Here's a brief account of the weekend at Norweson in Seattle.
I didn't get down to the con until Friday morning when it was already hopping pretty hard. Lots of fabulous costumes. I spent much of my time hanging out with Heather Lindsley, notable author and bon vivant, whose running commentary adds a great deal to any con.
I have lost my program and must rely on my memory, but Friday's panel included one on Identity and Science Fiction, led by the amazingly smart L. Timmel DuChamp, with two equally interested participants and one who clearly had no interest in being there. Still managed to be an interesting and engaging panel. At Lisa Mantchev's reading, we got perfume samples to accompany the stories, which had been inspired by the perfumes, which was the first time I'd seen that as a promotional device, and which I thought was purdy cool. The collection of flash pieces she read will be appearing in WEIRD TALES this year. Late Friday night, there was an exotic mythology panel that ended up lively and intersting, with the audience comparing notes on favorite mythologies and mythological figures, egged on the Trickster Goddess disguised as moderator. We ended up holing up in the bar with Leslie Howle of Northwest Media Arts, guest of honor Kim Stanley Robinson, and Marc Laidlaw, which was a fun conversation wandering from Second Life to the environment.
Saturday's wonders included Heather's reading from her novel, THE GODDESS OF NOTHING IN PARTICULAR, which was swellegant, and the Broad Universe Rapid Fire Reading, which I participated in along with Brenda Cooper, Leah Cutter, Sheri Harper, M.K. Hobson, Heidi Lampietti, and Lisa Mantchev. Lotsa great stuff there. I read from "I'll Gnaw Your Bones, the Manticore Said", which will be appearing in either WEIRD TALES or FANTASY later on this year. After dinner, though, I went back to the hotel room for a little quiet time. I usually don't see a lot of people in the course of my daily existence -- I'm holed up in the study at home, working, so it was a little overwhelming being around so many people.
Sunday there was a panel moderated by and consisting of M.K. Hobson on what separates good fantasy from bad, which was a lively and interesting conversation. I came away with a list of book recommendations (some of the most interesting conversations at cons starts with 'what have you read lately?').
I ended up with a lot of information and facts and impressions packed into my head to the point where I felt as though I was buzzing like a doorbell that had been pressed all day. It'll take me a couple of weeks to process it all and it certainly wasn't the -best- run con I've ever been to, but it was a lot of fun, and even though today I'll be scrambling to catch up with work, it was well worth the price of admission. ;)
