Eventually I get around to things: Some words on Polaris!
This posting two weeks after the convention, this is why I don't actually blog. LJ is much more forgiving of the whole dropping off the face of the earth thing and dudes, I drop. Frequently. I'm like the apple tree out back that's sloughed off half the crop during the last few thunderstorms. Actually, that's a sucky metaphor. Moving on...
Okay. Polaris 21 - the Toronto media convention previously known as Toronto Trek. Sentences will be fragmented and likely missing whole chunks of detail.
Friday - Drive to Toronto was effortless. Although the guy in the Corvette should be ashamed of being passed by a middle-aged woman in a Yaris. (Dude, you're in a 'Vette! Gas pedal's on the right!) Lunch with the people from Kaleidoscope was lovely. We discussed Blood Ties, and what's currently happening, and what I could say during the questions after the premiere. ("I don't know." "I can't tell you." "Yes they are, aren't they.")
The exit off the 407 was... interesting. Having subsequently glanced at a map of the new roadwork around the airport the reason is obvious. The last time I saw that pattern it was being used as part of a Devil's Trap on Supernatural.
But, the hotel was found. David was found. My hotel room was acquired. Hotel cookie was devoured. I realized I forgot one of the many convention lanyards I own and wandered down to ops to pick up the clip David had found for me. The hotel is big. If you think space is big, well, it's got nothing on this hotel. There was twelve kilometer hike, minimum, between function rooms. Maybe thirteen...
Dealer's room hadn't opened yet so I actually got to sit down and have that beer with Adam. Yay! Adam and I go back about 25 years and it's been a while since we've had a chance to talk so there was a lot to catch up on.
Met middle daughter in the dealer's room. Bought edged weaponry for the beloved. Had supper with Justin, Colleen and Cindy. Changed for the meet and greet which I think had another name but the pocket program seems to be the one piece of paper I can't find.
Met Steve Bacic who was in D.O.A., episode 13 of Blood Ties - I figured that was enough of a connection I could overcome the whole OMG actor thing and introduce myself. My gods, that man is charming. We actually spent a few minutes talking about the show and that he'd have liked to have played Celluci and then he went on to interact with pretty much every fan in the room.
Ron Glass has a wonderful laugh. Eric Avari remarkably gracious. Torri Higginson doesn't look much like she does on screen - the Weir personality overlay really seems to change her face. And Teryl Rothery is tiny.
I met Anna who runs BloodTiesCentral.com (waves at Anna). Air Canada had lost Anna's luggage and she was being much, much more gracious about it than I would have been. Talked to a lovely woman named Danacia for a while (Danacia if you're reading this, the books will go into the mail on Monday.)(and really, poke me) but mostly spent my time talking to a group of guys from back east including Kenneth Tam who was/is probably smarter than the rest of us in the room put together.
Out in the hall, eldest son gave me a packet of Jolt gum. Two pieces equal one cup of coffee. I love this millennium. (and you too, dear)
Just before packing it in for the night, I made arrangements to go running at 8:30 the next morning with Roger Czerneda thus ensuring I'd actually go.
And I did. Roger was very nice about how incredibly slowly I run. We did about 4K together and then, as I staggered back to my room giving some serious consideration to puking on my shoes, he ran another six or seven. (okay, I only have his word for that but dude, if you can't trust RC, you have some serious trust issues)
First panel - Why are non SF readers afraid to try SF? Or something like that. (see previous comment re loss of pocket program) I blamed George Lucus and STAR WARS. If you really want to know why, I wrote an article about it in BenBella's STARWARS ON TRAIL. The tv guide explanation: STAR WARS was such a huge phenomenon that it's cultural weight skewed perceptions of the genre as a whole. (no, I will not debate this with you) But, the really cool meta that came out of this panel involved the popularity of fantasy. A woman in the audience pointed out that these days we're all hooked up to tech but we have no idea how it works making it essentially fantasy to us. I wish I'd taken notes because this discussion was fascinating.
