I’m home from having been one of the Guests of Honor at this year’s World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, and the first thing I want to do as I re-enter my non-con life is share with you the speech I gave 4:00 p.m. Saturday. As much fun as every moment was — the five panels in which I participated, the three food hikes I led, the ukulele singalong I arranged, the docent tour I gave of original comics artwork from my past, the hanging with old friends and meeting new ones — explaining what I’d learned from 48 years of con-going was the most important moment for me at the con.

The video is below for you to watch, but so is the full text for you to read … keeping in mind I surely made minor deviations as I talked.

Welcome, everyone! I’m Scott Edelman, and I’m touched that out of all the things you could possibly be doing here in Baltimore at the 44th World Fantasy Convention, you chose to spend these moments here, with me. Believe me, I understand what a tough decision it was. I know all about having to study the program to figure out where best to be when, while still leaving time to hang out in the place where we all know the most interesting conversations really happen — at the hotel bar.

The reason I’m aware of your struggle is because I’ve been having to pore over programming exactly like that myself at World Fantasy Conventions ever since my first, which was the fifth World Fantasy Convention, held in 1979 at the Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. To illustrate how long ago 1979 was, back then, Stephen King, one of the Guests of Honor — and how we got from inviting Stephen King as a Guest of Honor to ending up with me, I have no idea — could still wander among us without being trailed into a public restroom by writers who would shove their manuscripts at him under his stall.

Yes, that was really done! Not by me, of course. I wasn’t one of them, really. I promise!

That was the same World Fantasy Convention, however, at which — and I’m not joking about that — the Dalai Lama and I had a brief encounter one afternoon in front of the hotel …

So I got that going for me, which is nice. (more…)

I’ve been so busy getting ready to head off tomorrow to the World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore — where I’m one of the Guests of Honor — that I haven’t told you where you’ll be able to find me if you happen to be heading there, too.

Time to remedy that!

Thursday, 8:00 p.m. (WaterTable BC) 
Opening Ceremonies

Thursday, 9:00 p.m. (WaterTable BC) 
A Taxonomy of Villains
Not all villains are created equally, nor should they be. Lucifer, Sauron, Loki, the Joker, Smaug, and Grendel each have different power levels, wants, and needs. How do authors chose to make their villains equal to the needs of the story?
with Esther Friesner, Elektra Hammond, and Emily Leverett

Friday, 1:00 p.m. (WaterTable BC)
You Got Your Fantasy in My SF! You Got Your Horror in My Fantasy!
Genre lines are frequently blurred and there isn’t really a rule book. What makes a science fiction story with fantasy tropes work? Why does fantasy with a healthy dollop of horror intrigue? Are you a purist or do you prefer stories with blended speculative elements? Let’s discuss!
with Aliette de Bodard, Lee Harris, and Alma Katsu

Friday, 4:00 p.m. (Homeland)
Speculative Sound Waves
With more and more people taking to the internet airwaves to discuss fantasy and horror literature, how have editors, authors, agents, critics and readers distinguished their creative voices in an ever expanding podcast market? And what do they do to grow a distinct, diverse and dedicated listenership?
with Jen R. Albert, Claire Humphrey, Jonathan Strahan, and Gary Wolfe

Saturday, 12:00 p.m. (WaterTable BC)
Fantasy and Horror on Stage
What makes a story suited for the stage, and how can stagecraft bring fantasy and horror to life? What classic and contemporary fantastical tales have been successfully adapted for live performance — and what should be but hasn’t yet?
with Angeli Primlani, Jennifer Udden, and Mark Van Name

Saturday, 2:00 p.m. (Dealers Room)
Book Signing
I’ll be at Chris Logan Edwards’ table launching my short story collection Tell Me Like You Done Before with Andy Duncan, who’s also launching his short story collection An Agent of Utopia.

Saturday, 4:00 p.m. (Maryland Ballroom)
Guest of Honor Speech
After 48 years of con-going, there are a few things I feel compelled to share with you.

Saturday, 8:00 p.m. (Maryland Foyer)
Art Reception
One of the displays will be an exhibition of original art from the comics I wrote back in the ’70s, and if you’re there, I’ll tell you how they came to be.

Saturday, 11:00 p.m. (Homeland)
Ukulele Singalong
Bring your instruments and voices for a group singalong of strange and funny songs suitable for a World Fantasy Convention.

Sunday, 11:00 a.m. (WaterTable BC)
Best Meals Ever Written
A discussion of feasts and meals and what makes them great is it a tragic ending like the Red Wedding or a highly detailed description of the food so fans can replicate the cuisine, or something in between.
with S.A Chakraborty, Aliette de Bodard, A.T. Greenblatt, and S. M. Stirling

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. (Maryland Ballroom)
World Fantasy Awards Banquet

But wait—there’s more!

I’ll also be leading three different food walks over the weekend. Details below. I hope you’ll be able to join me.

Be seeing you!

While reading Salon’s recent post about the controversy over H. P. Lovecraft and the use of his face on the World Fantasy Award trophy, I was surprised to find that halfway down the piece was … me!

