4th Street Diaries, Day 2
The problem with doing a con report is that the better the con, the less time and energy you have to document it.
Saturday: Having alternated beds and had another fine sleep, I started with a brief stop in the breakfast area, then off to panels.
"Politics, Complexity, and Fantasy" was a topic near to my heart, systems of governance and grand political issues and how do you work all that into an entertaining narrative, anyway? Fantasy tends a lot toward divine-right kings, but someone (I wish I could remember who) pointed out there's historical support for that: England got rid of Charles, and 10 years later got themselves a new king; France had their revolution and within 10 years had Napoleon; Russia didn't go back to monarchy, partly because they had the ideology of Communism to replace it but also because there weren't any replace royals available because they'd killed them all. Book recommendations include The Essence of Decision, an examination of the Cuban missile crisis via decision theory.
Oh, yeah: the 4th Street 2012 book list is up at https://sites.google.com/site/4thstreet2012/.
"Teens, Work, and Fantasy" started out wondering how modern-day "helicopter parenting" (i.e., they hover constantly) affects teens in modern fantasy, both as characters and as readers. It went on to discuss how stories often start with the parents killed off or otherwise removed, because you're not having an adventure if your mother's along. (I think that was Klages?) And then there was much discussion of what the role of what we call teenagers actually was in the medieval world, how the 10-13 year old's primary relationship was generally not bio-family but foster family or guild, and how apprentices, far from being exploited near-slaves, were generally making real contributions both to their master's well-being and therefore directly to their own security.
Lunch this day was with a group of mostly young newcomers, who were looking for people to eat with and mentioned Indian food within my hearing. ;-)
"Get Your Reality Out of My Fantasy", although inspired by a comment used to silence the sort of people who nitpick the science of TV shows and won't ever stop, was an enthusiastic discussion of grim-dark fantasy, the place of bodily functions in fiction, research good & bad, and the merits both of putting that sort of thing in and of not doing so. (Conclusion: either is fine, it just depends on what sort of story you're trying to write and what that particular reader is in the mood for.)
The guerrilla auction continued, this time with a hat-pass to buy a lovely hand-knitted silk shawl (completed during an earlier panel) for Janet (one of the con chairs and an all-around lovely person). True to 4th Street, it was presented both as a way to do something nice for a person who works her backside off for the con and an opportunity for people who maybe couldn't afford to compete for the other auction items to still contribute, even if they could only spare a dollar.
"Accessibility, Genre, and Depth" considered how to make SF/Fantasy accessible to readers new to the genre, without boring readers who've been at it for decades and while still continuing in conversation with decades of older works. Old Warner Brothers cartoons were brought up as a good example, in the way that they had gags for kids and simultaneously more sophisticated jokes for adults.
"Collaborations and Shared Worlds" was a less cohesive panel than I think the topic suggester may have envisioned, because the panel's collective view was that they are very different things. The major conclusion about collaboration was, not surprisingly, that if you can play well with others, at least within a predetermined frame of reference, it can produce a book that neither could have written alone, and if you can't play well with others, don't collaborate -- and that's fine too, as long as you're clear about it up front.
Dinner was grazing in the con suite again, because once again I was still mostly full from lunch. The con suite wasn't quite as overwhelming as last year, largely, as I understand it, because this hotel didn't have a restaurant, which limited the prep options. But it was still well-stocked with fruit and protein as well as the usual salty & sweet snacks and beverages, and if one wanted something that wasn't there, one had only to ask.
I am delighted to report that the cookies I'd made went over very well indeed. I heard a lot of comments about them, and even saw a couple people taking pictures. (Squee.)
"Families, Festivals, and Fireworks", the traditional 3F panel, discussed celebrations, family customs, and so forth. One note was that family festivals or gatherings in real life always include some symbolic food from wherever the family came from, or that Grandma always made -- even if nobody will eat it.
One thing that had been disappointing about the con so far was that it seemed less open to new faces than the previous year. Last year, I was blown away by how, every time somebody walked up to a conversational group and looked the least bit interested, the circle immediately opened up and included them. It's not that that wasn't happening this year, because it was, but it wasn't happening as consistently.
But happily, I found a small cluster of history and research geeks in the back of the room as the music circle was getting started, and stayed up til 1:00 am talking book recommendations and research goodies. This is what I'm in fandom for. (Book recommendations include Medici Money, good economic theory; A Perfect Red, an economic history of red dye (with spies!), and Day of Empires by Amy Chua, with good Mongol stuff. And I got to pitch Kilcullen's The Accidental Guerrilla to a very receptive audience!)
