Last night I attended the annual SFWA Reception (aka the Mill n' Swill) in NYC. I kicked off the evening by grabbing dinner with the geek posse. Tried Indonesian food for first time (thumbs up!)

In the previous years I've attended this shindig, the Mill n' Swill has been held at Society of Illustrators Museum. This year, the venue changed locations, to Planet Hollywood, in Times Square. I wasn't sure what to make of this change (especially since it plunked us down in the middle of "Tourist Central"), but I have to say that major props should be given to SFWA on this front. There was more space to move around, and while I didn't eat any of the appetizers (stuffed from dinner), the spread looked a lot nicer than it has in previous years. The staff was very nice and helpful too, and while it was still hot inside (very crowded), I don't think it was nearly as hot as previous years. I find myself hoping the reception will be held here next year.

As to the reception itself, it's a lot like a mini-con. In particular, it's almost like going to the Meet the Pros party at WFC, but it's a little more diversified, because there are a lot more agents, publishers, art directors, etc. Saw a lot of familiar faces, met a number of people for the first time, and I passed out a bunch of complimentary copies of the latest issue of RoF (February 2010--on newsstands soon!)

I also had the rather novel experience of attending a con-like atmosphere for the first time since I was named Editor at RoF. It's amazing what a little old title like Editor will do. All of the sudden I was being approached by people I didn't know, talking to me as if we did know each other. I got used to it soon enough, but it caught me unawares early on. Regardless, I'd like to give another round of thanks to all the folks who congratulated me last night, or congratulated me again in person. Yes, this community has its blow-ups (and yes, I've been involved in them a time or two), but overall we're a good bunch of people who tend to root each other on.

I had a good time as always, and to finish, I will share my highlight of the evening. I was chatting with Irene Gallo, the Art Director at Tor Books (not to mention, Forge, Starscape, and Tor.com). When I first received the promotion to Art Director at RoF, Irene was one of the first people I emailed, asking if she had any advice. As you might expect, she passed along some of her awesome wisdom. Anyway, I had seen her once since then, but I only spoke to her for a couple of minutes. So when I saw her this time, I made it a point to say hi and talk with her a little more at length. So while we were chatting, she mentioned that she hadn't seen the December 2009 issue yet. As luck would have it, I had one issue left in my bag, of that particular issue. So I passed it along to her. So she flipped through it while we were talking, checking out the art, talking about it with me. And then she told me, "Good job."

Honestly? If I had a tail it would have been wagging. As I confessed to Irene, it's a lot harder for me to be an art director than it is an editor (of fiction or nonfiction). Yes, you tweak the nonfiction from time to time, maybe adding a new column or replacing a columnist, or maybe you have an idea for a themed issue. And yes, other little things pop up along the way. But the way RoF is structured, so long as I stay on top of the deadlines, the nonfiction tends to run itself. RoF tends to use the same columnists each issue, and most of them have been with the magazine for years. They know what they're doing. As to the fiction, heck, I've been reading fantasy since age 11. I've studied under a number of editors. I've been handling the assistant editor duties at RoF for almost five years. I know what I like when it comes to fantasy fiction, so slushing is second nature to me. And I love rolling up my sleeves and working with authors on rewrites when necessary.

Fantasy art? I know what I like too. But it's a different animal entirely. There's a lot more to learn (for me), and no matter how detailed of a sketch you might see, you'll never know for certain if the art will be awesome until the final product is turned in. There's a lot more uncertainty. It's just the nature of the beast. With short fiction, boom. You like it or you don't. Or maybe you like it, but not quite enough, or it's not quite right for your venue. Maybe it needs some revisions, maybe not. But if you reject the story, there's a more suitable one waiting in those piles somewhere (there always is). But if the final art to a story should prove to be no good ...well, it's back to square one. In this respect, it can be a lot more stressful. So to have someone like Irene tell me "Good job" really made my night. Thanks, Irene.

Here is my extremely late con report. I wanted to post it sooner, but ever since WFC I've been trying to get caught up. Anyway, I can't tell you this was the BEST con I've ever been to. I don't know which one is. But it's right up there. I would put this one right up there with this summer's Readercon (when RoF returned) and WFC in Saratoga two years ago.

