Oddcon 2009 report
For all of you that have waited for my Oddcon report so patiently I thank you. This will be a long post, for the weekend was full of so many things I’m looking forward to sharing. Many of you who know me know I am the worst person in the world when in comes to names, so anyone I didn’t mention, I didn’t forget you, I just remember faces better then peoples names.
Friday
We got to oddcon around 5pm and found the hotel easily. With two kids in tow it took some time to get into our room and settled in, but we managed. I admit when I looked over the schedule I had a vague memory of there being children’s programming last year, but it seemed I had remembered wrong. I was really worried at this point that there’d be nothing for my 10 and 6 year old to do over the weekend.
It seems I had nothing to worry about. My son and his dad ended up in the LAN room playing Call of Duty. I admit I was not pleased at the idea of my 10 year old playing such a violent game, but both his dad and the teens in the room patiently taught the game and tactics to him, and it seems he is very good at the game. My son does fortunately have a very clear grasp of the difference between real life and game violence.
My daughter got to go swimming with dad (her fav!) and some of the adults and teans in the LAN area played rock band with her and she got 100% singing “eye of the tiger” (which I don’t think she’d ever heard before), so she was very happy. To be honest she was charming people all weekend, but I’m getting a tad ahead of myself.
My evening panel wasn’t until 10:30 so I wondered around peeking in at the dealer’s room and seeing if there was anyone I knew at the con. One cool thing was that the fantasy LARP group I was part of years ago, IFGS, has a table there and I got to meet the new people who had revived the previously dead chapter. Very nice folks.
I was feeling mildly panicky, not just cause it was one more case of faking out my shyness, but because I had just found out the day before that Broad Universe wasn’t going to have a table to sell my book at and I wasn’t sure whether I’d be allowed to sell copies of Ancestral Magic myself. Luckily Janet and the other Oddcon staff were very nice about letting me just sell the books when I needed to so it all worked out.
The 10:30 panel, Crossing Cultures, was interesting. I was joined on the panel by TOR editor Jim Frenkel, Sean T. Stiennon, and the GOH Patrick Rothfuss. Mostly folks talked about full world building as pertaining to culture, but I did talk a bit about my own work and how I mix people from various human cultures within the culture of the Conclave or the Clan, without any loosing their ancestral cultural identity within the mixed community. I hope I explained it right…it was very late and I was tired.
Through the day I did check in with my author chat at the Henderson Files and the contest at Women and Words (the contest for a free copy of Ancestral Magic can still be entered until the end of the week). No one showed at the author chat (pout), but I had some very nice comments on the contest post.
Saturday
We had a great buffet style breakfast the next morning, but I faced the same issue in the hotel restaurant that I did in the con suite, limited veganish options. The Consuite had at least one vegan dish, but the cabbage in it made it unpalatable to be (it smelled ready good) For breakfast I went for the waffles figuring the baked in milk and egg would bother my stomach less then the scrambled eggs next to it. In the end I didn’t get sick so that and the oatmeal seemed to have been the best choice.
The morning was pretty easy going. I hung out taking with the IFGS people some more and my kids even got to play in a demo game. They LOVED it. I was told they were on the only team that figured out all the clues, so I guess being raised by gamers paid off. I’d thought at first only my son would be able to play because he is older, but I learned my 6 year old will be able to play in games too long as I sign the injury release. So, looks like the whole family will get to play which is cool.
I went to a panel on Networking at Conventions with Patrick Rothfuss (very personable guy, reminded me a bit of Adrian the way he thought about things and how expressive he was. I could see the two of them getting along very well and getting into all kinds of trouble together…scary), Nayad Monroe (super nice lady, even came and got a copy of AM without having to fall prey to bipagan 's magical pimpage), (Jim Frenkel was schedule, but since as a spec fic editor he likely is not trained in bilocation, he had to be at the other panel he was scheduled for), Lisa Freitag (co-owner of Dreamhaven bookstore), and filling in for Jim Frenkel was I believe Jim Nichols (told you I suck at names).
