If you weren’t in Reno for Renovation, the 69th World Science Fiction Convention, you missed my reading of a new short story. Heck, even if you WERE in Reno for Renovation, you STILL probably missed it, because it was scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday, August 21, when many attendees were already packing up and getting ready to leave.

Whichever of those categories you might happen to fall under, I’ve got your solution right here.

Thanks to the video below, you can see me read my as-yet-unpublished short story “In a Strange City Lying Alone,” which is due to come out on 9/11/11 in the anthology Why New Yorkers Smoke from Nonstop Press.

The anthology is edited by Luis Ortiz, and contains short stories from Carol Emshwiller, Barry Malzberg, Paul Di Filippo, and a bunch of other writers before whose talent I fall back in awe.

Hope you enjoy it!

I shared my favorite Worldcon moments the other day, but I know what you foodies out there really wanted to hear about was which casino in Reno made the best Awful Awful.

What’s an Awful Awful? A humongous burger that’s been made by two competing casinos in Reno since back before the Big Mac existed.

As those of you who attend conventions with me know, I get most of my food tips from the TV show Man v. Food, but since Adam Richman has yet to hit Reno, I had to instead base my excursions out of the convention center on the show Food Wars. Here’s the recent episode of that latter show that alerted me to the existence of these legendary burgers.

Before I get into the burgers themselves, check out how the two joints tout them with posters inside their casinos. On the left, The Little Nugget, and on the right, John Ascuaga’s Nugget.

But posters are one thing. Let’s see what the real thing looks like. (more…)

I arrived home from the Reno Worldcon late Monday night, and as you can tell by the absence of recent posts, I failed to live up to Edelman’s Schadenfreude Rule of Convention Reporting, which states that all blogging must occur while a con is still in progress, so you can see what you’re missing while it’s still going on. If you were following me on Twitter or Facebook, you got a taste of the action, but I was just having too much fun to pause to tell you about it here until my return.

Well, now I’m back, and it appears I still don’t (and won’t) have time for a lengthy con report, so these few highlights will have to stand in for the long weekend. Here are my 12 favorite Worldcon moments:

Singing along with Dr. Demento

I started listening to Dr. Demento’s warped radio show in the early ’80s, which is how I first learned about everything from “Fish Heads” to Weird Al. So I made sure to catch the opening night presentation of some of his most-requested songs, which he shared via audio and video clips. He also sang “Shaving Cream” live while hundreds of us in the audience sang along to the chorus, which, you’ll forgive me, had me a little giddy.

Never heard of “Shaving Cream”? Here’s Benny Bell’s original version of it from 1946. Now imagine 500-800 fen (I’m no good at counting crowds) singing along. If you weren’t there, you missed a good time.

Dinner with John Scalzi and Cory Doctorow

After yucking it up with Dr. Demento, I headed off with John and Cory for dinner at the Atlantis Steakhouse, where we dined on aged beef, had a great conversation, and realized that Renovation was the second consecutive Worldcon to be held in a city with legalized brothels. (What’s that? You don’t remember prostitution being legal in Melbourne. Well, it was.)

By the way, we only discussed this hypothetically. No. Really. I mean it. (more…)

I didn’t get to go to the first Worldcon I’d hoped I would. That’s because the first Worldcon I wanted to attend was Dallas in ’73 and the 1973 Worldcon was instead held in Toronto. Which explains a lot. But not everything.

Come to think of it, I didn’t get to the first comic convention I wanted to either. That would have been the 1969 July 4th weekend con run by Phil Seuling at the Statler Hilton Hotel. But my parents didn’t think I was old enough to wander off to Manhattan on my own while they were at a bungalow colony out in the country. So I had to wait until ’70 for what was to be my first con of any kind.

When I got there, I looked something like in the photo below, which shows me a year later at Seuling’s ’71 con, snapped as I sat in the front row (as always), with Phil at the podium.

