And the winds blew

The panel on ethics in SF was proceeding nicely at illogicon iii earlier today. Moderator Metricula and panelists John Kessel, Jim Minz, Liz Woods, and I were ranging far and wide in our discussion of the topic, and the audience seemed to be engaged and enjoying the conversation. 

Then all the phones in the room went off, most buzzing, a few playing their ring tones.  All carried variations of the same message:  Tornado warning.  Severe storms were churning up our area as a front passed through.

No problem; just a warning.  We finished the panel, and all was well.

I moved immediately to my next panel, an in-con recording of the Baen Free Radio Hour.  Show host Tony Daniel had invited John Kessel, Jim Minz, Gray Rinehart, and me to discuss the future of the book.  By now the wind was whipping the trees and blowing the rain sideways.

All the phones went off again.  This time, though, the messages they carried all contained the same instructions:  Take cover.  The hotel had already spread through the con its instructions for safe (or, at least, as safe as possible) passage during tornadoes, which were basically to head to the ballroom, a large space with no exterior walls. 

So some of us did.  Most of the con did not.  Those of us who did enter that room sat there until the warning was over about ten minutes later.

The show resumed.  We did the podcast, which you should sometime soon be able to access via the link above.  I enjoyed the conversation, which was as wide-ranging as the first one.

As I was getting ready to leave the con, I ran into Steve, who said, "I hope your house is okay."  I had no idea why it wouldn't be, but Steve had heard that 85-mph (that's not a typo; eighty-five mile-per-hour) winds had knocked down a tree at the closest exit on I-540 to our house. 

The house proved to be fine.  Branches were down, but nothing particularly large.  Cone Man had fallen,

Click on the image to see a larger version.

but Allyn had already returned him to his standard standing pose. 

So, the winds blew, they blew really hard and really fast, but we're all fine.  For which I'm grateful. 

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: Worldcon, Montreal, day 2

Flashes from a Worldcon day:

Sacrificed some con time for an extravagant seven hours of sleep. Oh, silly sleeping man!

Worked way too many hours, including two conference calls.

A panel on Open Science went surprisingly well, all things considered. Over fifty folks attended and seemed interested and even animated on the topic.

One of the audience members was Geoff Ryman, a writer whose work I have long liked and admired. In a moment of fanboy geek behavior, I caught him as he was leaving and told him how much I enjoyed his work. As it turned out, he had been talking to Jim Minz, a Baen editor, that morning about, among other things, my work. Geoff and I engaged in a short but interesting conversation that I feel lucky to have had.

My second panel, which addressed the topic of who should pay for science, went rather less well, with only about twenty people there. It did not help, of course, that we were opposite the opening ceremonies. I tried to be both informative and entertaining, but I suspect my periodic annoyance was more than clear to many, if not most of the attendees. I did the best I could.

Dinner was at Au Pied de Cochon, where we become foie-drunk on foie gras poppers (not their name, but basically what they were), poutine with foie gras, and pig's foot stuffed with foie gras. The last was enormous, and we finished less than a third of it. (I took photos with my phone but don't have email from it while in Canada, so I'll try to remember to post those photos later.) I don't need to eat the last dish again, but I"m glad I tried it.

At the restaurant, we ran into Alan and Jude again. They were having dinner with Jim Minz.

Later, going to con parties, we ran into...Jim Minz (with Alan and not). Jim is everywhere.

In closing, I must share two non-con items. The first is a news story that caught my attention with this blurb:

Elderly Woman
Busted Again
Caught With Salmon in Pants
It's 61st Arrest for 86-Year-Old

Really, how can you not click on a story with that third line? (For those who want it, here it is.)

The second is this Zombieland R-rated trailer, which Kyle brought to my attention. The mere prospect of going to that movie brightens my world. Wait for the cock-blocking line to appreciate its full genius. Wow. I am so there.

On the road again: Denvention, day 3 - con stuff

I slept late and actually got a passable amount of slumber; six or eight months of this level of sleep, and I might begin to feel rested. Today will be the last full-sleep day, however, so no worries on that front.

