worldcon

Thursday I will be at the SFWA board meeting. Huzzah! That evening I’m planning on swinging by the Chinese Science Fiction Party.

Friday, August 17

8-10 am SFWA Business Meeting SJCC 210DH Light breakfast will be provided. Come hear about all the amazeballs stuff we’re up to!

11 AM Successfully Negotiating Book Contracts SJCC 211C
A publisher’s interest and an author’s are not always in perfect alignment. Enter the contract. Each clause in the contract exists for a reason. Which ones protect an author’s interest and which ones benefit the publisher? How do you ask for changes? What are the rights an author should be prepared to give up and which ones should you fight tooth and nail for. Hear from agents and other industry experts on how to survive your book contract negotiation with your skin, and your rights, intact.

12 PM Walter Day Trading Card Event

1 PM Un-pulping the Pulp Heroes SJCC 211C
Doc Savage. The Shadow. G8. Tarzan. The hero pulps are full of characters immersed in fast-paced action, but they sometimes come across as problematic or naive to modern readers. It can be uncomfortable to recognize the sexism or racism of their day. And yet, there are still things that we love about pulps. How have pulp heroes influenced contemporary SF writers (in surprising and strange ways)? How are writers currently reinventing and subverting pulps?

3 PM What Can SFWA Offer Me SJCC 210F
Learn what SFWA has to offer authors at all stages of their careers, from networking opportunities to sample contracts to the grievance committee. SFWA’s officers will provide an update on what SFWA is doing and where the organization is going and answer questions from potential (or current) members.

Saturday, August 18

11:30 AM Private lunch

1 PM Autographing

2 PM Idea Vs. Story SJCC 212D
The common question “where do you get your ideas” baffles most writers, because the ideas are all around them. The question should be, “How do you go from an idea to a story.” In this deep dive, we look at techniques to do just that.

5 PM Chasing Shadows: Living in Our Transparent Society SJCC 210B
Camera phones are ubiquitous, security cameras monitor many street corners, drones scout the skies, police wear bodycams, facial recognition technology is developing, and social networking allows everyone to keep an eye on everyone else. Is it the surveillance nightmare of Big Brother, or has our technology made possible a realm of sousveillance, where we can monitor those in power and keep them in check? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a brave new world, bathed in light?

6-8 PM SFWA Suite

Sunday

9 AM Patreon/Student/Buddies breakfast
Mail me for details, still setting this up, will NOT be fancy. 😉

11:30 AM Private lunch

4-8 SFWA Suite

Most of the time you will find me in the SFWA suite but I’ve listed the times I will definitely be there!

Caren and I arrived Wednesday evening and checked into the Davenport Grand, which was the same hotel as the SFWA Suite. We headed up there immediately after dumping up luggage to consult with SFWA Volunteers Extraordinaire Cat Greenberg and Terra LeMay. Heading out for food, we ran into the inimitable Ken Scholes, which was unfortunately just about the only time I saw him other than in passing at the con. After that I hung out in the SFWA suite for a while but we went to bed pretty early, since I knew it was going to be a long convention.

Thursday morning started with early AM swapping back and forth of mail about SFWA stuff and then I wandered down to Stroll with the Stars, where I saw some of my very favorite people in the world and met lots of new friends. Spokane was beautiful along the river — lots of visual interest and pretty things. Stu Segal led the amble while David Gerrold, Vonda N, McIntyre, Lawrence M. Schoen, Stphen Segal and Tom Smith were fellow walkers.

After that I went off to the board meeting. Thank you for coming, Jenn Brozek, Susan Forrest, Matthew Johnson and Susan Pinkser, as well as to Kate Baker and Bud Sparhawk for being willing to attend virtually. While the SFWA board meets sort of continuously in the form of a discussion forum on the SFWA boards, it’s nice to meet face to face and get to talk about things quickly. Because there wasn’t a full assemblage of us, we just did it in one of the SFWA suite rooms, which seemed to work well and saved us money, which I always approve of. I had to duck out of the meeting and go off and talk to the con folks after lunchtime about a table issue (this was not the smoothest con we’ve ever had, particularly with hotel difficulties, but we muddled through.)

I spend literally less than a day at home, then get a haircut in the morning and head off to Sasquan in Spokane with my bestie, the fabulous Caren Gussoff. I’ve posted my convention schedule here, and if you’re wondering what sort of SFWA events I’ll be attending, here’s a video about that:

I’m off to Worldcon tomorrow! I’m reading on Friday at 11. Stop in to listen and you may win a fabulous prize, since I’ll have a bunch of the Near+Far pendants with me. Right now I’m doing laundry and figuring out exactly how many pens I need to take with me.

