It’s been two weeks and a day since my dinner at Journeyman during Readercon, a meal which I should have shared with you sooner. Ah, Life … it does get in the way.

But since it would be unfair to the wonderful meal not to give you a few details even after this passage of time, read on.

After last year’s meal at Journeyman, I was eager to return.

And so, on Saturday night, I skipped out on the con, along with Cecilia Tan (above), David Shaw, Diane Martin, and others, for a meal that began at 8:00 p.m. and went on way past midnight. (And if I’d gotten to this sooner, I could have told you exactly when we left.) (more…)

I’m working on an essay in which I intend to insert that famous Charles Beaumont quote about achieving success in Hollywood, a quote I’ve had reason to paraphrase many times before. This time, though, since I’ll be sharing it in a major national newspaper, I’ve decided that paraphrasing just won’t cut it. But nailing down Beaumont’s exact wording, even with the Internet, has proven difficult.

For example, one version, as passed along by Harlan Ellison in his introduction to Shatterday, goes—

Attaining success in Hollywood is like climbing a gigantic mountain of cow flop, in order to pluck one perfect rose from the summit. And you find when you’ve made that hideous climb … you’ve lost the sense of smell.

While another site replaces the cow flop with cow shit like so—

Achieving success in Hollywood is like climbing an enormous a mountain of cow shit so that you can pluck that one perfect rose from the top. And you find after you’ve made that hideous ascent, you’ve lost the sense of smell.

Still another misattributes the quote to Henry Slesar, while changing the make-up of that mountain—

Success in Hollywood is like climbing to the top of a mountain of manure to pluck one perfect rose– only to discover that you’ve lost your sense of smell.

So … which is it?

Climb? Ascent?

Achieving? Attaining?

Cow flop? Cow shit? Manure?

Do any of you know of a primary source for this quote? Should that first Ellison source be considered the most accurate?

Jaym Gates has announced the Table of Contents for her upcoming anthology Genius Loci—and I’m on it!

There are a bunch of very happy people out there today. And their names and story titles are …

Santa Cruz–Andy Duncan
And the Trees Were Happy—Scott Edelman
Blackthorn—B. Morris Allen
Ouroboros in Orbit—Jason Batt
Reef—Kathleen Miller
Scab Land—Wendy Wagner
The Forgetting Field—Caroline Ratajski
The Town the Forest Ate—Haralambi Markov
Imperator Noster—Sonya Taaffe
The Other Shore—Rebecca Campbell
The South China Sea—Z.M. Quynh
Iron Feliks—Anatoly Belilovsky
Forest For the Trees—Steven S. Long
Drowning Again—Ken Scholes and Katie McCord
The Grudge—Thoraiya Dyer
Twilight State—Gemma Files
Coaltown—Heather Clitheroe
In the Water, Underneath—Damien Angelica Walters
Afterparty—Chaz Brenchly
The Gramadevi’s Lament—Sunil Patel
Blue & Grey and Black & Green—Alethea Kontis
Heartbeat—Laura Anne Gilman
Long Way Down—Seanan McGuire
The Snow Train—Ken Liu
The City–Vivienne Pustell
The Crooked Smile Killers—James Lowder
Threadbare Magician—Cat Rambo
Serenity Eternal–Steven Silver
Beer and Pennies—Rich Dansky
The Sleck–Keris MacDonald
The Transplant Specialist–Sarah Goslee

So what’s the theme of Genius Loci? Here’s how Jaym explained it in her original call for submissions: (more…)

I know, I know. Readercon’s more than a week behind me in the rear-view mirror, and I’m only just now getting around to posting my final video from the event. It violates Edelman’s Rule of Convention Reporting, which requires that all write-ups, photos, and videos be shared as contemporaneously as possible, to increase the schadenfreude of those who couldn’t make it.

But you’ll forgive me, won’t you? I’m hopeful this last bit of video will allow you to do so.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to capture this 10:00 a.m. panel, since Saturday night’s dinner (which I promise I’ll tell you about next) didn’t have me getting to sleep until around 2:30 a.m. But I forced myself awake because, hey, Readercon only comes around once a year, and it would be shame to surrender a panel to fatigue. So here’s “Books That Deserve to Remain Unspoiled,” featuring Jonathan Crowe, Gavin Grant, Gayle Surrette, Kate Nepveu, and Graham Sleight. Their mandate was—

In a 2013 review of Joyce Carol Oates’s The Accursed, Stephen King stated, “While I consider the Internet-fueled concern with ‘spoilers’ rather infantile, the true secrets of well-made fiction deserve to be kept.” How does spoiler-acquired knowledge change our reading of fiction? Are some books more “deserving” of going unspoiled than others? If so, what criteria do we apply to determine those works?

