January blog the first.

[andpuff]

Well, I did warn you things would probably be delayed until the end of the month. In my own defense, my high speed has been intermittent at best and absent most of the time. I'm trying this on dial-up but our phone line is so bad it often won't hold a signal so... and I'm back... we'll see

Comments

[pyat]

It seems to have worked!

Thanks very much for the interview last week, BTW.

What is "shared Tully with Bob Tucker"? It sounds like a sort of fannish communion...

[archangelbeth]

Tullimore Dew, I believe it is? (Ah, what one learns from convention anthology filk tapes!) A legendary alcoholic drink -- so fannish communion is probably about right?

[msminlr]

Actually, Beam's Choice was the tipple, and the heart's delight, of that Old Bold Fan from Illinois.
[apologies to Anne Passovoy there].
Although Tucker would certainly drink Tully if it were offered to him.

And yes, fannish communion is very much an appropriate image.

SMOOOOOOOOOOTH!

[andpuff]

The time I'm thinking of (Albany NY '79 or '80) it wasn't Tucker's bottle (wish I could remember who the other guy was) and I filled Tully into the hole in my memory just because it seemed to always be around.

[an_sceal]

As Michelle and I start getting involved with the working side of cons, I have kept your advice about them in the back of my mind, and I think it's going to be really helpful, not just in presenting ourselves as professionals, but in getting over the social anxiety of "OMG, I have to sit at the FRONT of the room?"

If I remember that I'm there to work, that I already have a clearly defined role to fill, and that I need to be interesting and polite to do it, it bypasses a lot of the anxiety for me. -Someone- thought I was supposed to be sitting behind that table and facing the wrong way, and I don't have to prove that I'm supposed to be there, I just have to be engaging enough that someone doesn't mind that I am.

You may not have intended it, but my model for convention attendance has largely defaulted to "What Would Tanya Do?"

Enjoy Italy!

"What Would Tanya Do?"

[msminlr]

There's a button in that...

Re: "What Would Tanya Do?"

[an_sceal]

I think so!

[apostle_of_eris]

When the Tiptree Mother Board announced (at the Wiscon speeches) that the Tiptree Fairy was sending Freddie Baer to Australia since she'd been nominated for a Hugo, she tried to crawl under a table to not have to go up to the front of the room.

[spyscribe]

Will miss you in SoCal. Glad I caught you last year!

[spirited_lizard]

Until you live just outside the middle of nowhere you have no idea how wonderful it is to find yourself in a room full of people who are interested in the same things you're interested in, in the same books, and movies, and television shows. People with curiosity about nearly everything! People who get the joke!

Exactly!!! I've only started going to conventions in 2009 (Ringcon was my very first) and I love it! It's that whole atmosphere and every time, I meet old friends and also new people. The guests are really just a great bonus, I'd almost say. ;)

I'm at Ringcon each year now. (Well, ok, that was twice since 2009 now) Already have my ticket for this year, too. ;) Would be great if you came again, too.

ComicCon in San Diego (if you want a full house, read right before Zachary Quinto is using the room)

I would've come for Zach Quinto AND you! ;)

[ext_143488]

I know it was a side note to the whole post, but I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who hates it when I discover that a writer I love(d)--as I did recently enough for it to still sting--is a complete ass. Maybe it shouldn't matter to my enjoyment of their work, but I guess I feel that, since this is your job and having fans is part and parcel of your job, maybe you shouldn't be a jerk to the people who are helping you keep your job? (I use "you" in the collective sense, of course; I'm in no way implying that YOU, Ms. Huff, are an ass.)

[kattale]

Yes - I think I am still stinging from a couple of author-is-an-arse letdowns from decades ago. It has helped me to think of myself of a fan of the story, rather than a fan of the author. But it was also formative in that I realized I was better off going to cons to meet other people with similar passions and interests, and not to meet the authors of my favourite novels.

Now that I am returning to my evil con-attending ways, I wonder if that will still hold true. I will probably be one of those annoying 45-year-old cat-lady fangirls gushing at you, Tanya, about how much I love your writing. Hope not, but the fear is there. Sigh.

[msminlr]

There's a flip-side to that 'author is an ass' phenomenon: finding that the witty and charming person you just discovered on the panel writes books you don't actually enjoy reading.

It's not quite as disappointing, though, because you still get to enjoy the wit and charm at the next convention.