Saturday: Having alternated beds and had another fine sleep, I started with a brief stop in the breakfast area, then off to panels.
"Politics, Complexity, and Fantasy" was a topic near to my heart, systems of governance and grand political issues and how do you work all that into an entertaining narrative, anyway? Fantasy tends a lot toward divine-right kings, but someone (I wish I could remember who) pointed out there's historical support for that: England got rid of Charles, and 10 years later got themselves a new king; France had their revolution and within 10 years had Napoleon; Russia didn't go back to monarchy, partly because they had the ideology of Communism to replace it but also because there weren't any replace royals available because they'd killed them all. Book recommendations include The Essence of Decision, an examination of the Cuban missile crisis via decision theory.
Oh, yeah: the 4th Street 2012 book list is up at https://sites.google.com/site/4thstreet2012/.
"Teens, Work, and Fantasy" started out wondering how modern-day "helicopter parenting" (i.e., they hover constantly) affects teens in modern fantasy, both as characters and as readers. It went on to discuss how stories often start with the parents killed off or otherwise removed, because you're not having an adventure if your mother's along. (I think that was Klages?) And then there was much discussion of what the role of what we call teenagers actually was in the medieval world, how the 10-13 year old's primary relationship was generally not bio-family but foster family or guild, and how apprentices, far from being exploited near-slaves, were generally making real contributions both to their master's well-being and therefore directly to their own security.
Lunch this day was with a group of mostly young newcomers, who were looking for people to eat with and mentioned Indian food within my hearing. ;-)
"Get Your Reality Out of My Fantasy", although inspired by a comment used to silence the sort of people who nitpick the science of TV shows and won't ever stop, was an enthusiastic discussion of grim-dark fantasy, the place of bodily functions in fiction, research good & bad, and the merits both of putting that sort of thing in and of not doing so. (Conclusion: either is fine, it just depends on what sort of story you're trying to write and what that particular reader is in the mood for.)
The guerrilla auction continued, this time with a hat-pass to buy a lovely hand-knitted silk shawl (completed during an earlier panel) for Janet (one of the con chairs and an all-around lovely person). True to 4th Street, it was presented both as a way to do something nice for a person who works her backside off for the con and an opportunity for people who maybe couldn't afford to compete for the other auction items to still contribute, even if they could only spare a dollar.
"Accessibility, Genre, and Depth" considered how to make SF/Fantasy accessible to readers new to the genre, without boring readers who've been at it for decades and while still continuing in conversation with decades of older works. Old Warner Brothers cartoons were brought up as a good example, in the way that they had gags for kids and simultaneously more sophisticated jokes for adults.
"Collaborations and Shared Worlds" was a less cohesive panel than I think the topic suggester may have envisioned, because the panel's collective view was that they are very different things. The major conclusion about collaboration was, not surprisingly, that if you can play well with others, at least within a predetermined frame of reference, it can produce a book that neither could have written alone, and if you can't play well with others, don't collaborate -- and that's fine too, as long as you're clear about it up front.
Dinner was grazing in the con suite again, because once again I was still mostly full from lunch. The con suite wasn't quite as overwhelming as last year, largely, as I understand it, because this hotel didn't have a restaurant, which limited the prep options. But it was still well-stocked with fruit and protein as well as the usual salty & sweet snacks and beverages, and if one wanted something that wasn't there, one had only to ask.
I am delighted to report that the cookies I'd made went over very well indeed. I heard a lot of comments about them, and even saw a couple people taking pictures. (Squee.)
"Families, Festivals, and Fireworks", the traditional 3F panel, discussed celebrations, family customs, and so forth. One note was that family festivals or gatherings in real life always include some symbolic food from wherever the family came from, or that Grandma always made -- even if nobody will eat it.
One thing that had been disappointing about the con so far was that it seemed less open to new faces than the previous year. Last year, I was blown away by how, every time somebody walked up to a conversational group and looked the least bit interested, the circle immediately opened up and included them. It's not that that wasn't happening this year, because it was, but it wasn't happening as consistently.
But happily, I found a small cluster of history and research geeks in the back of the room as the music circle was getting started, and stayed up til 1:00 am talking book recommendations and research goodies. This is what I'm in fandom for. (Book recommendations include Medici Money, good economic theory; A Perfect Red, an economic history of red dye (with spies!), and Day of Empires by Amy Chua, with good Mongol stuff. And I got to pitch Kilcullen's The Accidental Guerrilla to a very receptive audience!)