I met a number of people I've known online for years, but had never spoken to in person. There were some familiar faces too, of course, but this con had a different vibe. I live on the east coast and had never been to the west coast for a con before. As Karen Haber put it--one of the people I was thrilled to meet in person, since she's a columnist for RoF--it's like meeting your extended family.

Indeed.

I confess to spending more time watching sports at this con than I ever have before. I know, I know. But the Yankees were in the World Series. Sacrifices had to be made. I also managed to sneak in a little bit of Sunday football due to some betting interests (turned out well!) But all of this and one sick roommate aside, I am happy to report that I managed to spend a lot of time geeking out in proper fashion.

One thing that filled with a sort of editorial pride was when I realized there were five different slush survivors of mine (three published, two pending) at this con. Way to represent guys! One of the pending slushees was Christopher Kastensmidt. Chris lives down in Brazil, so thank goodness he likes to go conning, or lord only knows when we'd meet! (though I do have a standing invitation to visit him). The best meal of the weekend might have been when Chris kindly took me to a Brazilian steakhouse and stuffed me absolutely silly. The second best meal might have been with slush survivor Sharon Mock and Zak Jarvis and friends, when we went to this awesome Mexican restaurant (and wow, west coast Mexican food is WAYYYYY better than east coast!) I also met pending slush publishee Shweta Narayan. Unfortunately, we only had a chance to talk for a little bit, though she seemed as nice as she is online. Rounding out the slush survivors I ran into this weekend were the esteemed Ken Scholes and the equally esteemed Vylar Kaftan. I've now managed to meet roughly a third of my slush survivors in person. Hopefully I'll meet them all down the road.

I also ran into a number of other RoF authors as well, including fellow sports addict Brad Beaulieu, the always fun M.K. Hobson, the prolific one himself, Jay Lake, displaced New Yorker Bill Shunn (man, do I miss running into him randomly on the streets of NYC!), the always friendly David Levine, and not to be forgotten is Jim Van Pelt. Jim might be the best example of someone I've known online for years but have never met. I've been swapping emails with him since back in 2005, when I first joined RoF. I swear, it felt like I had met him already! I think this covers all of the RoF authors I ran into. Please accept my apologies if Ive missed you.

I also had my first chance to meet a number of artists in the speculative community for the first time. I've been to one other con since I became art director, which was Readercon over the summer. I didn't have a chance to meet any artists there, though I don't think nearly as many people from the art crowd attend this con. Regardless, it was great these folks at WFC. I found a few people who are interested in working with RoF and who I in turn would love to work with. To be safe, I'll decline on passing out names here until they actually accept some assignments. And just as importantly, the artists I spoke to demonstrated to me that they are just as passionate and knowledgeable about the field as the writers out there. This comes as no surprise, of course, but it was nice to have my beliefs confirmed.

It was really interesting wearing different hats during the course of the weekend, sometimes talking to people as art director, sometimes as nonfiction editor, and sometimes as assistant editor of fiction. Sometimes I was switching back and forth in the same conversation!

What else? As always, WFC featured a ton of parties. The Nightshade party even had some homemade ales with labels marketing their various novels. Points for originality. Lots of drinking resulted from all of these parties, though I'm happy to report there were no hangovers and no drunken scandals. :) I think I went to two panels all weekend, one on the history of F&SF and another one exploring whether the dark grittiness inhabiting so many fantasy stories these days is a new phenomenon (the consensus answer, which I agreed with, was no). Both panels were great, so you might wonder why I didn't attend more of them. I used to go to a lot more panels, but these days it's become more about meeting and talking to all of the the interesting people, and maybe doing a little business as well if such opportunities present themselves. Speaking of business, I did receive a very juicy bit of news over the weekend, and even juicier bit of news after I returned home. I hope to share both of these things with you soon.

I was at the con from Wednesday night to Monday night, but everything really passed in a blur. I should mention that coincidentally enough there was a Star Trek exhibit across the street, so a few of us went to that on Monday. It was way better than I expected.

Anyway, I know I'm leaving out a million people that I ran into. It's not because you're any less important or that it was less fun seeing the rest of you. Far from it! But I needed some way to limit the list or this post would continue until Doomsday. So I chose to go with the RoF approach, i.e. just mentioning the RoF folks.

Bottom line is that WFC is and consistently remains one of the best cons year in and year out. Hopefully I can manage to attend next year as well.

