Untitled Writers' Group

Lisa's Belated Penguicon Post

Joe and I arrived at Penguicon on Saturday around noon. We found Sarah and Steven in the restaurant, and we joined them for a late-ish lunch. We visited with John and Erica in the dealer's room, where John was running the Underworld's booth. It had been a busy day for the Underworld, both in sales and in thefts. (Shoplifting was rampant, I regret to report.) I bought my friend Liz an amber pendant she had been staring at: a three-leaf clove with one leaf each of yellow, orange, and green amber.

Guys with red air guns surprised us in the hallways. I didn't know what these large red gun-like things were, and I thought for certain that I was about to get shot with a soft styrofoam ball or something of the sort, so I was much surprised when the bullet turned out to be a blast of air. I had to try it out myself, and I gave our friend Tracy, just passing in the hallway, a blast of air. Joe speculated on how our cats would react to an air gun, and we decided that while the results would be highly amusing to us, the cats would be far less amused.

Erica and I went up to their room and had a good time hanging out. Jack was well behaved — saving it up, we later learned, for that night, much to John's distress. Since Erica had watched Jack all day, she left him in John's care for the evening. We picked up Joe in the lobby. Liz was there, and I gifted her with the pendant. Then Erica, Joe, and I went to Everest Express, the "first true Nepalese restaurant in the US." If you're looking for a "quick bite," this is NOT the place to go. Be prepared to enjoy a leisurely dinner in the true sense of the word. Everything is cooked fresh, so courses can take some time. Buddhist and Hindu items cover the walls and hang from the ceilings, and black lights lend a mysterious air and make an otherwise small, plain space very intimate and atmospheric.

(food porn, room parties, and comic books follow)

Penguicon 2.0 — Sarah Zettel

Penguicon is a new and unique area gathering. It's part SF con, part Linux con. This year the guest of honor was Neil Gaiman.

My darling husband agreed to mind the Sweet Pea this weekend, and off I went to exotic Novi, MI all of a Saturday morning.

It was a quick con, so events got a little blurry, so I won't try this in order. I had four panels on Saturday,counting the autographing. We started with Do stories have gender? at 11:00, which apparently was suggested by a Neil Gaiman essay where he (in his words) "attempted" to discuss his feeling that some of his stories in particular felt masculine while others felt feminine. 'Cause Neil was there, the thing was well attended and the discussion went well although I admit, I did go off on a couple of soap box issues. I have a deep dislike of people describing anything that feels "feminine" as "mysterious." I'm NOT a mystery, d*mn it! I'm at least as comprehensible as you are, and given the folks in that room, I was probably a darn sight more comprehensible than some of them.

GenreCon, Saturday, May 1st

GenreCon gathers together local writers from Michigan and Ontario and brings them together for a one-day literary event that is free to all participants.

Panels cover a wide range of topics such as how to get published, how genre fiction fits into literature as a whole, whether authors should go for style or just try to tell a good story, and how to create good stories, setting and characters, as well as readings by authors, book signings and sales and short films.

Authors currently attending: Lou Allin, R Scott Bakker, Rick Bletcha, Eric Choi, Dennis Collins, Peter Halasz, Marcy Italiano, Sandra Kasturi, Gord Rollo, Brett Alexander Savory, Mark Terry.

Update 4/30/2004: Sarah Zettel had to cancel.

The details:
What: GenreCon, a one-day FREE literary convention

Where: Sarnia Library, 24 Christina Street, Sarnia, ON N7T 2M6, Canada

Registration: call the Reference Department at (519) 337-3291

Cost: Yes, the event is free, but seating is limited so please call to reserve a spot.

Penguicon 2.0, April 16-18

Penguicon 2.0 — Michigan's first and only combined Linux/Open Source and SF convention. Attend Linux and Open Source training sessions on Friday, then party Friday night through Sunday. Meet the GoHs: Neil Gaiman, Wil Wheaton, Jeff "Hemos" Bates (slashdot founder), Steve Jackson, Jon "Maddog" Hall, as well as many other nifty people in the SF and Linux communities. Whether it's computers, SF literature or media, gaming, science, or the arts, Penguicon offers something for everyone. What more can you ask for?

Plus, a change from last year: Penguicon will offer a day pass for $25, sold at the convention.

MYTHCON Comes to Ann Arbor by Lisa

Neil Gaiman fans, get your fix at Mythcon XXXV!

The Mythopoeic Society is bringing Mythcon, their anual conference devoted to mythopoeic scholarship, to Ann Arbor this summer, and Neil Gaiman is one of their guests of honor.

