.

Flights took me from DCA to DFW and then to PDX.  No complaints from me, because I was lucky to receive upgrades on both flights. 

Work filled most of the latter part of the day, but I did walk around for a bit in downtown Portland, which was a nice break. 

Dinner was at Murata, where I consumed some of the best sushi I've tasted anywhere and definitely the best sushi I've had in Portland.  I very much recommend this place to sushi lovers. 

Dessert was at Salt & Straw, where I sampled two of the odder-sounding seasonal flavors:  spiced chevre pumpkin pie, and salted caramel Thanksgiving turkey.  Both were delicious. 

Now, to crash after a very long day indeed. 

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Washington, D.C., day 4

Today the convention held its annual banquet and announcement of the winners of this year's World Fantasy Awards.  I enjoyed the ceremony, which is one of the more important yearly gatherings of the SF&F clan.  The food was even decent, which is both a bonus and a surprise at a banquet.

I worked for a time, chatted with some friends, worked some more, and then a small group of us headed off to see Interstellar.  I'll write a full review of it later--I now owe you two long entries--but the bottom line is that I very much enjoyed it.

I have to get up at six a.m., so I'm heading offline now. 

When I next write, I'll be in Portland, OR!

On the road again: World Fantasy Con, Washington, D.C., day 3

Today was, for a rare and pleasant change, more con than work.  I kept up with my various efforts, but I also managed to spend more time in the dealers' room and the art show, hit two panels, grab a quick lunch, and enjoy a dinner at a local Ruth's Chris steakhouse with a bunch of friends who also happen to be Baen folks.  I should be writing longer entries, but once again, it's late, I'm tired, and I have a bit more to do. 

So, I'm outta here.