If you’re trying a con for the first time, here’s some necessities:

• Food. I always have some protein bars with me, even though I know I’ll be able to swing past the con suite, the green room, and the SFWA suite and probably find something to nosh on there. Along the same lines, I’ll have a small waterbottle with me, which goes in my carryon so I don’t have to buy expensive airport drinks.
• Speaking of carryons, I’ve learned by now that certain things should go in there: change of clothing, toothbrush, all medications, and anything else that I would severely miss if my checked baggage should turn up missing.
• Layers. While it’ll be hot in San Antonio, conference rooms can be awfully chilly, so I usually have a shawl in my bag. And a fan for times when the AC is broken.
• Big envelope. All receipts get shoved in there for sorting out post-con, along with business cards I collect. In the meantime, I’ve put all my flight/hotel info and the story I’ll be reading from in it.
• Emergency reading. Well, of course.
• Notebook and multiple pens. Margaret Atwood suggests a pencil for airplane travel; I just make sure I’ve got plenty of pens. And the notebook has my name and contact info written in BIG LETTERS in case it goes astray and someone finds it.
• Small purse that holds just my cell phone and room key, for evenings when I want to go to parties and not worry about toting my usual bag.
• Business cards and some postcards advertising my classes.
• A first aid kit that includes aspirin, decongestant, antacids, etc.
• Charging cables! For both phone and the ipad which, with a wireless keyboard, serves all my laptop needs.
• Extra book bag that rolls up. Just in case.
• Ear plugs and sleep mask. Sleep is precious.
• Moisturizer. Because hotels are always way too dry.
• Comfortable shoes. Life’s too short not to wear comfortable shoes.

What am I doing right now? Mainly I’m elbows-deep in the rewrite of the fantasy novel, currently titled THE MOONS OF TABAT, which may change. But on other fronts:

I’ve written a first column for Conjurings Magazine, and will be doing so regularly. I’ve got my essay for CHICKS DIG GAMING semi-drafted and need to finish that up. And there’s some stories I was asked for hovering in the wings. But the rewrite is my primary concern.

Beyond that I’m teaching. The first Writing F&SF Stories class kicks off this morning, and others upcoming in the next couple of months include the First Pages workshop, Flash Fiction, and Everything You Ever Needed to Know About Electronic Publishing. I am planning a new class that I think will be interesting and timely, and also pulling the Online Presence Stuff into an e-book. There’s always plenty to do on that side of things.

I’ve figured out most of my convention appearances for the rest of the year: Norwescon (soon!), the Nebula weekend, WorldCon, SteamCon, and Orycon. (That’s always subject to change at the last moment, but we’ll see.) I’ll be enjoying talking with the Clarion West students each week at the readings and parties.

So far it’s been a great year. Here’s hoping that trend continues!

The party at WorldCon was so! great! And it helps to have such a nifty book to show off. So I wanted to enthuse a bit more about it and why I’m so happy with it.

1. It’s the old Ace double format. I used to love those whenever I found them in the used bookstores.
2. Vicki Saunders did an amazing job with the book design, including using elements from the interior art to create printer’s ornaments to denote section breaks. In a move I consider above and beyond, they differ between the two books.
3. I have been admiring Mark Tripp’s art for over a decade now. He’s a good friend and I can’t begin to say how much it means to me to use his art, so we’ve got a collaboration other than the game we’ve both worked on for a bajillion years, Armageddon MUD.
4. I found out I had more than enough SF for a collection. In fact, we had to cut some of it. A surprising amount.
5. A favorite editor from Microsoft, Jo Molnar, agreed to do the copy-editing. I’d worked with Jo before and knew he was meticulous and careful, and that he’d bravely face the demands of a spec fic collection, including questions like how one formats telepathic communications.
6. I got plenty of input in how the book looked, the order, the editing and so forth. It’s more than just a collection of my work, it’s an expression of my philosophy regarding books.
7. Publisher and friend Tod McCoy has become one of my favorite people to work with. He solved problem after problem, came up with clever ideas, and was always enthusiastic, knowledgeable and supportive. And fun as hell.
8. The awesome blurbs, including a somehow very Norman-ish note from Norman Spinrad and an unconventional list for an unconventional book by Karen Joy Fowler.
9. Getting to throw a book launch party at WorldCon, the biggest of the SF conventions.
10. It’s appearing in time for World Fantasy Convention, and I know Tod will make sure there’s copies there so I may actually sign more than a couple books at the con.

You can find the book for preordering at Hydra House.

First book party! Saturday! Let me know with a comment if you need the room number, I am somewhat loathe to stick it up on the Internets.

Stina Leicht, Vicki Saunders, and I are co-hosting the party, “Pink + Blue: A Riotous Occasion.” You’ve seen some of the promotional items mentioned earlier; there will also be books and handmade journals and stickers. Yay! I prepped by going to the huge party store near us and buying stuff in the obvious colors. They had a full range of plain pink and blue products. Also purchased: gift bags, paper room decorations and one set of flamingo lights. I even got a small purple basket to put cards in for the gift bag drawings.

In figuring out things, Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog post on book launch parties, along with her observations about her own party, have been super invaluable.

Enjoy this insight into planning a book launch party and want more content like it? Check out the classes Cat gives via the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers, which offers both on-demand and live online writing classes for fantasy and science fiction writers from Cat and other authors, including Ann Leckie, Seanan McGuire, Fran Wilde and other talents! All classes include three free slots.

Prefer to opt for weekly interaction, advice, opportunities to ask questions, and access to the Chez Rambo Discord community and critique group? Check out Cat’s Patreon. Or sample her writing here.

Yay! Yesterday the publisher dropped by to bring me the proof version of Near + Far. It is GORGEOUS. Absolutely GORGEOUS, managing to look modern but still have a touch of that retro, Ace Double feel.