After work, exercise, and more work, we headed to Rioja for lunch. The meal--we shared a bunch of appetizers--was fabulous and featured the single richest pasta dish I've ever tasted, their saffron fettuccine. Suffice to say that I ate half of an appetizer portion, and despite my status as a semi-professional eater, I don't think I could have finished an entree portion.

From there we rode the convenient and free Denver sixteenth street shuttle to the Sheraton for the Rising Stars reception. Though at some level it was the exercise in humiliation I had feared--new writers, one to a table, each staring soulfully into space in the hopes that someone would come by to chat--it was also, to my surprise, generally okay. I never had a moment without at least one visitor, I signed a few books, and I had quite a few pleasant and interesting conversations.

From there we hoofed it to the convention center and prowled the dealer's room. I signed books for booksellers who wanted me to do so, and all said my books were moving well--words to warm a writer's heart. I visited with some friends, then headed back to the room to work.

Dinner this evening was a Baen gathering that Toni Weisskopf, the Publisher, hosted at the Highland's Garden Cafe for the con's guest of honor, Lois McMaster Bujold, and multiple other Baen writers, editors, and friends. I had the chance to meet and chat with Rome Quezada, the editor of the Science Fiction Book Club and a fun and interesting man. The setting (an old Victorian house), the food, and the company were all good, and as near as I could tell everyone at the table had a good time.

After the cab ride back to the hotel, everyone headed out for the parties. Well, almost everyone: I'm writing this, and then I will work on Overthrowing Heaven. It's what I do.

Today was the light day. Tomorrow, it starts to get busy.

Philcon, day 3

I got nowhere near as much sleep as I wanted last night, but I did at least catch up on PT work and start pass five of Slanted Jack.

Brunch today was at La Croix, and though expensive it was worth doing. The portions were all appropriately small, the selection was huge, and the quality ranged from good to excellent. I recommend it, provided you're willing to pay a lot for a fancy brunch.

After talking with friends at the con and a final run around the dealers' room, I resumed work.

In the late afternoon, I met with Eric Flint for a general chat, then with Baen editor Jim Minz for a longer conversation. Both talks were enjoyable; I like and get along with both men.

After some more work, we headed to dinner at Morimoto, where we ate the Iron Chef's omakase, or tasting menu. The best meal of the trip, it was inventive, superbly crafted, delicious, and generally a great dinner. The menu featured truffles in every course; the premium they commanded was more than worthwhile. The restaurant itself is also impressive, like Morimoto himself an unusual blend of traditional Japanese design elements with bits of big-city night clubs.

And thence to more work on Slanted Jack. It's going slower than I would like, but it's going, and sooner or later I'll finish it. And turn to the next book.

BEA, day 2: Baen stuff

After some morning work in my room, I headed to BEA, where I grabbed a hot dog and prowled the floor. I love looking at books, so it was a pleasant time.

At 12:45, however, I had to set up for the one--yes, one--SF panel of the show. As you can see if you expand the picture, even the one SF panel had to focus on whether SF was getting into the mainstream.





I helped hand out Baen tote bags, each of which contained, among other things, an inflatable Baen rocket, like the one Toni is holding, and a copy of my book. I autographed many books for very nice people. Toni and David Weber were on the panel, and they represented Baen well.






Afterward, I was able to get Toni, sales liaison whiz, Corinda Crawford, and Senior Editor To Be (on Heinlein's centennial, 7/7/07), Jim Minz, to pose for this photo.



Later that afternoon, Baen hosted a party for booksellers in the Simon & Schuster suite. I met many nice people, quite a few of whom tried to persuade me to go to LibertyCon.

I was particularly glad to meet John Ringo, one of Baen's top authors and someone who was kind enough to blurb my book, and Miriam Sloan; they also agreed to pose for me. I enjoyed getting to know them a bit.


Dinner found the Baen group at Osteria Del Circo, where we enjoyed a lovely meal.

And now I must write--a familiar refrain.