Second panel - Pigtails in Space. A discussion of Vala Mal Doran and what she brought to Stargate SG-1. My opinion - she perked the writers right up and gave them a fun complex character to hang stories on. I adore her. Besides, it's hard to go wrong with Claudia Black. Those of us who knew how the season ended carefully did not discuss that thing about the thing.
Two O'clock and it's the Press conference for Blood Ties. Weirdly, questions were directed more at me than at Peter Mohan. Y'all can talk to me a couple of times a year; this was when you should have been asking Peter things. Peter knows all. Okay, there's stuff he might not be willing to tell you, but he knows it.
Three O'clock and it's the Canadian Premiere of the two hour Blood Ties pilot. We had a fair sized room and it was pretty full and people definitely liked what they saw. (people applauded when my name came up; I pointed out that we do that at home too) Questions after were much more restrained than I'd been lead to believe media questions often were. Might have been different if one of the actors had been with us...
Third panel at 7pm - Hidden Gems. I rec'd Karen Traviss' The Wess'har Wars series, Janet Kagan's Hellspark, Tanith Lee's Don't Bite the Sun, and in media Cast a Deadly Spell starring Fred Ward. Don't be silly, of course I don't remember this stuff - I wrote it down. Many other fine books were recommended and I've got new reading material to add to the towering pile.
Darcy had an extra reserved seat for the masquerade (thank you Darcy!) and we caught the end of the Constellation Awards. Dr. Who, a CBC co-production cleaned up. Darcy kept saying that next year it would be Blood Ties up there. That would be very cool but I'm not sure we'd stand much of a chance against Dr. Who if BSG couldn't beat it. Feel free to prove me wrong though.
The masquerade itself was fun. Hard not to have fun at something that includes a pair of Spartans pole dancing to It's Raining Men.
Fourth Panel - 11pm Queer Relationships in SF. I phoned home. Everyone said hi. In my own defense, I did warn people that by 11 I'm pretty much incapable of independent thought.
Then there was some small amount of filking. I want Darcy to sing Desperate Housewives with me EVERY time! (Did you guys know that song's supposed to only have one key? *g*)
Back in the room, my laptop was doing its usual sucky job of hanging onto a wireless connection. I'm thinking of getting a Mac again although I realize this isn't a problem endemic to PCs just to my stupid PC which also has to go back in to have its CDR/DVR drive adjusted. But I digress...
Ten AM Sunday morning, I had a two hour signing at the Chapters table in the dealer's room. Lots of wonderful people showed up and I signed books for pretty much the entire two hours. I got to look at pictures of me when I was young and hot (I want that picture on my dust jackets!) and Dawn, I'm still sorry for screwing up your name!
At noon, after that 12K sprint I mentioned early on, I had my reading. (Youngest daughter brought me a coffee. Right then, I loved her best.) It seemed that pretty much everyone who wasn't in line for Katee Sackoff was there - all two dozen of them. *g* Actually it was a full room and a responsive audience and thank you all for being there! I read the Tony short story from MANY BLOODY RETURNS, figuring that as the anthology was a hardcover most people wouldn't have it. I was right. And Darcy and Melissa were cool with hearing it again.
Fifth Panel, Sunday 1pm, Daughters of Earth, the changing role of women in SF. General consensus was that we're getting more actual women now rather than men with tits and hips but there's still room for improvement, and that no one writing today writes aliens as well as Julie Czerneda.
Sixth and final panel, Sunday 3pm, Researching History which was well attended and actually coherent. How often does that happen at 3pm on a Sunday at a con?
To sum up: I had a good time, Blood Ties was warmly received (still on the bubble guys, keep those postcards to Lifetime coming! )(Lifetime Entertainment Services, World Wide Plaza, 309 West 49th Street
New York, NY 10019) saw many people I haven't seen for a while, met new and exciting people, and didn't make too much of a fool of myself. I hope. If the convention had any problems (beside the too small type on the name badges and the hotel's lack of dark beer) they weren't noticeable to me. Good job!
So, thank you Polaris for having me this year. You'll probably see me again next year. And the year after Blood Ties gets a second season... With any luck, we can get together for three or four years after that!