Orycon Saturday
I had a panel - I was supposed to be MODERATING a panel - at 10 AM on a Saturday morning. I wouldn't have been surprised if the audience was sparse. But instead we had a good panel, and lively audience participation, on the subject of descriptions in writing (quote of the panel: "things sometimes transcent bad, purple prose can transform into ultra violet...") After that, I went to the Green Room to grab coffee and a bite to eat, and an hour later it was another panel, on the limitations of magic. Again, lots of audience participation, and I don't remember what it was that I said, precisely, but I brought the house (or at least the room) down with some offhand comment during the panel, which always makes me pleased. The idea of the panel was the concept of a "periodic table of magic"... I like that quite a lot. It had possibilities. It was a nice panel in a packed room, and it went very well. I went from that the autographing, where four of us sat forlornly behind a wall of signage pointing to OTHER interesting things going on around there but not us lot sitting there waiting to talk to people and sign stuff, and resigned to getting far less attention than a young and shapely and very half-naked woman who was having a body-painting job done on a platform nearby. Oh well. I left about 15 minutes from the end of the hour, aiming to get to my reading on time - and the reading was really well attended, as far as readings go. People listened with rapt attention as I read an excerpt from "Random" and then a sneak preview from "Wolf", the second book in the series, Coming Soon. One of the people at the reading said that "Random" sounded like a lovely book for his book group to tackle. All good. Handed out little sample excerpt brochures to people who went away happy. At least one person collared me in the corridor later to tell me that they'd just gone and bought a "Random" ebook, right there and then. Again, all good.
Grabbed something to eat, and then sat in the bar over a glass of cider with a friend, trying to connnect with another fried with whom I'd crossed paths with earlier, briefly, but of whom I had now completely lost track. Didn't find Friend #2, but had a nice get-together with Friend #1. Then decided to take a break, came up to my room to kick my shoes off and write an update, before I sally forth again shortly into the fray.
One more panel tomorrow morning and then I have to find my way to the station by 2 PM to catch a train back home. Hopefully this time they will have loaded a full complement of fuel...
Tired,now. But energised, as always with cons. These things can be amazing elixirs for the soul. I will permit myself another half hour or so of down time and then I'll dive back into the fracas and see what else I can find going on.
I will report back on trains tomorrow. And then I'll be home. And I have a to-do list as long as my arm for when I get there. And the end of the year is hurtling down upon me with unseemly speed.
More anon.
Grabbed something to eat, and then sat in the bar over a glass of cider with a friend, trying to connnect with another fried with whom I'd crossed paths with earlier, briefly, but of whom I had now completely lost track. Didn't find Friend #2, but had a nice get-together with Friend #1. Then decided to take a break, came up to my room to kick my shoes off and write an update, before I sally forth again shortly into the fray.
One more panel tomorrow morning and then I have to find my way to the station by 2 PM to catch a train back home. Hopefully this time they will have loaded a full complement of fuel...
Tired,now. But energised, as always with cons. These things can be amazing elixirs for the soul. I will permit myself another half hour or so of down time and then I'll dive back into the fracas and see what else I can find going on.
I will report back on trains tomorrow. And then I'll be home. And I have a to-do list as long as my arm for when I get there. And the end of the year is hurtling down upon me with unseemly speed.
More anon.