All right, I have my plane ticket, I've registered, and I have sleeping arrangements all set up.  So I can now say that yes, I'm going to WFC this year. :)  I'll be arriving October 28th on Wednesday evening, and leaving on November 2nd, on Monday night.  This will be the first time I've ever flown out to the west coast for a convention.  I'm looking forward to meeting some of you left coasters that don't come out to the east coast.

I imagine I'll ask again when things get closer, but who else is going?

So as I've mentioned before, last weekend's Readercon was full of good craziness.  I was there from Thursday-Sunday, but to be fair, the craziness truly started several days before, on Monday.  Back with Sovereign Media, my busiest day with Realms of Fantasy was whenever I did a slush transfer with Shawna.  These days (especially with no slush to pick up for the time being) my busiest day is proving to be deadline day for the nonfiction columns.  So far, most of my columnists have tended to hand in their columns right around deadline time.  They're in their rights to do so, but it means that every couple of months I'll get hit with a lot of work at once, as I receive, read, and upload the columns, upload images, process invoices, and swap a gagillion emails with my columnists as I try to make order from the chaos.

So Readercon started for me on the 9th, but the deadline for columns for the October issue (which will be our second one back) was July 7th.  This also happened to be right around the same time I'd installed the first deadline for artwork.  So the craziness started on Monday, July 6th, as the columns and artwork started trickling in.
 
Somehow I managed to get enough work done on Monday and Tuesday afternoon that I was able to attend the NYRSF Reading that night in NYC, which featured readings from the Federations anthology, edited by John Joseph Adams.  The core of this summer's Readercon posse all came out that night, comprising JJA, Chris Cevasco, Jordan Hammesly, and slush survivor, Crackingdes, who augmented the core posse's strength several times during the course of the weekend's adventures.

Wednesday I managed to get enough work done on RoF that I was able to crash at JJA's place that night, thus sparing myself the necessity of getting up at an ungodly early hour Thursday morning.  Jordan crashed there as well, and the next morning the three of us drove up to Readercon, along with Chris and Ellen Datlow.  Along the way, we stopped at Kit Reed's place for lunch, which is becoming a yearly tradition.  One of the fun things about lunch at Kit's is that you never know who else is dropping by.  This year's surprise guests included David Hartwell and Chip Delaney.

Following this it was off to Readercon proper.  Within minutes of checking in, I noticed some tall guy with dark hair walking by, clutching a few copies of the new Realms of Fantasy in his hand.   I only saw him from the back, but it was immediately obvious to me who this must be.  "Warren!" I yelled.  And so.  After a dozen phone conversations and hundreds of emails swapped over the past four months, I finally met Warren Lapine--savior of Realms of Fantasy, not to mention the new boss and the great giver of promotions--face to face.  Being as Warren was at the convention with his family, we only chatted for a few minutes.  However, that night we met up again at the hotel bar, where Warren bought me drinks for calling me Craig in the past (more than once!)

Over drinks, I also signed the papers to become an acquiring editor for Fantastic Books.  This was actually in the works for a very long time.  How long?  Well, back in January, I had first read that Warren was looking for acquring editors for his new book line.  At this time, I didn't know Warren at all, except in name, and Realms of Fantasy was still being published by Sovereign Media.  So I sent Warren an email with a resume and such ...and a few days later Sovereign pulled the plug on RoF.  I never did hear back from Warren ...until two or three days before the news went public that Warren had bought the magazine.  This brief email arrived in my inbox from Warren, apologizing for the delay in responding and asking if I was still interested in the position.  I said yes, and asked what more he could tell me about the position.  The next morning I received a phone call from one Warren Lapine, offering me the acquring editor position, and also telling me that he had just bought Realms of Fantasy and do I want to come back to the magazine?

Somehow I managed to say more than "buh" (though not by much!)  Most of the rest of that conversation dealt with RoF.  Two days later the news about RoF went public, and very soon after that (either the same day or the next one), Warren offered me the promotions of nonfiction editor and art director.  After that, both of us were swamped with the magazine for a good long while, me getting caught up with my new positions, and both of us getting the magazine ready for relaunch by Readercon.  The acquring editor position ended up taking a major backseat for several months, and when it got to the point that Readercon was almost upon us, I suggested to Warren that we just sign the necessary papers there, to which he readily agreed.