But back to my first (almost) Worldcon. I was a supporting member of Dallascon, and I’ve got the membership card to prove it, signed by Tom Reamy, chairman of the “Big D in ’73” bid. In addition to the neat card with that wonderful George Barr artwork, I also received copies of The Dallascon Bulletin, more magazine than progress report.

But the Dallas Worldcon bid collapsed, and since I wasn’t in the loop back then (I don’t think I was even aware yet that there was a loop), I have no idea why. (more…)

I’ve been attending Readercon since it began in 1987. I haven’t missed one yet. It’s my favorite convention weekend of the year, the place where I hang with my tribe and recharge my creative batteries.

I’ve been attending the San Diego Comic-Con since 2007. It’s the most important pop culture gathering of the year, and since I’m the editor of Blastr, there’s no way I can miss it. It’s a must-see event.

During most Julys, Readercon has been two weeks prior to Comic-Con. Last month, it was one week before Comic-Con. In 2012 … well … see for yourself, via screen grabs from the two cons’ sites.

To say that I’m heartbroken is an understatement. But I don’t see any way around it. I’ve got to cover Comic-Con. My unbroken string of Readercons … has come to an end.

If I’m wearing black the next time you see me, it won’t be because I’m channeling Neil Gaiman. It’ll be because I’m in mourning.

Renovation—the 69th World Science Fiction Convention—is just around the corner. Where will you be able to find me during the con? (Well, where will you be able to find me officially?)

Here—!

Will Eisner: Pioneering Comics Genius
Thursday, August 18, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
Will Eisner had a very long career in comics. Best known for The Spirit, he wrote some early graphic novels, such as A Contract with God.
I moderate Tom Galloway and Stu Shiffman

The Science Fiction and Fanasy Canon within Comics
Thursday, August 18, 4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
What are the essential science fiction and fantasy comics?
with Tom Galloway, David Malki, and Andrew Wheeler

Stroll With The Stars
Friday, August 19, 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
A gentle, friendly 1-mile stroll with some of your favorite Authors, Artists & Editors.
with Stu Segal, Bill Willingham, Beth Meacham, Karen Anderson, Toni Weisskopf, Gay Haldeman, and Joe Haldeman

Autographs
Friday, August 19, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
with Katy Stauber , Ian Tregillis, Eileen Gunn, Michael Capobianco, A. C. Crispin, Dean Wesley Smith, and Kristine Kathryn Rusch

KaffeeKlatsch
Friday, August 19, 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
with Eileen Gunn, Adam-Troy Castro, and Tim Pratt

Fantasy and Horror in the New Century
What to look for and where to find it on the darker side of literature.
Saturday, August 20, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
I moderate John Joseph Adams, Susan T. Casper, Ellen Datlow, and Nick Mamatas

Giving and Receiving Critiques
Many writers participate in writers workshops, but it can be difficult, especially for new writers, to give critiques helpfully and receive critiques gracefully. Experienced workshoppers discuss techniques for critiques.
Saturday, August 20, 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.
I moderate Margaret McGaffey Fisk, Daniel Abraham, Sheila Finch, and Tim Pratt

Crisis Fatigue: The Pros and Cons of Cross-Book Universe-Changing Comic Epics
Almost every year, it seems, the comics world has a major multi-book crisis/civil war/semi-reboot. Is it overused?
Saturday, August 20, 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
I moderate Tom Galloway, Lenny Bailes, and Brenda W. Clough

Reading
Sunday, August 21 12:30 p.m.- 1:00 p.m.

I look forward to seeing you there!

When Eric Rosenfield asked me to take part in the Wold Newton Reading Extravaganza at Readercon, in which I was invited to take the stage for four minutes while accompanied by appropriate music from Brian Francis Slattery and his band, my immediate thought wasn’t to read any of my own writing.

No, what popped into my head was Mark Twain’s “The War Prayer,” which he refrained from publishing during his lifetime, and which I’d last read aloud during high school to protest the Vietnam War. It was short, it allowed for histrionics … plus Twain was this year’s Readercon Memorial Guest of Honor.