I learned a TON in this discussion. One, that I’m doing okay in the mild pimpage techniques I’ve been doing and don’t need to push myself in that way like many author tell me I must to give my careers any chance of success. Also that being myself is okay, as long as I am totally authentic in the way I present myself, and that I keep my one tell tale recognizable symbol…my Stetson. Cool, I get to keep the hat :)
I signed up for both sessions of book signings just to give myself the best chance, and after a wee bit of confusion I was set up and hopeful that someone would want to come buy my book. It was intimidating to see the line of folks waiting to have book signed by Patrick Rothfuss, and then later by Emma Bull, but I am hopeful to one day have a line like that for my books. I was worried since the reading wasn’t until 4pm…after the signing…that no one was coming to buy my books. Thanks to my friend bipagan who lured friends in with promises of lesbian sex I sold around ten copies. I also had many great conversations with the other authors and several of the security folk which help immensely to pass the time.
The Broad Universe Rapid-fire reading didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I was so used to reading the set up lesbian romance flavored excerpts it didn’t occur to me until far too late that I should’ve picked excepts with more of a spec fic flavor to them. Now I know better for next time. The paranormal bits come much later in the book I wonder which will work well without giving too much away.
I did get stolen away by bipagan to eat at my first Indian restaurant. I had curry a couple years ago and hated it…it seems that has changed. The curry and rise I had was super nummy. I could see eating mild curry dishes more often.
The rest of the evening was some fun conversations and far too much chasing of the demonlass, but if all goes well we look like we might have a young lady to help us in the kidlet chasing next year. I did got to the Music and Writing panel Adrian was in with Jim Nichols, Richard Chwedyk, and Fred Schepartz (Justin Enright wasn’t able to make it I hear). It was an interesting panel, and we talked a bit about those of us who listen to music while writing, and those who need the music to prime up our creative pump before writing, or both.
Sunday
The kids are sad today. My son says if he could have three wishes he’d wish his friend were at Oddcon, that Oddcon lasted forever, and that… he had pie. My kid is soooo weird. I promised them we’ll come next year and that seem to cheer them up. Oatmeal and toast today, nothing but eggs and meat at the buffet. One lass pass by the pool with no working hot tub (the Jacuzzi was busted this weekend, my only complaint about the hotel stay) and off to my next panel while Adrian load the stuff in the van and my daughter spend the day with her Nana.
People and Animals was the 10 am panel. To some the time seemed early, but to me who is used to being up no later than 6am most days and panel blocks starting at 8 am, it seemed a sleepy start. On the panel with me was Lori Devoti (who read her coming book Amazon Ink at the rapid fire reading yesterday... I must have that book when it comes out), Jim Frenkel, Will Shetterly, and Chris Welch (who was part of an anthology of cat stories called Catopolis that I must have as well).
We talked about lots of interesting stuff like why people are more saddened by the death of an animal in a book than a person, and how having an animal companion can made the protag of a story seem more likable. My favorite conversation was about the usefulness of the tricksters in tales and how so many non indigenous readers see them as villains rather than the agents of change they are. A book title came up that I must search out, one I’d heard of before but now bought for some stupid reason, “The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales” by Ellen Datlow.
A quick lunch in the Consuite (thanks to all the folks there who worked so hard to be sure there was some options for the veggie and vegan folks) and it was off to out last panel, Realistic Action. (yes I know, several people said I should have been in Sex & the Supernatural, but I’m not good at those cloning spells yet) People on the panel with me were Patrick Rothfuss, Alex Bledsoe, and Adrian Drake (gun expert and ex military combat instructor).
This panel was the most fun. We talked about how conflict, some force working against the protag in a physical way was a qualifier for something being action, not just the act of combat, and our pet peeves as far a pacing, lack of realism, etc… within most action scene in print and visual form. We talked about the tools we use to make our action scenes the best we can, and some books and movies that held our favorite action scenes in them.
After all was said and done Oddcon was a fabulous convention, especially for one of its size. As a mother and a writer, this convention was well worth my time, and I look forward to next year as does my family. By then I will have one, maybe even two more books out (Natural Order and Worlds Collide) and Adrian cyberpunk book, Null Void, will be out as well. We’re going to be soooooo busy. I’m also mulling over other local cons we might want to add to our family list like Think GalactiCon and Duckon (I might visit both alone this year to see how kid friendly they are).