I should mention that that night over drinks, in addition to getting to know him and signing papers for Fantastic Books, Warren sprung a very pleasant and extremely surprise on me (I have already come to expect the unexpected from him).  I don't want to share what it is just yet, because I don't like to announce things before they're official, otherwise I would've announced this acquring editor gig months back.  But suffice it to say that when Warren told me this, everything else took a backseat.  I promise I will share this as soon as I'm able, though I don't know quite when this will be just yet.

Anyway, after drinks Warren and I prowled the hotel for the next few hours, handing out free copies of RoF.  We probably gave out less than fifty that first night, as Warren wanted us to give out most of the freebies at the Meet the Pros Party on Friday night.  I probably passed out around 2.30.

End of day one at Readercon.  By day 2 the con was pretty much in full swing.  I can't count the number of people I ran into during the course of the weekend--regulars from NY, regulars to Readercon, and first-timers to Readercon.  It would take me forever to name you all, and I'd certainly forget to name a few people in the process, but please know it was great seeing you all.  In the "those met" category, I do love meeting contributors to RoF, so I will mention that I had the pleasure of meeting former slush survivor, Vylar Kaftan, along with Alan Smale and Dennis Danvers.  Regarding Dennis, I should mention that I was particularly pleased to meet him when I did, because his story, "Healing Benjamin," is in the current issue of RoF.  With all due respect to our other writers, I think this is one of the best stories ever published in RoF and had a chance to tell him as much.  If you like short fiction, do yourself a favor and hunt this story down.  

Highlights fit for public reading on day two included an awesome steak dinner with Barbarienne, Amy Goldschlagger, Charles Coleman Finlay and his lovely wife, Rae.  Following dinner it was off to the Meet the Pros Party, where Warren and I handed out the majority of the free issues, to both pros and readers alike.  This might have been the most gratifying part of the weekend.  It was just absolutely awesome to see all that work come to fruition, to look around and see people flipping through the magazine, to hear "Oh, wow" almost every time we handed out another free issue.  People were genuinely pleased to see the magazine back, and the reaction to the actual issue all weekend long was overwhelmingly positive.  After I gave out the last of Friday's free copies, I spent most of the rest night hanging out in the hotel lobby (the main room was much too hot), where I became a founding member of the latest social network: Floorbook!  Basically, it was a bunch of people sitting on the floor in a circle.  When someone sat down and tried to join the circle, it represented a friend request.  Floorbook lasted several hours before everyone called it a night.

End of day two.  A lot of day 3 is blur.  By this time, I should have been keeling over with exhaustion, but the official premiere of RoF gave me enough fuel to keep going all weekend.  Most of the day was spent hanging out with various folks and passing out more copies of RoF.  That evening focused around avoiding the Kirk Poland Bad Prose Competition.  For most people, this competition is hilarious.  But I read slush, and find the idea of listening to bad prose to be an agonizing activity.  Much of the competition was spent to talking to JJA, Chris Cevasco, and Daryl Gregory, who popped up a number of times during the weekend.  This was followed by drinks with crackingdes, a stop at JJA's Rock Band party (where I did an awful rendition of Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give it Away Now") and the evening was polished off with more drinks at Sybil's Garage party, until about 3:30 in the morning.  If I were smart, I would've went to sleep then.  Instead, me and the con posse kept each other up for another 45 minutes with really bad jokes that were hilarious to none but us (I never heard JJA laugh so hard in my life).

End of day three.  Day four consisted of giving out my last copies of Realms and attending some interesting panels on the future of sf magazines (two-part panel, the first  half dealth with print, the second half with online mags).  Day four also featured my impulse buy of the weekend: an October 1936 issue of Weird Tales Magazine.  It was selling for $100, but I got the dealer down to $75.  I don't think I can adequately describe how pleased I am with this purchase.  This issue features part three of "Red Nails" by Robert E. Howard.  "Red Nails" was the last Conan story the great Howard ever wrote (though other stories took place later in Conan's chronological career).  It's also one of his best.  This story was bought before Howard killed himself in the 1936, but it was published after he died at age 30.  It is the last Conan story ever published in Weird Tales.  I now own a very important piece of the modern fantasy's genre's history.  But more importantly, Conan was my introduction to the genre.  The sentimental value of this issue to me is already incalculable.  It also features stories by other classic Weird Tales authors, such as C.L. Moore and Robert Bloch.  Not too shabby!

