I’m off like a dirty shirt – to the 69th annual World Science Fiction (and Fantasy) Convention in Reno, Nevada; “RENOvation” for short. I’ve never been to any kind of fan “Con” before. To be honest, I decided to go because my all-time favorite author, George R. R. Martin will be there, signing his new book, A Dance With Dragons, and speaking at a couple of seminars. I read his first book in the series, A Game of Thrones, when it first came out in paperback, in 1997, and have been a loyal fan ever since. I own two copies of that first paperback, and hardback copies of the other five books in the series. I’ve been following his blog for a decade or more (is that possible?). He pulled together some of his early short(er) stories into a collection titled Dreamsongs, and with each piece, he offers a commentary about what he was thinking and where he was coming from at the time. A brave thing to do, as some of the stories in this book are from very early in his career, but you can see the growth in the writer as he matures, and I found it to be very inspirational. Sorry, I dither on…I’m a fan.
Anyhoo, I just got a look at the (140 pages!) schedule of activities. I’m blown away. In addition to writing, film, anime, humor, and art, just about every topic under the sun as it relates to Science Fiction and Fantasy is offered as a learning experience. I was lucky enough to be accepted into the Writer’s Workshop, so I’ll be meeting with two professional writers in the Urban Fantasy genre, as well as two other as-yet-unpublished padowans. I submitted the first three chapters of Fate and the synopsis. I’ve already reviewed the work submitted by my fellow padowans, and written my critiques. We will meet for two hours and critique each other’s work, and the pro’s will offer their critiques as well.
I also crammed in a lot of reading in preparation for voting on the Hugo Awards, another new experience for me. I didn’t get a chance to read everything in every category, but I read the nominees in the categories I was most interested in. I found myself attracted to voice, rich prose, and plot, in that order. Ultimately, however, it was plot that determined my vote.
I’ve got a list of authors (and artists) I’d most like to meet, sessions I hope to get into, and am open to whatever the experience brings. I’ll let you know how it goes…
I almost signed up for this, but ended up having other plans. Can’t wait to here all the goods!! Have lots of fun (and take pictures ;-D)