Friday
We got to oddcon around 5pm and found the hotel easily. With two kids in tow it took some time to get into our room and settled in, but we managed. I admit when I looked over the schedule I had a vague memory of there being children’s programming last year, but it seemed I had remembered wrong. I was really worried at this point that there’d be nothing for my 10 and 6 year old to do over the weekend.
It seems I had nothing to worry about. My son and his dad ended up in the LAN room playing Call of Duty. I admit I was not pleased at the idea of my 10 year old playing such a violent game, but both his dad and the teens in the room patiently taught the game and tactics to him, and it seems he is very good at the game. My son does fortunately have a very clear grasp of the difference between real life and game violence.
My daughter got to go swimming with dad (her fav!) and some of the adults and teans in the LAN area played rock band with her and she got 100% singing “eye of the tiger” (which I don’t think she’d ever heard before), so she was very happy. To be honest she was charming people all weekend, but I’m getting a tad ahead of myself.
My evening panel wasn’t until 10:30 so I wondered around peeking in at the dealer’s room and seeing if there was anyone I knew at the con. One cool thing was that the fantasy LARP group I was part of years ago, IFGS, has a table there and I got to meet the new people who had revived the previously dead chapter. Very nice folks.
I was feeling mildly panicky, not just cause it was one more case of faking out my shyness, but because I had just found out the day before that Broad Universe wasn’t going to have a table to sell my book at and I wasn’t sure whether I’d be allowed to sell copies of Ancestral Magic myself. Luckily Janet and the other Oddcon staff were very nice about letting me just sell the books when I needed to so it all worked out.
The 10:30 panel, Crossing Cultures, was interesting. I was joined on the panel by TOR editor Jim Frenkel, Sean T. Stiennon, and the GOH Patrick Rothfuss. Mostly folks talked about full world building as pertaining to culture, but I did talk a bit about my own work and how I mix people from various human cultures within the culture of the Conclave or the Clan, without any loosing their ancestral cultural identity within the mixed community. I hope I explained it right…it was very late and I was tired.
Through the day I did check in with my author chat at the Henderson Files and the contest at Women and Words (the contest for a free copy of Ancestral Magic can still be entered until the end of the week). No one showed at the author chat (pout), but I had some very nice comments on the contest post.
Saturday
We had a great buffet style breakfast the next morning, but I faced the same issue in the hotel restaurant that I did in the con suite, limited veganish options. The Consuite had at least one vegan dish, but the cabbage in it made it unpalatable to be (it smelled ready good) For breakfast I went for the waffles figuring the baked in milk and egg would bother my stomach less then the scrambled eggs next to it. In the end I didn’t get sick so that and the oatmeal seemed to have been the best choice.
The morning was pretty easy going. I hung out taking with the IFGS people some more and my kids even got to play in a demo game. They LOVED it. I was told they were on the only team that figured out all the clues, so I guess being raised by gamers paid off. I’d thought at first only my son would be able to play because he is older, but I learned my 6 year old will be able to play in games too long as I sign the injury release. So, looks like the whole family will get to play which is cool.
I went to a panel on Networking at Conventions with Patrick Rothfuss (very personable guy, reminded me a bit of Adrian the way he thought about things and how expressive he was. I could see the two of them getting along very well and getting into all kinds of trouble together…scary), Nayad Monroe (super nice lady, even came and got a copy of AM without having to fall prey to bipagan 's magical pimpage), (Jim Frenkel was schedule, but since as a spec fic editor he likely is not trained in bilocation, he had to be at the other panel he was scheduled for), Lisa Freitag (co-owner of Dreamhaven bookstore), and filling in for Jim Frenkel was I believe Jim Nichols (told you I suck at names).