Soon after my puchase, I participated in my lone panel of the weekend, The Year in Short Fiction (and shame on one of my panelists for not showing up!)  Following this it was off for home.  I got home around 10:00 p.m., passed out at midnight, and didn't get up until 1:30 p.m. the following day.

End of day four.  World Fantasy is my favorite convention (and I should know in a couple of weeks whether I'm going there this year), but without a doubt this was the best con experience I ever had.  Just wow.  I don't think I could've asked for much more to go right.  Monday and Tuesday were spent catching up on RoF, and Wednesday saw me at the monthly KGB Reading, which honored 25 years of Clarion West.  Many familiar faces from Readercon were there, so this was a nice way to close things out.  Thursday featured more catch-up, as did Friday, along with me breaking the news about my acquring editor position.  And during the course of the last week I've been hearing from people all across the U.S. and abroad who have received their issue of RoF.  Also very gratifying.  Now I'm finally caught up and blogging about two of the craziest weeks of my speculative career.  

What a ride!  Thanks for reading, everyone! 

I'm going to be at Readercon 20 this Thursday-Sunday.  Realms of Fantasy will be making its official (re)premiere at the convention, with the August 2009 issue.  It feels like ages since the last time an issue has come out, but despite all the chaos resulting from this change in publishers, only one issue never came out, June 2009.  Anyway, to celebrate Realms of Fantasy's return, Warren and I will be giving out free copies of the magazine.  Supplies are limited, so hunt us down sooner rather than later if you want a copy for yourself.

I've also finally been deemed worthy of Readercon's paneling this year.  I'll be doing one panel, the Year in Short Fiction.  Other panelists are Ellen Datlow, Kathryn Cramer, Neil Clarke, and Theodora Goss will be moderating.  We'll be in Salon A on Sunday from 2:00-2:30.

I'll provide a con report when I return, although it might be a day or two before I get around to it.  Monday promises to be almost as busy as Readercon.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!  

So the room is set, my ride is set, and my registration is going out tomorrow.  So I'm happy to say that for the fourth year straight (I think it's four straight) I'll be going to Readercon.  I'm not sure yet if I'll be a part of paneling.  I sent out an inquriring email a little while ago, though it might be too late.  We'll see.  It's been a slow conning year for me, like very slow.  Like I haven't been to any this year so far.  A big reason behind that is when RoF was first shut down, very soon afterward there was a chance it would be bought.  I didn't want to make any big plans while things were up in the air.  Then Warren bought RoF in March and my promotions with the magazine followed a couple of days later.  I wasn't expecting promotions (some of the most pleasant surprises I've ever had!), but it proved wise on my part not making plans, since I suddenly found myself with a lot more to do. 

And since then I've been getting RoF caught up.  I've made a lot of progress on this front but I'm not out of the woods yet, and I've been hesitant to commit to any cons until I am.  I'm allowed to have on the weekends, sure, but it wouldn't feel right to go running off to a con when the magazine still needs work.  I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself.  But I try to go to Readercon every year, and since the plan is to bring RoF back at Readercon this year, I think it's safe to say I'll be caught up by then ...I'd better be anyway! :)

So I'm sure I'll ask again when things get closer, but who else is going this year?

I got back from Readercon last night.  I'm still pooped (and forgive me, but I'm going to forgo using links this time, as there are just too many to provide and I don't have the energy).  I'd made mention of some coming festivities in the days prior to the con, such as going to see Wanted  and going to the monthly speculative reading at the KGB Bar.  Alas, these plans fell through.  I still had an awesome time though.  On Thursday morning I drove up with part of my usal con posse, John Joseph Adams & Chris Cevasco.  We were also joined by the illustrious Ellen Datlow.  As you might imagine, there was much discussion on  a variety of editorial subjects.  Along the way, we stopped for lunch at the house of Kit Reed and her husband.  Gregory Frost was also there, and it was nice to meet him, since he sold a story to Realms of Fantasy sometime in the last month or two.  

