I went to Worldcon and all I got was... tons of freebies and talked to some awesome people...
So, the World Science Fiction Convention is in London this year! And so I blew my last money on getting tickets so that Dan and I could attend, but it was completely worth it! I've had the best time at Loncon 3 and it's only the first day. It's much more relaxed and mature and much less commercial than the London Film and Comic Con, and it's all about the writers and artists, not actors and merchandise.
I went to a fascinating Speculative Biology talk by some scientists, artists and authors, that discussed scientifically plausible fictional creatures, such as alien plants, animals and humanoids. I chatted to a mathematician and a space scientist from a non-profit "space university" that has a Masters program and links to NASA. I listened to a guy singing a song about how rubbish the Hobbit movie was (I thought it was ok, but anyway) and I watched an obscure 1960s British science fiction tv show. I chatted to people from all over the world and everyone was incredibly friendly. I scored free books!!!!!! and chocolates! And the absolute highlight of my day was talking to this incredibly cool, interesting guy, who is Vice-President of the Heinlein Society in the US and is an engineer/theoretical physicist that wrote about a microwave death ray for his PhD thesis, worked in engineering for 30 years, has several patents, and has incredibly funny stories about famous writers including Isaac Asimov (who he met in the 70s at another sci-fi con, and was apparently a bit of a dirty old man!) and Robert Silverberg (who likes a really hot chilli), Marion Zimmer Bradley (who apparently couldn't handle her chilli) and Harlan Ellison (who loves chilli so much that even after eating a huge meal, he scarfed down so much of this guy's chilli that he had to undo his trouser buttons!). The guy is called Keith Kato, and apparently he has a cameo as someone who dies in the first chapter of a book by David Brin... from a microwave death ray. He also had amazing stories about Feynman and Freeman Dyson - two incredibly famous physicists. Unbelievable. If I don't do anything else this con, just talking to him will have been worth it. There's so much to do every day though, that I don't think I'll be able to do even half of the things I want to do!
I've also just been contacted today by an online magazine, ISpectrum, that says they will let me write for them (for free of course) how amazing! So I'm going to see if I can get a press pass for the rest of the convention.
I should be asleep, because I have to be there at 9am tomorrow, and it takes 1 hour to get to the Excel Centre from my house... but I'm just too excited. Must try though. Must try. Or I won't be able to meet Pat Cadigan, the cyberpunk writer. :)
I went to a fascinating Speculative Biology talk by some scientists, artists and authors, that discussed scientifically plausible fictional creatures, such as alien plants, animals and humanoids. I chatted to a mathematician and a space scientist from a non-profit "space university" that has a Masters program and links to NASA. I listened to a guy singing a song about how rubbish the Hobbit movie was (I thought it was ok, but anyway) and I watched an obscure 1960s British science fiction tv show. I chatted to people from all over the world and everyone was incredibly friendly. I scored free books!!!!!! and chocolates! And the absolute highlight of my day was talking to this incredibly cool, interesting guy, who is Vice-President of the Heinlein Society in the US and is an engineer/theoretical physicist that wrote about a microwave death ray for his PhD thesis, worked in engineering for 30 years, has several patents, and has incredibly funny stories about famous writers including Isaac Asimov (who he met in the 70s at another sci-fi con, and was apparently a bit of a dirty old man!) and Robert Silverberg (who likes a really hot chilli), Marion Zimmer Bradley (who apparently couldn't handle her chilli) and Harlan Ellison (who loves chilli so much that even after eating a huge meal, he scarfed down so much of this guy's chilli that he had to undo his trouser buttons!). The guy is called Keith Kato, and apparently he has a cameo as someone who dies in the first chapter of a book by David Brin... from a microwave death ray. He also had amazing stories about Feynman and Freeman Dyson - two incredibly famous physicists. Unbelievable. If I don't do anything else this con, just talking to him will have been worth it. There's so much to do every day though, that I don't think I'll be able to do even half of the things I want to do!
I've also just been contacted today by an online magazine, ISpectrum, that says they will let me write for them (for free of course) how amazing! So I'm going to see if I can get a press pass for the rest of the convention.
I should be asleep, because I have to be there at 9am tomorrow, and it takes 1 hour to get to the Excel Centre from my house... but I'm just too excited. Must try though. Must try. Or I won't be able to meet Pat Cadigan, the cyberpunk writer. :)