And here’s the panel itself!

After an hour of schmoozing and signing more books (for the first time ever, an equal number of copies of my zombie and science fiction collections were sold this weekend; zombie usually win), I attended David Shaw and B. Diane Martin’s presentation on the science of ice cream, which included—samples! (more…)

While visiting my mother in Florida today, I remembered that during a recent phone call, she’d mentioned the time my father had appeared on one of the magazine covers he’d designed when he was an art director for McGraw-Hill. Back when she’d told me that, I’d searched online for old issues of Coal Age and Engineering and Mining Journal, two magazines I knew he’d worked on, but no matter how many I could turn up—no Dad.

Luckily, something made me remember that cover earlier today, so I asked her about it, and …

Which explains why I hadn’t been able to find the cover. I’d never even heard of National Petroleum News!

Dad would have been around 44 years old there, and coming face to face with him in a photo I’d never seen before got me all choked up. In fact, I almost (but not quite) burst into tears.

It’s been more than five years since I lost Dad, but I still miss him.

And I’m not alone. As my search results show, I’m not the only one missing a father.

Will you be in London next month for Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention? I’ll be there from Thursday, August 14 through Monday, August 18—along with (if estimates are correct) more than 10,000 others.

The programming committee has just released the final schedule, so if you’d like to track me down in that wretched hive of scum and villainy, take note of my official appearances.

Don’t Tell Me What To Think: Ambiguity in SF and Fantasy
Friday 10:00 – 11:00, Capital Suite 1 (ExCeL)
What does ambiguity (of setting, plot, identity, and so on) bring to a work of fantastic fiction? How is ambiguity created, and what effect does it have? Does it always work? Can a story be too ambiguous? The panel will discuss stories by [THIS WILL BE SHARED LATER], exploring exactly how they achieve their effects, and asking what divides a satisfyingly ambiguous story from an unsatisfying one.
with David Hebblethwaite (M), Nina Allan, and Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Stroll with the Stars
Saturday 09:00 – 10:00, Front of Aloft (ExCeL)
This will be a nice morning stroll with some of our favourite Authors, Artists and Editors. (And we stress, “stroll” – def: a leisurely walk. This will not be a heart-pounding aerobic activity, it will be a stroll). Join us for some fresh air, a healthy stroll and some good conversation. A leisurely mile – which will take a little more than a half hour but less than an hour. Strolls will leave at 9AM from in front of the Aloft Hotel, and will return by 10AM, rain or shine.
with Edward James, Robin Hobb, John Chu, Bill Fawcett, Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Jody Lynn Nye, Jeff VanderMeer, Ann Vandermeer

Old New Classics: The Off-Beat and Indie Comics of Yore
Saturday 13:30 – 15:00, Capital Suite 14 (ExCeL)
When people discuss the Golden Age and Silver Age of Comics the conversation is often dominated by the emergence of the superhero in both DC and Marvel. However, from its inception comics were always a fertile breeding ground for fun, weird, and alternative stories. What influential, under-appreciated comics from the past deserve a higher profile today? What kind of comics would people like to see more of now, that were plentiful in the past? Are we more progressive in comics today, or re-learning to embrace the medium?
with Smuzz, Allan J. Sim, Peter Sutton, Barbara G.Tarn

In Space No One Can Hear You Ink: The Best SF Comics
Sunday 12:00 – 13:30, London Suite 2 (ExCeL)
What science fiction comic book titles have expanded the genre, given us gorgeous visuals, and memorable story lines How have sf comics developed from Flash Gordon, Dan Dare, Astro Boy, through to Akira, and The Ballad of Halo Jones, and what’s currently revving everyone’s rocket ship: Saga, Ghost in the Shell, 2000AD, Lazarus, etc.
with Jon Wallace, Adrian (Ade) Brown, Phil Foglio, Anne Ghesquiere Sakuya

Literary Beer: Scott Edelman
Monday 10:00 – 11:00, The Bar (ExCeL)

And as for my unofficial appearances … just keep trolling the bar and wandering the parties, and you’re sure to find me!

I’d meant to tell you about Readercon Saturday on Sunday, the same way I shared about Readercon Thursday on Friday and Readercon Friday on Saturday, because I like to be as contemporaneous as possible in my con reporting. But Readercon was so packed with panels I wanted to see and people I wanted to chat with—far more than other cons—that I was unable to do so. And yesterday’s reentry into real life left no time either.

