Denvention: The Post

[jpskewedthrone]

But first a word from your slightly pissed off author: Worldcon in Australia is being held in SEPTEMBER?!?!? Who the hell made this decision!!! I'm pissed because I want to go but was assuming that it would be held at the beginning of August, as usual, because in August I'm not teaching and it would have been great, I could have gone and spent some time there both before and after the con, BUT NOW I'm not going to be able to go because I CAN'T TAKE A WEEK OR MORE OFF at the beginning of a school year! AAARRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!

My only hope is that somehow, between now and then, all of you make my books international bestsellers so that I don't have to have a day job and can stick my tongue out at the day job as I board the plane for Australia (and probably end up on the island in Lost, but that's a different story). So get cracking on that, will you?

And now back to our regularly scheduled post:

Denvention was a blast, as already stated. Here's the rundown.

Hit the plane Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Denver Tuesday night without mishap. Because I'm an idiot, I'd arrived a day before my actual hotel reservation, so I stayed with pbray and checked into my hotel on Wednesday. It was late (she'd turned the light off a moment before I arrived) so after chatting we both crashed.

Wednesday we woke and I experimented with oatmeal for breakfast. This proved disasterous, since I had to vacant my place in the HUGE line waiting to register to . . . um . . . take care of business, and thus put myself WAY behind Patricia. She managed to register, find con-ops and get her pro stuff, and generally locate everything of interest, before I'd even managed to find the front of the line. But eventually I got my pass from (or for) the asylum and was allowed to roam free. After a stop to pick up my pro material and ribbon myself, we hit the dealers room where I dropped off copies of my books in case the dealers ran out of their own copies (which they invariably do). Patricia had day job work to do, so we lunched and I grabbed my stuff and checked into my hotel. I had free internet access so screwed around online until Patricia and I could go get something to eat. We went to Rock Bottom, where I had spectacular chili.

Thursday I had a panel in the morning where published authors read from their juvenalia, stuff we'd written in high school (or earlier). Edward Willet had some great stuff, as well as Connie Willis and Sarah Hoyt. I couldn't find any of my early, early stuff, so read from the earliest stories I could find. Unfortunately, I'd apparently turned serious at an early writing-age, so my stuff was not a riotously funny or "bad" as the others. You could see the real story I was trying to tell hidden underneath the bad writing of what I'd read, but it was still fun to relive the stories and I pointed out that even though we all knew that the writing from back then was horrible, we still loved those stories and the nostalgia of the work we put into them and the fun we had writing them. After my panel, I met up with some of my family who lived in Denver and we went to the Wynkoop Brewery, where I had a buffalo burger. It was good. A different texture than hamburger, and certainly less fat. But family revelry was cut short because of the DAW Presentation. I got to see all of the DAW books coming out in the next year and plugged the release of Vacant Throne in paperback in January. (I did get to see the cover art for Stepsister Scheme, jimhines, although it might not have been the final version.) DAW gave away quite a few ARCs for free during the presentation, so I'd suggest people go if they have one at a future con. After that I met up with Patricia, jennifer_dunne, and Patricia's sister and we had dinner at an Italian place called Maggiano's or something like that. Good food. I had eggplant parm and couldn't finish it.

Friday I hit the dealers room to shop and managed to sell a few copies of my books while I was there using my superhero powers. I really need to just set up shop at the new book dealer's tables. I'd probably be a bestseller already. But I couldn't stay because I had to attend one of Patricia's panels. I hadn't intended to eat anything for lunch that day, but got some chili with Patricia before changing clothes so I could meet with a prospective agent. That didn't go as well as I'd hoped (although it wasn't a disaster), but I didn't get to dwell on it long because I had another panel on "Using Myths to Kick-off a Fantasy". davidbcoe was on that one with me and the highlight of the panel was when we disagreed on something and broke out in a good-natured argument. (It was about the quality of writing of certain famous writers out there, and came down to the fact that both of us were right and it was a difference of personal style and what we, as readers, look for in books. I like things organized and tight and elegant.) After that, I hit my room again, tried to change clothes again for the DAW dinner but ended up deciding I liked the shirt I was wearing, and spent a spectacular evening with the editors at DAW and various authors, including: sleigh, msagara, kateelliott, Pat Rothfuss, W Michael Gear and Kathleen O'neil Gear, John Helfers, Edward Willett, Tayna Huff, and probably someone else I'm forgetting, along with varios spouses and significant others. There were over 20 people there (I think) so conversation was mostly restricted by on end of the table. But the food was fabulous, four courses in all, including chocolate soup (a mixture of white, milk, and two types of dark chocolate that you spooned up to eat). After that I intended to retire for the evening, but Kate and Pat wanted to hit the Tor party, so I tagged along with them, had a great conversation with Kate, ran into lisamantchev (watch for her books coming soon to a bookstore near you) and David Williams, along with others. I stayed up WAY too late, crashing around 2am or so.

Saturday was a recovery day. I napped most of the morning, until meeting with my mom (who'd come out to see the family in the area) and going to lunch with my editors. I had an open-faced turkey sandwich, nothing special. But my mom seemed to bond with my editors. I told her to beg them to buy more of my books, but I didn't see any kneeling or prostration. After dropping my mom off at the lightrail so she could rejoin the rest of the family, I hit the dealers room to pick up any of my unsold books and purchase all of my new loot. I managed to find a good chunk of the books I lost in the flood at one of the used dealers tables, which was nice. I had dinner with Patricia and kristine_smith, at which I was not very focused. But I managed to recover some perk after drinking a few glasses of tea. Knowing I was leaving early in the morning for the airport, I retired early.