I’d tweeted last week about how once the board announced it was changing to a more inclusive symbol for the trophy, news broke that a different organization was embracing Lovecraft, one which didn’t find his racist views at all problematic …

… and my “Whoa!” was somehow deemed newsworthy.

I have no problem with that.

In fact, it isn’t even the first time a journalist picked up on one my tweets. Back in 2014, Good Morning America showed one of my tweets on screen during a story about Alinea chef Grant Achatz having to deal with a crying baby.

Which makes this a good time, I suppose, for me to publicly state my position on the matter of the news media sharing my tweets. To repeat:

I have no problem with that.

I consider whatever I say over on Twitter to have been said in a public forum, and that my words there are as ripe for quotation as any statement I might make from a stage in a public venue, as long as no editing’s done to change my meaning and there is proper attribution and linkage.

I know there are others who feel more protective of their tweets, which is their prerogative and something I hope journalists respect. But as for me, if I should accidentally happen to tweet anything which makes enough sense you feel it worth quoting—quote away!

This year’s World Fantasy Convention—which you may or may not have attended—ended Sunday. Even if you were among those present in Saratoga Springs, I doubt you were with me for all of the following 14 readings, which I recorded with a Flip mini-camcorder (mostly balanced on my knee), because I hate for history to vanish.

If you’d like to replication my experience, watch the first three (from Friday) one day, the next eight (from Saturday) another day, and the final three (from Sunday) the last.

Enjoy your virtual World Fantasy convention!

Carrie Cuinn

(more…)

The Washington Post covered a controversy today concerning a long-dead fantasy icon whose legacy is being reconsidered due to racist opinions extreme even for his day—and no, this time I’m not talking about H.P. Lovecraft.

Lovecraft’s views, as you’ve already heard if you’ve visited here before, have been the cause of uncomfortable but very necessary conversations within the fantasy community. And now another community is being forced to have similar uncomfortable conversations.

Because it seems the Oneida Indian Nation is about to open a $20 million casino which will pay homage to a fantasy writer who, in addition to entertaining millions, also called for genocide.

L. Frank Baum.

That’s right. The author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. (more…)

Of all the photos I took during last weekend’s World Fantasy Convention, I’m proudest of this one, snapped of Sofia Samatar after she took the stage during Sunday’s banquet to accept the Best Novel Award for A Stranger in Olondria.

I was proud because the dramatically posed image came out so crisp and clear, even though I was sitting way in the back, in the last row of tables, and using a zoom with no flash, since one wouldn’t have worked at that distance anyway.

But more importantly, I’m proud of Sofia, because she used her time onstage to address the elephant in the room that is the H. P. Lovecraft trophy. (Here’s what she later had to say about the moment.) I was extremely upset there was no panel at the convention devoted to that topic, so after I saw the convention program, and noted the absence of one, I tweeted my disappointment.

When I learned via the official WFC Twitter feed that the programming committee had been instructed by the board not to have a panel, I was even more upset. (more…)

As those who’ve followed me for any length of time know, if I’m at a reading or panel, and I have the permission of those involved, I’ll record the event and toss it up on YouTube. My earliest such video was of Cory Doctorow back in 2010, and since then I’ve added more than 100 others. So I, of course, captured the three readings I attended at last weekend’s World Fantasy Convention.

On Friday, I watched as Alaya Dawn Johnson read from her YA novel Love is the Drug.

(more…)

Another World Fantasy Convention—during which I had loads of fun and little sleep—is over. WFC is one of my favorite con weekends of the year, second only to the always amazing Readercon. Now that I’m home, and have had a decent night’s sleep, here are a few of the moments I enjoyed most.

Thursday night, Rajan Khanna, Jenn Reese, Liz Argall, Greg van Eekhout, and Barry Goldblatt joined me for dinner at Rose’s Luxury—where we ordered and ate EVERY FREAKING DISH on the menu. (A meal which I shall describe at length later.)

Here are Liz and I reveling in the Sfoglini rigatoni with parmesan cream and breadcrumbs—plus white truffle!—before digging in. She seems lost in the moment, while I appear absolutely manic.

With good cause. A memorable dish from a memorable meal.

(more…)

This year’s World Fantasy Convention starts Thursday in Crystal City, Virginia, but before it begins, why not take a look who we used to be? Instagram may not have existed a decade ago, but that didn’t stop me from taking eight photos I snapped back in 2004 and treating them as if it had.

Gordon van Gelder

Here’s Gordon grimacing. At least I thought it was a grimace. He told me he preferred to think of it as a sneer. (more…)

I’ve had so much on my plate recently that I’ve been unable to tell you about what was on my plates Saturday night during the World Fantasy Convention. And what was on those plates was good.

After studying many menus, I’d decided that the restaurant I most wanted to experience while in Brighton was Graze, and that rather than go with the a la carte menu, even though it was impressive, I wanted to try the tasting menu, which needed to be ordered by the entire table.

Luckily, I was able to find willing co-conspirators, and so on my penultimate night in town, I sat down with Ellen Datlow, Cheryl Morgan, and Kevin Standlee to this …

Amuse-bouche: A perfect bite of fish cake with truffle emulsion and bacon foam.

(more…)