After that it was on to the con and four days of fun.  I always love Readercon and this year was no exception.  You run into so many people from the industry.  Some are regulars from your respective neck of the woods, some are folks you see a few times a year at various cons, and with Readercon there are always a few folks you meet for the first time.  This year I had the honor of meeting editor/author Scott Edelman, longtime ROF TV/movie columnist Resa Nelson, ROF's most prolic fiction author, Richard Parks (alas, only briefly, and I'm sorry I missed your reading, Richard), Kay Kenyon, Dale Bailey, Scott Andrews, Christopher Rowe (another contributor to ROF in past years), and Michael Swanwick.  I also met Desirina Boskovich,a possible ROF author in the not too distant future.  By this, I mean that I'd pulled her story from the slush a little while back and passed it along to Shawna.  Shawna still has this one, and while at Readercon, I happened to recognize her name on her nametag (those things sure are handy!)  So I chatted with her a bit over the weekend, because I always like talking to authors whose stories I slush (and I think this one has a great shot too!)   Anyway, these are the folks I can think off the top of my head.  I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but that's how it is at Readercon.  You meet so many people.

I also ran into a number of people I only see every so often, usually at readings or cons.  Some of them I spoke to at length, others just in passing.  Again, I'm sure I'm forgetting some folks, but off the top of my head we have Sandra MacDonald, Elizabeth Bear, Leah Bobet, Amanda Downum (former slush survivor!), David Louis Edelman, Laird Barron, John Langan, Neil Clarke,  Paul Tremblay, Cat Rambo, Mary Robinette Kowal, David Walton, Will McIntosh, Elaine Isaak, Brett Cox, Kelly Link, and others I'm forgetting because my brain is still very foggy with sleep.  Nothing personal to anyone I missed, as it was great seeing you all.

While I was there, I also managed to see the new Batman movie with Chris Cevasco, John Joseph Adams, and David Loius Edelman.  I shall keep this spoiler-free, so have no fears.  The movie was awesome.  Heath Ledger is as good as everyone is saying.  There was some reinterpretation of the mythology of the comics here and there, but overall they did an excellent job of capturing the feel of Batman.  Suitably dark and intense.  We all agreed it's a very dense movie, although I didn't particularly mind.  It's just one more excuse to see it again, as I'm sure I'll notice things I missed the first time around.

Anyway, these are the highlights of the weekend, and I drove back with the same group of people.  I got home fairly late, and I'm more than fairly tired today ...and my best friends expect me to hang out tonight, as one of them has just gotten back from Israel after two years.

Oye!

I'm out.     

I received an email notice yesterday that my Readercon membership has been processed.  Reservations are also in place for the hotel and travel plans are set, so I'm good to go.  This will be my third year attending Readercon, and the past two years were an absolute blast.  My requests to be on panels these first two years met with rejection (Readercon is always innundated with requests from people to be on panels), but this year I've been upgraded to the "wait list."  As of now, I'm still waiting.  If it turns out I'm put on panels, I'll be sure to post my schedule here.  I'll be there from Thursday-Sunday, which will be a first.  In the past I've always done Friday-Saunday.

Anyway, raise your hand if you'll be at Readercon this year so I can look for you! 

So I got back from Lunacon a couple of hours ago.  It was nice hanging out with my usual con posse, and I enjoyed seeing some of the folks I only see at the cons.  But alas, I don't think I'll be returning to Lunacon next year.  I've now been to enough cons to realize that the ones I enjoy the most focus on the literary side of things.  That's why I've enjoyed Readercon so much these past two years, and why I had so much fun at the last World Fantasy Convention.  Lunacon puts a lot more focus on things such as filking, gaming, and costuming.  I don't have a problem with people who enjoy this stuff, but as I said, what I like most about conning is the literary side of things.  It's not like I had a bad time at Lunacon, but I guess if I'm going to spend a whole weekend at a con, I want to have a great time, so I have to go to right kinds of cons.  I'll keep trying new ones, because I'll never know which ones I like until I give them a whirl, but right now the only ones I'm sure I'll enjoy year after year are Worldcon, World Fantasy, Readercon, and the Nebulas.  Yes, Worldcon isn't super-literary, but it has enough of everything for everyone.

I also brought my new laptop with me to a con for the first time.  I never trusted my old one for travel, but this time I was determined to get some writing done.  So I'm happy to say that over the course of the con I managed to bang out 1000 fresh words of story.  Not an overwhelming amount, but it's 1000 words more than I'd usually write over a con weekend, so good stuff. :)

anghara and melissa_writing, sorry I didn't run into either of you at the con.