Sarah Zettel at I-CON 23

This weekend you can meet and chat with Sarah Zettel at I-CON 23 SF Convention at SUNY, Stony Brook, New York. She is one of several special guest authors there to participate on panels, do readings and signings, and have a general good time hanging out with fellow writers and fans.

I-CON 23 is the Northeast's largest SF&F convention with some more than 6,000 attendees! (That's about the size of a World Con!) Their offerings are both wide and deep, covering all facets of science fiction and fantasy, covering aime, books, media, gaming, science and technology, and so forth.

Zelazny's Amber Lives On at Ambercons by Lisa

This weekend is the 15th anual Ambercon US, the original role playing game convention devoted to roleplaying in Roger Zelazny's Amber universe. Love 'em or hate 'em, the Amber books have had tremendous effect on both science fiction literature and role playing games.

While it's too late to get into this Ambercon, there are a number of other Ambercons held throughout the year, including conventions in Canada, the UK, and Italy!

Penguicon--Steven Harper Piziks

My preliminary schedule for Penguicon is:

Fri 1800 -- Kill Wesley (with Wil Wheaton). I hope Wil has a sense of humor. On the other hand, it'll be in a room full of people who definitely won't be there to see me, so I have the feeling I'll need the sense of humor.

Fri 2100 -- Reading. Fortunately I'm not scheduled opposite anyone more famous than I am.

Sat 1100 -- Gender of SF (with Neil Gaiman). SF has a gender?

Sat 1400 -- Signing (with Wil Wheaton, Neil Gaiman, and numerous other people). This will probably be an exercise in humility. "Hey, guys--I know you want Wil's and Neil's autographs, but I've written some pretty cool books, too. Guys? Um, hello . . . ?"

Sat 1900 -- Humanity 2.0 (with Comrade Sarah). I have the feeling this one's going to turn into our famous nature vs. nurture discussion.

Sun 1000 -- Keeping Up in Science and Tech (with some people I don't know). I'll be in the "I can't" camp.

Sun 1300 -- I Loved It When. . . The =good= stuff about Star Trek. No criticism allowed!

http://www.penguicon.org/

--Steven

Sarah Zettel -- ConFusion At Last

Okay, I tried to do this a few days ago, and then pushed the wrong button and deleted the entire con summary. This made me pissy, and I haven't been able to make myself do it again until now.

I do this sort of thing about once per book, and go through the exact same process, except there are generally tears and swearing involved.

And yes, before you say it I DO BACK UP. Sometimes it doesn't help.

Anyway.

Friday was a weather nightmare. Snow and ice. It took us 4 hours, counting the dinner break to make a 40 minute drive, and included several of what felt to me like serious skids. With Alexander in the back. NOT FUN.

But we did get to the hotel in one piece and checked in just fine. Alexander was not, however, willing to go to sleep. I left him with his father (bless his heart), and went to my 10 pm panel, "Where did the future go?" which was supposed to be a discussion about whether SF was using more contemporary settings than it used to.

It was not a great panel. Our answer was "no," and we were all tired and frazzeled, so it was pretty laborious to keep the conversation going. I slumped back up to the room and fell into bed.

Alexander woke up at six the next morning. This was expected. Fortunately, the hotel had the HBO family channel and this kept him entertained while the parents also managed to wake up, shower, etc. We had breakfast in the hotel restauraunt, which was a bit expensive but excellent quality. We met up with our friends Robin and Sylvia there and had a nice conversation in between feeding Alexander and ourselves.

After that, Tim took charge of The Toddler (who was on his safety harness for the first time and loving it. Freedom! Hallways! Stairs! High Speed! Let's go!) and I got to see the dealer's room and art show, and then go to lunch with Ye Editore.

Lisa Leutheuser — ConFusion Ends on Sunday

Sunday was wide-open. I wandered down through the empty lobby to ops at the early hour of 9am and was accused of being a DERF — Dreaded Early Rising Fan. Karen Roe and I discussed voting regulations and primary elections. Later, Joe and I enjoyed the breakfast buffet with friends Cindy and Knut, with Sarah joining us for a spot of morning tea. Joe and I then spent our share in the Deadler's Room. No, I did not buy the Anakin watch. While Joe was paying for his books, I started reading Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, and when I realized that I didn't want to put the book down, I added it to the pile.

I dropped in on the end of the Cliche Paragraph Competition panel. No one had brought paragraphs of their own for the competition, so the panelists and audience members wrote paragraphs on the spot. Read Steven's post from January 26 for their creative efforts. (Read it ALOUD with feeling. It's funnier that way.)