Today, on the other hand …

I began Saturday by attending, “When the Other Is You,” which featured panelists Chesya Burke, Samuel Delany, Sabrina Vourvoulias (leader), Peter Dubé, Mikki Kendall, and Vandana Singh. This was their mandate, per the official description.

Being part of an underrepresented group and trying to write our experience into our work can be tricky. We might have internalized some prejudice about ourselves, we might not have the craft to get our meaning across perfectly, and even if we depict our own experience totally accurately (as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie observed in her TED Talk “The Danger of a Single Story”), we do so while struggling against the expectation that our experience is or isn’t “representative” or “authentic.” How do we navigate the pitfalls and responsibilities of being perceived as spokespeople? What potentially pernicious dynamics allow us that dubious privilege in the first place? Which works make us cringe with their representations of us, and which make us sigh with relief and recognition?

And here, for those who couldn’t be there, is the panel itself. Well worth watching in full. (more…)

First thing I did yesterday was to post Thursday’s Readercon videos, because I’d hoped to encourage you to get here today, but don’t worry—I then got out of my hotel room and quickly dove into the thick of things.

First up was the morning panel “Empathy, Identification, and Stories,” which featured Matthew Kressel, L. Timmel Duchamp (moderator), Julia Rios, Andrea Hairston, and Walt Williams.

Here’s what they set out to discuss.

At a panel at Arisia 2013, Andrea Hairston said, “I can only tell you a story if you’re a human who can hear a story and imagine what it’s like to be someone who isn’t you.” Tannanarive Due added that access to stories matters: some children, for instance, can easily find books about characters like themselves, while others have to read books from outside a position of identification. Culture creates structures of identification and empathy; or, to put it another way, ways of feeling from within and ways of feeling from without. How do stories create structures of feeling, and how can writers and readers both benefit from awareness of these structures?

And for those who couldn’t make it to Readercon, here’s the panel itself. (more…)

Another July, another Readercon!

Readercon is my favorite convention. I’ve been to every one since 1987. Well, save one, which I missed due to a conflict with San Diego Comic-Con, though some of you might remember than in order to prevent despair, I sent a stand-in. A stand-up stand-in. This year, thankfully, I was able to make it in the flesh.

As has been usual for the past decade, rather than fly to Boston and bus it to Burlington, I flew to Providence, where I spent the afternoon with Paul Di Filippo and Deb Newton, who drove me to the con. But the con really began at Dulles Airport, because Michael Dirda was on the same flight, and we were able to discuss Forever Amber, Henry Huggins, and Rick Brant’s Electronic Adventures without the need of a moderator or microphone.

In Providence, he and I and Paul and Deb were joined by John Clute and Liz Hand (seen with me below), also on the way to Readercon. So there was much fun (and lobster rolls!) before the con proper even began.

Once we arrived at the con, we took part in a massive group dinner which also included Peter Straub, Gary Wolfe, Kit Reed, plus the organizers of the meal, David Shaw and Diane Martin. And then at 8:00 p.m., the programming began … (more…)

I’ve already told you about my panels at Worldcon next month, but there’s one other official event where you’ll be able to find me—Stroll with the Stars.

For several years now, Stu and Stephen Segal, realizing that attending a Worldcon can be a bit too sedentary, have organized gentle morning walks to start each day off right. To encourage those who might not be that into walking, different guests participate each day as an incentive. Come for a chance to stroll beside one of your favorite writers, editors or artists, get a little exercise as a bonus!

I volunteered again this year, so you’ll be able to stroll with me if you’d like on Saturday, August 16 at 9:00 a.m.

Here’s the full schedule.

Friday, 9AM, meeting in front of Aloft
Stroll Leader — Edward James
Jeanne Gomoll, GOH
Lauren Beukes
Pat Cadigan
Paul Cornell
Andy Duncan
Ellen Datlow
Mary Anne Mohanraj

Saturday, 9AM, meeting in front of Aloft
Stroll Leader — Edward James
Robin Hobb, GOH
John Chu
Scott Edelman
Bill Fawcett
Thomas Olde Heuvelt
Jody Lynn Nye
Jeff VanderMeer
Ann VanderMeer

Sunday, 9AM, meeting in front of Aloft
Stroll Leader — Judith Clute
Cory Doctorow
Farah Mendlesohn
Joe Haldeman
Gay Haldeman
Mary Ann Mohanraj
Tricia Sullivan
Jonathan Strahan

If you’re heading to Worldcon, I hope to see you there.