The other brave souls who took part in what I hope will now be an annual Readercon event were Myke Cole, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, John Kessel, and Matthew Cheney. The whole thing is well worth half an hour of your time, but if you only have a few minutes, you can see my abridged version of “The War Prayer” from 10:38 to 15:17.

You’ll note I introduced my reading by saying I was about to present an “abridged” version of that famous story. That’s because even though the tale is short, it would still have taken more than six minutes to read, and I didn’t want to get gonged off the stage before I reached the moral.

I hope Twain will forgive me!

Calling the image below my favorite photo from San Diego Comic-Con might seem like faint praise, considering how few pictures I snapped this year, so busy was I with getting content online for Blastr (this post about the DC reboot protest being my favorite example of that). But I have a feeling that no matter how many photos I might have ended up taking had I the free time, I still would have liked this one the best because of the way it marries the past and present.

To celebrate 50 years of comics fandom, Comic-Con threw a party Saturday night, “for fandom’s founders and early participants, including folks who were active in the 1960s, and 1970s, whether producing fanzines, writing LOCs, selling comics, or putting on conventions.” I was only able to attend briefly because the event conflicted with the party Syfy was throwing, but during the time I was there I was able to speak with George Clayton Johnson, Doug Fratz, George Olshevsky, Jim Salicrup, Greg Bear, Astrid Anderson Bear, and others, plus the stars of my favorite picture&#8212Pat and Dick Lupoff.

What you see in their hands is the back of the program Jackie Estrada had printed for the occasion, which features a photo (one you may have seen before) of Pat and Dick from 51 years ago dressed as Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel at the 1960 World Science Fiction Convention in Pittsburgh.

Dick said he still owned that red shirt emblazoned with Captain Marvel’s lightning bolt, and threatened to wear it to the convention Sunday. I don’t know whether he did so or not … but man, if only I’d gotten a picture of THAT!

Feel like paying only a $2.50 admission to get in to Comic-Con? You can. But it won’t be the one that starts in San Diego tomorrow, I’m afraid. And you won’t be able to get there without a time machine, either.

Because the con I’m talking about took place in 1967, and in addition to only costing $2.50 to attend or to grab a dealers’ table, hotel rooms started at $7.50.

But if you do happen to have a time machine … then pay close attention to the details on the flyer below!

Since every use of the word “con” is in “quotes,” does that mean the word was still considered suspect slang back then? Or is that just the way they did things in Texas?

Barrry Malzberg wanted me to get up for a 7:30 a.m. breakfast, but considering the fact I didn’t get to bed until 2:30 the same morning, how likely was that to happen? But I did wake at 8:15, which pleased me, because I very much wanted to watch Chip Delany interview Katherine MacLean, the winner of this year’s Cordwainer Smith Rediscovery Award.

When I’d seen her in the halls the previous day, and told her how much I was looking forward to her anecdotes of the old days, she said, smiling, something like (which I say only because this isn’t a word-for-word quote), “That’s why I stopped going to conventions! All you fans wanted to know about was who we had sex with. Sex, sex, sex! We did more than sleep with each other, you know! We were also interested in ideas!”

I told her, oh, yes, I wanted to hear about ideas, too, trying to make sure she knew I wasn’t one of those fans. (Though, of course, I did want to know about who slept with whom!)

Here’s that wonderful interview, which is one of the best hours I’ve ever spent at a Readercon. (And as you know, I’ve been to them all.)

After wandering the dealers room and doing general schmoozing, I realized I’d hit the wall, and so returned to my room to put my head down for a moment. After all, I didn’t want to snore during the panel on Joanna Russ! Sadly, I fell asleep, and did not wake until it was over. And so, no video … (Sniff!) But I did capture this entertaining interview of Gardner Dozois by Michael Swanwick. (more…)