 I'm off to Lunacon tomorrow, my first con of 2008.  It's the third year in a row I've been there, and the last two years I've had quite a good time.  I'll post some sort of con report when I get back.

So tonight I went to the SFWA Reception in NYC, infamously known as the Mill n' Swill, a party thrown by the Science Fiction Writers Association, to honor the publishers, editors, artists, agents, etc.  It's not really a con, but the noise, cramped quarters, and drinking (all these things mostly courtesy of industry professionals) it has the con atmosphere you'll find in the hotel bars, so I consider this part of my con schedule each year.

This was actually the third year I've attended the Mill n' Swill.  The first two years were great.  This year I had fun, but I must complain a little bit.   I mean, did anyone else notice how this year there was no coat-check, but instead we just had to hang our coats on a rack in the middle of the floor?  Or how there was no food this year?  I just had a couple of beers, but I'm told the open bar was pretty crappy too.  But honestly, I could look past all of these things.  What really bothered me was getting kicked out at 11:00 p.m.  In past years, the party "officially" ended around this time, sure.  But people usually stuck around another 2-3 hours.  This year we got ushered out like a bunch of cattle.

What's up with that?

Still, I did have fun.  Hung out with a lot of the usual characters, and saw some old friends too.  And the highlight was definitely meeting fellow contributor to Interzone 212, Beth Bernobich.  That, and having both her and the Slush God tell me they enjoyed my story in that issue.  Awesome!

And this brings this year's con circuit to an end for me.  So a quick review of the cons/things like cons I've attended this year:

--Lunacon: It was the 50th anniversary for this con, and my second time there.  Did some panels, and also experienced a swell of editorial pride at seeing one of my slush survivors read her story from Realms.  Good time was had two years ago.  Thumbs up.  Planning to return.

--NY ComicCon: My first time there.  Got to meet the publishers to Realms of Fantasy and a couple e-friends in the person.  Good fun had.  Will probably return, at least for a day.

--Nebula Awards: My first time there.  Met all sorts of pros, and had an absolute blast at the banquet, rooting for "The Language of Moths" from Realms of Fantasy to win.  Won't go out of my way to attend this, but if it comes back to NYC, I'm there!

--Readercon:  Two years of serious ass-kicking in a row.  Great con.  One of the best.  I'll be back next year, for sure.

--World Fantasy Convention: my second time at this one, the first one in years.  Blew the other cons out of the water.  Met a ton of new people (my favorite part about cons), including many Realms of Fantasy authors.  Whenever possible, I'm going to attend this one.  It's just absolutely amazing.  I love it.

--SFWA Reception: I complained, but I had fun.  I'll be back next year, and it will probably be the same result.]


As to next year's con circuit, I plan to attend Lunacon, Readercon, the NY Comic Con (probably), and the SFWA Reception.  Since I like trying new cons, I'm also looking at Albacon, Balticon, and CapCon.  Chances are I'll attend at least one of these, maybe all three.  Overall a fun year for cons. 

I'm already looking forward to next year!

So it's Thursday, and I'm only now beginning to get caught up after spending four days at the World Fantasy Convention.  Still a couple of emails to fire off, but otherwise there's nothing left to do but make my con report.  For starters, this was without a doubt the best con I've ever been to.  World Fantasy Convention blows every other con out of the proverbial water.   I can't  recommend it highly enough.

I'm off to the World Fantasy Convention tomorrow morning.  I shall post a report of sorts when I return.  Looking forward to seeing (and meeting) so many of you there!

So I'm officially on the program to do a reading at this year's WFC.  I'll be reading from my premiere story, "Feelings of the Flesh," currently out in Interzone 212.  The reading is on Friday November 2nd @ 11:30 p.m. in Broadway 1.  Hope to see some of you there!

All right, this con is getting close enough that I want to start taking names.  Who's going?

So I'm going to be at this year's World Fantasy Convention.  There are a limited number of reading slots available (a lot actually, but still finite).  I'd like to do a reading from what will be my premiere story with Interzone.  After swapping a couple of emails with the program director, it's no sure thing that I can be given a reading slot.  But from the sound of it, if I can guarantee an audience I'm going to significantly increase my chances.

