Finncon 2012
Final Destiny: Next Summer, when you come to the Finncon, do you want everybody to look like this?
I had a great time before, during, and after this year's Finncon.
Instructions on where to go... :D
I was asked if I would be interested in acting as Lois McMaster Bujold's host while she was in Helsinki before the con. I bet you can guess my answer... :D
She arrived in Finland on Tuesday morning, and I and sassiefin met her at the airport. We walked around Helsinki centre (Esplanadi, Market Square, Uspenski Cathedral) for a while, and later had a dinner together. On Wednesday we visited the National Museum, and after a bit of rest had a dinner cruise around the archipelago where Liz Williams, her partner, Cheryl Morgan, and various other people also joined the party.
I rested on Thursday, when the guests had a Press Conference and the Tampere people moved the guests to Tampere, where the con was held.
I took the bus to Tampere on Friday in time to hear Liz & Lois talk about their writing process. Liz has a laptop in her magic store in Glastonbury and occasionally gets so caught up in writing that she doesn't notice customers at all :)
Lois said that her process has stayed pretty much the same since the beginning. She works on a scene/chapter basis: she gets images & conversations in her head that she writes down, and after they reach a certain saturation point, she starts writing the first draft by hand. She also sends these single chapters to certain trusted people for comments while continuing with the next chapter.
After that I watched the Sherlock Holmes panel, but wasn't that impressed. I think the chairperson dominated the panel a bit too much and a couple of the panelists didn't really have that much to say in it.
The pre-con party on Friday at O'Connell's was fun, since I got to meet a lot of old friends and had some fun discussions with various people.
On Saturday I got to the con in time for the Finnish GoH, long-time fan active, Irma Hirsjärvi's GoH speech. She talked about Leena Peltonen, whom I never really met, and about her import in making the Finnish SF fandom so welcome to female fen.
Ipa
I also attended Lois McMaster Bujold's GoH speech and Liz Williams's kaffeeklatch before going back to the hotel to rest a bit before the evening party. Fun thing about this year's con is that this is the most time I've talked in Swedish for YEARS :D.
Lois GoH speech
I often talk with some of the Swedish fans, and this time also with one of the Finnish-Swedish fans. A close friend of mine is fluent in Swedish, and I understand Swedish quite fine, but am a bit stumbling, seeking-the-words, etc. when I try to talk it myself. Still, I'm quite proud how well I managed this year!
I left the evening party on Saturday fairly early (before midnight), since I had two panels on Sunday. The first was called "YA Revolution" and we talked about how certain hit books can dominate the genre, how hope is extremely important for YA books, etc.
My second panel was after Lois's GoH panel, called "Gone But Not Forgotten". We had about 8 people in the audience, 2 of whom were husbands of the panelists XD. Still, we did manage to have a nice discussion on authors who had passed away last year, or a bit before that: Ray Bradbury, John Christopher, Anne McCaffrey, and Diana Wynne Jones.
Linnéa Anglemark talks with Lois & Liz about writing mystery within the SF genre.
The Dead Dog Party was held at a sauna by a lake. It was another nice opportunity to talk with various fandom acquaintances and also with Lois. Lois was also giving away some books. I missed the opportunity to pick up an ARC of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, but grabbed a copy of Young Miles instead, since my copies of The Vor Game and Warrior's Apprentice are starting to look quite worn... (And I already have the eARC of the Ivan book)
On Monday, I left Tampere fairly early in order to get back to Helsinki early enough to visit my apt before going to the Railway Station to welcome Liz & Lois back to Helsinki.
I accompanied Liz for an interview and sini74 took Lois around town. We met later in the evening for a dinner together with Liz, T, Lois, sini74, and some other fandom people, and a good time was had by all.
I had an awesome time in Finncon and was really glad of the opportunity to meet the GoHs. Liz, T, and Lois were all lovely people and it was a great pleasure meeting them. (I also got my books signed by both of them :D)