I learned a TON in this discussion. One, that I’m doing okay in the mild pimpage techniques I’ve been doing and don’t need to push myself in that way like many author tell me I must to give my careers any chance of success. Also that being myself is okay, as long as I am totally authentic in the way I present myself, and that I keep my one tell tale recognizable symbol…my Stetson. Cool, I get to keep the hat :)
I signed up for both sessions of book signings just to give myself the best chance, and after a wee bit of confusion I was set up and hopeful that someone would want to come buy my book. It was intimidating to see the line of folks waiting to have book signed by Patrick Rothfuss, and then later by Emma Bull, but I am hopeful to one day have a line like that for my books. I was worried since the reading wasn’t until 4pm…after the signing…that no one was coming to buy my books. Thanks to my friend bipagan who lured friends in with promises of lesbian sex I sold around ten copies. I also had many great conversations with the other authors and several of the security folk which help immensely to pass the time.
The Broad Universe Rapid-fire reading didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. I was so used to reading the set up lesbian romance flavored excerpts it didn’t occur to me until far too late that I should’ve picked excepts with more of a spec fic flavor to them. Now I know better for next time. The paranormal bits come much later in the book I wonder which will work well without giving too much away.
I did get stolen away by bipagan to eat at my first Indian restaurant. I had curry a couple years ago and hated it…it seems that has changed. The curry and rise I had was super nummy. I could see eating mild curry dishes more often.
The rest of the evening was some fun conversations and far too much chasing of the demonlass, but if all goes well we look like we might have a young lady to help us in the kidlet chasing next year. I did got to the Music and Writing panel Adrian was in with Jim Nichols, Richard Chwedyk, and Fred Schepartz (Justin Enright wasn’t able to make it I hear). It was an interesting panel, and we talked a bit about those of us who listen to music while writing, and those who need the music to prime up our creative pump before writing, or both.
Sunday
The kids are sad today. My son says if he could have three wishes he’d wish his friend were at Oddcon, that Oddcon lasted forever, and that… he had pie. My kid is soooo weird. I promised them we’ll come next year and that seem to cheer them up. Oatmeal and toast today, nothing but eggs and meat at the buffet. One lass pass by the pool with no working hot tub (the Jacuzzi was busted this weekend, my only complaint about the hotel stay) and off to my next panel while Adrian load the stuff in the van and my daughter spend the day with her Nana.
People and Animals was the 10 am panel. To some the time seemed early, but to me who is used to being up no later than 6am most days and panel blocks starting at 8 am, it seemed a sleepy start. On the panel with me was Lori Devoti (who read her coming book Amazon Ink at the rapid fire reading yesterday... I must have that book when it comes out), Jim Frenkel, Will Shetterly, and Chris Welch (who was part of an anthology of cat stories called Catopolis that I must have as well).
We talked about lots of interesting stuff like why people are more saddened by the death of an animal in a book than a person, and how having an animal companion can made the protag of a story seem more likable. My favorite conversation was about the usefulness of the tricksters in tales and how so many non indigenous readers see them as villains rather than the agents of change they are. A book title came up that I must search out, one I’d heard of before but now bought for some stupid reason, “The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales” by Ellen Datlow.
A quick lunch in the Consuite (thanks to all the folks there who worked so hard to be sure there was some options for the veggie and vegan folks) and it was off to out last panel, Realistic Action. (yes I know, several people said I should have been in Sex & the Supernatural, but I’m not good at those cloning spells yet) People on the panel with me were Patrick Rothfuss, Alex Bledsoe, and Adrian Drake (gun expert and ex military combat instructor).
This panel was the most fun. We talked about how conflict, some force working against the protag in a physical way was a qualifier for something being action, not just the act of combat, and our pet peeves as far a pacing, lack of realism, etc… within most action scene in print and visual form. We talked about the tools we use to make our action scenes the best we can, and some books and movies that held our favorite action scenes in them.
After all was said and done Oddcon was a fabulous convention, especially for one of its size. As a mother and a writer, this convention was well worth my time, and I look forward to next year as does my family. By then I will have one, maybe even two more books out (Natural Order and Worlds Collide) and Adrian cyberpunk book, Null Void, will be out as well. We’re going to be soooooo busy. I’m also mulling over other local cons we might want to add to our family list like Think GalactiCon and Duckon (I might visit both alone this year to see how kid friendly they are).