Alright, day one of Worldcon was a slow start.
Jessica Rising was awesome enough to show Esther and I a sneaky way to get in the registration line before the doors to the convention center opened, thus insuring that we did not actually have to wait in said line for more than a couple of seconds once registration opened. This cleared up our day significantly.
The green room at Worldcon appears to be one of the more lackluster green rooms I’ve been in. This actually makes a certain amount of sense, as authors will stab a bitch to get on panels at this con; there’s really no reason to try to seduce us further with nummy treats. Still, I dream of the (literal) salad days in the Radcon green room.
On a more interesting front, I will be standing sergeant-at-arms for the World Science Fiction organization. Does this sound boring to you? It is not. Allow me to rephrase:
I am a peacekeeper for the rule-making committee for Worldcon. Including the committee that will be debating changes to the Hugo nominating process.
Now, I have been specifically told that, in the event of physical resistance, I am not allowed to simply bounce a motherfucker, which is too bad. That would have been fun. That said, I’ll be the one trying to impose some form of order on what is shaping up to be an absolute train wreck. Wish me luck on that, and await my final con report for details on how it went.
I did have a single panel on Day One, a Legends and Lore panel which turned out to have three authentic Native American Storytellers on it, one other lady, and myself. How in the hell am I supposed to contribute to Legends and Lore discussions in that setting? I mean, I’m not whipping out the undoubtedly butchered Native American stories I heard back in Scout Camp, that’s for damn sure.
Didn’t stop the other lady, who dove headlong into an embarassing tale of her father’s sister-in-law’s second cousin, who had some Indian blood, and also may or may not have seen a UFO. I stopped listening at that point. Instead, I talked about the culture of old fogeys BS’ing in greasy spoon diners (for those of you who knew Colfax in the day, I specifically went into a description of Allen’s restaurant). All in all, had a good time and pulled off yet another what the hell am I doing on this panel moment. All’s well as ends well.
Looking forward to Day Two, which will include such things as the beginning of my stint at Sgt-at-Arms, the Sky Warrior Books table in Author’s Alley (look for Esther or I there), and the following schedule of appearances where you can catch yours truly in living color:
11:00 AM: Reading in Spokane Falls Suite A/B
4:00 PM: A shift at the autographing table
5:00 PM: “Conventions of the Pacific Northwest” in room 303A
7:00 PM: “Role-Playing Games as an Author’s Tool” in room 401C
I am slightly disappointed that all of these panels seem to be completely en pointe for me, but occasionally I do actually have to be an adult. Looking forward to seeing anyone who can make it!