And Sunday was of course the hellish flight home.

And that was Worldcon in Denver for me. I should have spent more time at parties. I should have run into more people that I know. I should have drunk less wine at the DAW dinner. I should not have let a personal issue occupy my mind during most of the con and destroy some of my fun. And I should have stolen the blue bear.

Next time, Denver, next time.

Oh, and even though I took a camera with me, I took no pictures. I'm full of fail.

Comments

[jimhines.livejournal.com]

They had the Stepsister art? Was the title and other text included, or just the picture? Dang it, I want my final cover art!!!

Ahem. Anyway, sorry to hear about the Australia frustration. Remind me in January, and we can plug your release with a "Send Joshua Down Under" campaign.

You know, I think my biggest frustration at missing Worldcon was missing out on the DAW dinner.

So how did you manage to take no pictures the whole time?

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

They did have Stepsister art, but it might have just been a middling version, not a final version.

Have you not had the DAW dinner experience yet?

Taking pictures requires that the camera actually make it out of the luggage.

[tltrent.livejournal.com]

I am so sad to have missed this--it sounds like a blast!

And the next WorldCon's in Oz at the beginning of Sept.? Yes, that is totally made of FAIL. I teach also and there's no way I could do that, esp. b/c I'd need extra time for jet-lag recovery. Bleh. *pout*

Here's hoping that you at least top the bestseller charts and get to to go!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

*clinks drinks* I'll drink to that.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

WorldCon has traditionally been held on Labor Day weekend for most of its existence. All the WorldCons I went to, before I dropped it for WFC, were Labor Day weekends. It's the August dates that always surprise me.

In any case, sounds like a great time.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I did not know that it's traditionally been on Labor Day weekend. All of the ones I've attended have been in August.

But it still sucks.

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

But it still sucks.

Yes it does. Sucks that both Calargy and Montreal are so expensive to get to and that I have to miss both WFC and WorldCon there too.

Both of us need to become NY Times bestselling authors so minor things like time and money don't get in the way of con going.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Why worry about the should haves? You are doing what most people would dream of doing.

Except for the blue bear. Details, please.

Isn't Sept essentially the beginning of summer (thus HOT) in Australia? If so, I suspect they did that because they got cheaper rates.

Hence, why ALA does brilliant things like Chicago for mid-winter and New Orleans for the Annual Con in June.

[gillpolack.livejournal.com]

It's Spring and really nice in September down south. Melbourne has pretty flowers and an Engish-y climate round then. The ski season will have finished, but only just.

I hope you can find a way to come, despite the fact that our calendar is quite different. FWIW, it's school holidays in Victoria, too, on those dates (term 3, not term 1, but still, not holidays). The holidays are later in the month, though, not in August at all, so early September is a compromise.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I really don't see how I can come, since it takes a day to fly down and a day to fly back. And the college I work for doesn't really give us Labor Day off.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

The blue bear pic is in pbray's LJ.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Ok, that IS a bear. It was a bit hard to clearly tell. But WHY, oh WHY is there a bear looming outside the building? Marketing ploy? Hungry and lost from the mountains?

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

It's looking at the chewy center inside the crunchy shell. *grin*

I'm not sure why it's a bear, but it's blue because the Denver football or baseball or some sport uses that as its color. Or so I was told. They also have a blue horse with red shining eyes at the airport. It's rearing and kicking at the sky and, honestly, looks rather evil.

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

HA!

Ok, before you even got to the pose the horse was in, I figured that looked evil. But now i have a mental image that makes it look possessed!

[madkestrel.livejournal.com]

And I should have stolen the blue bear.

But how on earth would you have gotten it home? *grin*

Sorry I missed you - the Con was way, way bigger than I imagined, and I missed a ton of folks I wanted to meet. Oh well!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I could have ridden the bear home. It would have been quicker than the flight, I'm sure.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I have incriminating pictures up on my livejournal (http://pbray.livejournal.com/188257.html).

[footlingagain.livejournal.com]

all of you make my books international bestsellers so that I don't have to have a day job

Well, having been met with a resounding 'Huh?' at the library, I decided that the only sensible thing to do was to order all your books for meself. So I have.

I don't suppose you can quit your job on the strength of it, but it's a start *g*

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's certainly a start. Now only 100,000 more people to convince. . . .

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Sounds fun!

[ceibhfhionn22.livejournal.com]

Yes, you should have stolen the blue bear. There is a picture of it on pbray's journal. That thing is huge and cute! :)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

I totally wanted the bear, but since I live in a ranch house, it would have looked a little silly. However it is perfectly scaled for Josh's loft....

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

But the bear would have gone well with your lizards!

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

Much as I understand the frustration of SF-writing teachers everywhere, consider that August in Australia is the equivalent of February up here in the northern hemisphere.

Melbourne doesn't get much snow, but it is winter there in August. I know that means nothing to you, living in NY's lake-effect zone, but it's harder to entice tourism when the weather's foul.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Weather-schmeather! I still can't go. . . . Unless you'd be willing to teach a week's worth of math classes for me? Hmmmm?

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed meeting you "in the flesh"! That was one of the delights of the DAW dinner, and I'm glad we were at the same end of the table or we wouldn't have been able to converse at all... :-)

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

It was great to meet in person! Faces to names is always good, and author photos never do the real thing justice. *grin*

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Well, in my case the author photo is usually better than the real thing... :-)