Lunacon Report--Day One

I decided I'd better not wait too long to report on Lunacon or I'd forget everything interesting that happened and people that I met. So here's day one: Friday, AKA St. Patrick's Day.

Drove down with jennifer_dunne. Very nice drive and had no problems finding the hotel in New Jersey. We only had to slow down once for an accident, and a few times for annoying drivers who would pass me, pull in front of me . . . and then immediately slow down. Jennifer has learned that I talk to the other drivers while I drive.

Got to the hotel . . . and found it under construction. And I mean a serious remodel. Exposed wiring in the panel rooms, stairs that could not be used, etc. The hotel room itself was great, nice beds, spacious, however when you flushed the toilet it spit water out the sides beneath the tank. A SPITTING TOILET!

I then headed down to the infamous snake panel, where I was supposed to be discussing snakes in fiction, their use, their myths, etc. At the same time, the panel was to kick off the "Search for the Snakes!" which were supposed to be hidden throughout the hotel. I get there. No there panelists are there. I wait. A few more panelists show up, but not the moderator. A con worker shows up with what I thought were the snakes to hand out as examples of what would be hidden throughout the hotel . . . and was informed that the "Search for the Snakes!" had been called off due to fear of heart attacks by people that might be afraid of snakes. That reason aside, it was probably a good idea to call it off just because of the construction going on at the hotel. So now what do we do? The moderator is not there! The snakes are not to be searched! I hadn't prepared anything for the panel except for thinking of a few books that use snakes!

In the end, I moderated the panel on the fly. It went rather well considering. Lots of interesting thoughts about how snakes represent opposite ends of the spectrum in myth--both evil and poisonous (Conan, David Eddings, etc) and medicinal and healing (Dreamsnake). We also delved into the different uses of snakes in various cultures--Caribbean, Chinese, Egyptian, etc--and then expanded the idea of snakes to worms (Dune) and dragons. In the end, I felt the panel was a success, with great audience participation.

Jennifer and I ran into clarkesworld and S.C. Butler and decided to try to catch some food. Sam Butler was gracious enough to drive us to a diner called Bendix Diner where we got extra children. Yes, extra children. When we went into the diner, two small, small kids attached themselves to us, showing us their quarter. I only understood every fifth word or so, but the waitress said to seat ourselves and the kids followed us to the table AND THEN PULLED UP CHAIRS AND JOINED US. They borrowed one of our menus and tried to order chicken fingers. It was a little bizarre. Eventually the waitress shooed the kids away (we assume they were kids of one of the employees, possibly our waitress but perhaps not), we had an adequate meal, and went back to the con.

The other panel I was on that night was the Epic Fantasy panel. Then panel went OK, but I knew I was in trouble when I discovered the panelists consisted of 3 editors, 1 author (me), and a fan. The panel quickly became about publishing epic fantasy, why publishers love it, the pitfalls, etc, rather than about writing epic fantasy. Some of the writing got in there, but not much. Very informative, but not what I was expecting the panel to be about.

We retired to the bar (without Sam, who's first book, Reiffen's Choice, is coming out in September) for drinks. I ended up staying in the bar, chatting and drinking white russians, until 3am. It was a very good day overall. I met lots of interesting people. And I got to adopt kids for a brief period of time. Plus there was the SPITTING TOILET! I can't forget the SPITTING TOILET!

I'll update with day 2 and 3 later. Check back soon!

Princess Bride Quiz!!

This is so cool! Stolen from krteilman:



Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Lunacon--Day 2: The Recovery

So I slept in late on Day 2, recovering from the late night at the bar. But eventually I did manage to attend a few panels: one on Battlestar Galactica that made me want to buy the DVDs and watch them all at once and another about the radical change in genre movies starting in the 50s up through now. Both were good panels. I checked the dealers room to discover that none of my books had sold. *sigh* I wandered to my room and took a minor break before my evening panel. I was really looking forward to this panel: Language of Accomodation. I felt that I had lots to say, since writing is all about finding the right word. And if that word doesn't exist, the cool thing about fantasy is that YOU CAN MAKE IT UP!

But the panel was a bust. There were 5 panelists, but for the most part only 2 of them got to say anything. And neither of the 2 was me. We were overridden by the other 2, who turned the panel into a linguistic panel that did not really interest me. I'm not sure what the audience thought, but it didn't go anywhere close to where I thought the panel would go.

After a brief chat session afterwards with Wen Spencer, S.C. Butler, jennifer_dunne, Ann, and clarkesworld, we broke up. Some of us wandered down to the game room to play Ticket to Ride: Europe. I attempted to steer this into the bar since I hadn't eaten anything all day except a few goldfish. But we played a game before hitting the parties, where I was supposed to forage. There wasn't much to forage though, and definitely nothing good for me. So I didn't eat much Saturday, which was fine, since overall I wasn't that hungry.

And that was that day. One book did sell, which I signed. Needless to say, after the parties, I totally crashed. Day 3 coming soon. More excitement on day 3; at least more than day 2.