So how about it folks?  Of those of you attending this year's World Fantasy Convention, how many of you would be interested in hearing me do a reading from "Feelings of the Flesh?"  Lord knows I've mentioned it enough on my blog.  How many would consider showing up and lending support to the Slushmaster?

Speak now ,or leave me dangling upon the e-winds ...

So after a long absence, I finally went back to the KGB Speculative readings last night.  Readings were by Paul Park & Esthner Friesner.  Hung out with John Joseph Adams, Eugene Myers, Matt Kressel, Rajan Kanna, and Mary Robinette Kowal.  I'm too lazy to provide links to all these cool people.  Go hunting on the internet yourself. 

A while back I asked JJA to take a look at the opening to a story of mine, just to see if it works for him.  It was a lot of telling instead of showing, and in order to get away with this I had to rely on what were hopefully enough cool ideas presented in a strong voice.  I've been tinkering with this story off and on for like seven bloody years, and could never get it right.  Like a bolt of lightning though, I finally figured out the problem a few months ago.  It's supposed to be in first person!  But even then a very info-dumpy opening was required (no way around it) to make the story work.  Thankfully, the opening has met with the Slush God's approval, which really made my day.  But this presents me with a new dilemma.  Do I get back to work on this story, of which I have about 20 pages written, or do I keep pushing ahead with the Arthur novel?  I don't have a problem dividing my creative energies, but I usually have a problem dividing my writing time, because I'm not the fastest writer.  Sigh.  I'll figure it out.  Somehow.

Also, I got some very unexpected news last night while I was at KGB.   My cell phone rings and when I answered, my mom was on the phone, telling me about an explosion only a block away from my day job.  As a result, I find myself with the day off today, because this area is part of the "frozen zone" for the time being.  So I slept in, and now I'm going to wrap up all sorts of little things today.  I'll finish The White Wolf's Son by Michael Moorcock, supposedly the last Elric and Eternal Champion novel Moorcock is ever going to write; finish an essay I've been writing concerning the dos and don'ts of the slush pile, which became very interesting to put together when I decided to add a new twist to talking about the same old thing (I'll post it here soon); find time to work on the King Arthur novel and that shorter work, thus solving my dilemma ...for today anyway. 

So like last year Readercon was lots of fun.  Spent a lot of time hanging out with the usual cast of characters.  Also got to see a lot of fellow Odysseans from the Odyssey  Writing Workshop.  Spent  a fun lunch with writers from the Codex group online, many of them being contributors to that Prime Codex anthology that recently hit the shelves.  Ran into writer John Langan again, who is one of the funniest people I know.  Therefore I was quite pleased to learn he started a blog.  Go check it out

Also got to meet some interesting folks for the first time, like author Nina Kiriki Hoffman, editor Sean Wallace from Prime/Wildside Books, publisher Jason Williams from Nightshade Books, reviewer Gary K. Wolfe (who has a frightening amount of knowledge at his disposal), and regular contributor to Realms of Fantasy, Cristalia

Cristalia even wrote me a rejection haiku on the spot with some Realms of Fantasy flavor:

This bright yellow form
Means at least the grammar's good
Don't get uppity.

Truly, a talented woman. :)

My brain is still kind of mushy, so let's wrap things up with a few quick highlights:

1) The posse and I ate so much Korean barbecue we've dubbed this year's Readercon as Bugolkicon

2) John Joseph Adams telling me Realms of Fantasy should rename the Blue Form of Death the Blue Fuck Off and Die form.

3) The term "stomach love."

4) The phrase "I'm good for twelve inches."

5) Hugo Gernsback being associated with an orgasm

6) Getting a sneak peek at the cover for the first issue of Weird Tales that will feature stories selected by new editor, Ann Vandermeer.  It looked like something out of a Clark Ashton Smith story and made me want to subscribe on the spot.

7) Getting a simultaneous "Ooo" from Kelly Link & Gavin Grant when they learned my first story will be appearing in Interzone.

8) On the train home, reading my friend Andrea Kail's premiere story in the latest issue of Fantasy Magazine, "Soft, Like a Rabbit."  A very heartfelt tale, but I'm grumpy she didn't send it to Realms of Fantasy first.

Overall, a really great con.  I'm definitely going back next year.  Next up for me is the World Fantasy Convention in November, and possibly Capclave in October.