I’ve attended 31 of the annual World Science Fiction Conventions since my first back in 1974—Discon II, held in Washington, D.C.—and at this year’s Worldcon it proved as true as it was back at the beginning that the best part of attending any con is often stealing away for a meal with friends. The only thing that’s changed over the years is—now I’m sharing some of those meals with you.

The first of five meals recorded for my Eating the Fantastic podcast was a lunch with Pat Cadigan at Mizu Sushi Bar & Grill, which was a no-brainer when deciding where to host a writer who won the 2013 Hugo Award, as well as the Seiun Award, for her novelette “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi.”

She also won the Arthur C. Clarke Award twice—for her novels Synners (in 1992) and Fools (in 1995). She’s a major fan of professional wrestling, and I’m pleased that when I was editing Rampage magazine during the ’90s, she wrote many articles for me on that subject … when her duties as the reigning Queen of Cyperpunk didn’t interfere. She’s also written tie-in novels for Friday the 13th and Lost in Space, and forthcoming, the official movie novelization of Alita: Battle Angel. She also won a World Fantasy Award in 1981 for editing the magazine Shayol.

We discussed what it was like being Robert A. Heinlein’s liaison at the 1976 Kansas City Worldcon, why John Brunner hated her when they first met and what she did to eventually win him over, her secret childhood life as a member of The Beatles, what she and Isaac Asimov had in common when it came to convincing parents to accept science fiction, her original plan to grow up and script Legion of Super-Heroes comics, what she learned about writing from her 10 years at Hallmark Cards, how editor Shawna McCarthy helped birth her first novel, what effect being dubbed the Queen of Cyberpunk had on her career, who’s Thelma and who’s Louise in her Thelma and Louise relationship with editor Ellen Datlow, our joint friendships with Gardner Dozois, how she came up with her stories in the Wild Cards universe, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us at the table— (more…)

On Sunday, August 23, 2015 at Sasquan, the 73rd World Science Fiction Convention, I watched as Pat Cadigan read her short story “Cancer Dancer,” at the time still upcoming in the anthology Dead Letters, edited by Conrad Williams. Which meant that when I posted video of the event back then on YouTube, I only shared a taste, so it would act as an inducement for you all to purchase the book.

A thing you should still do, as it’s a fun anthology!

But the fact that the book’s been out for more than a year now means it seems the right time to present an untrimmed video of Pat’s reading, including the fascinating Q&A which followed.

So here, after a two-year wait, is the rest of the story. Those of you who watched the earlier version of this have been very patient.

Enjoy!

The Kansas City Worldcon is fast receding in the rearview mirror, but one more backward-looking post is called for before we let it all go, I think, especially because it concerns not only 2016—but 1992. As I was packing last month for MidAmeriCon II, where Pat Cadigan was scheduled to be our Hugo Awards ceremony Toastmaster, I remembered an artifact from long ago and far away which I thought would amuse her.

Luckily, I was able to find it deep within the Edelman Vault, and so some of you on site might have seen me wearing this.

What’s it all about? Why was Pat a Woman of Destiny at MagicCon, the 1992 Worldcon? What was ClariNet? What was the Library of Tomorrow? And why was there a button about all that? Ah, come closer, padawan, and I shall tell you … (more…)

Instagram didn’t launch until 2010—but why should that stop me from Instagramming L.A.con IV, the 2006 Worldcon which took place in Anaheim?

And so … here are seven snapshots of who were were a decade ago.

Bob Silverberg

At breakfast in a shirt I can’t quite believe I ever owned. (more…)

I dreamt this morning that I was visiting with Pat Cadigan. We were walking through the streets of London, accompanied by a radio interviewer.

Actually, I wasn’t the one being trailed—it was Pat who was being followed around and interviewed as she moved through her day. I just happened to be there chatting with her. She was the focus.

We came upon a street which was terribly crowded. There were long lines running this way and that, making the sidewalk almost impassable. It turned out that the reason for the crowd was that the Queen was doing a book signing. (As if Her Majesty would ever do such a thing!)

I waved an arm at the crowd and told both Pat and her interviewer that the Queen didn’t deserve this—this was the size of the crowd that Pat should be having for her own book signings.

We made our way through the throng, and continued on through the streets of London, touring until I eventually awoke …