Hello, my peoples! We don't have a specific guest today 'cause a: I haven't had anyone send me a post in the last month or so (what's up with that, folks?) and b: I've been so busy I didn't solicit anyone for a post for today's cyber-party. I have an extremely good reason, that being my chapter of Sisters in Crime ran the hospitality suite for this year's Bouchercon By the Bay.
I'm not going to go into the nuts and bolts of running the suite right now (that's for my own blog in a day or so), but I will say that having to tell a bunch of caffeine addicts that there won't be any free coffee until 9:45am instead of at 8am is one of the scariest and most stressful things I've done in a lifetime full of a fair amount of scary, stressful experiences.
Anyway.
We're all writers and readers here. And I'm wagering most of us have attended conventions of some sort, be they themed toward mysteries, horror, fantasy, science fiction, comic books, romance, fandom, you name it. And I would love to hear about everyone's experiences, be they good, bad, ugly, funny, worthwhile, waste of time, whatever you've got to share.
So pull up a comfy chair, couch, pillow or chaise lounge. Have a glass of wine, beer, or the beverage of your choice ('cause you know I've got it) and pretend this is the world's swankiest hospitality suite at a convention covering anything you could possibly name. You know the hospitality suite is the best place for gossip, so let's get to it!
45 comments:
I guess I'm one of the few who hasn't attended a lot of conventions. Last weekend's book festival made me too nervous! Just not good in front of crowds. That may have to change after today. Or it may not!
I know that the Rivercon and Conglomeration suites became absolutely crazy at times. You stock up on food to last the entire weekend--and then the pirates swoop down on it, and upon you. Before you can spit three times the cupboard is bare and you have to make restocking runs all over again.
(I doubt you had THIS problem as your guests were all professional authors, older and much more mannered than their younger counterparts among the fans. I bet you were a splendid hostess there as you are on these delightful occaisions.)
Other than that the hospitality suite is a fun place to be, if you don't mind a lot of endless holding forth upon quite minor points, as well as the eternal Card Game.
If apprising the guests that the morning Java would be later than usual was your main horror story, I would say you got off fairly lightly. Try introducing smoking/non-smoking suites to a bunch of hardened nicotine addicts! Whewww!!!
Glad you had a great time. LOL.
I was so nervous at my first con and I was there as a fan. I am a lot more settled now. ;p I like the smaller industry events over huge fan events though. More opportunity to hang out relax and get to know new people.
I worked on programming for Albacon this year after bitterly complaining about last year's programming (I put my money where my mouth is). But I won't be doing it again -- too big of a time suck. I need to write. But we had a Sat night steamy romance reading (of course we did! I made sure of it) and someone brought some Laphraoig, so I was happy.
And I read from LOVE ME LIKE A REPTILE and it was a big hit. While we got a big crowd for the steamy romance, I noticed that many of other readings didn't have much of an audience. I *love* readings -- do other readers not?
The worst at cons is when you're on a panel with some blowhard who won't stop talking and it's hard to get a word in edgewise. I'm pretty good about breaking into a monologue, but many writers are really reticent to speak when someone else is monopolizing everything (oh no, I won't name names [well, initials GRRM...]) and sit there awkwardly and the audience, even if they came to see Big Name feel cheated, too.
Good morning, everyone! Let me catch up on a few things and I'll be joining the party here! And announcing it on Facebook, etc...
Drinks?
My word verification is ticulaks. I don't know why that amuses me so...
Hi, ALex! Were you speaking at the festival or just attending? I know it can be hell to have to get up in front of crowds and talk - so many writers are introverts and they say that's their least favorite part (after rejections) of the job.
Jack!!! We had hordes descend in that manner at Bouchercon. Some well behaved, some not. When I was restocking the salami/cheese platters, I had people reaching over my arms to grab stuff off hte platters before I'd finished restocking. I took a wine break about then. But yes, in general I will hazard a guess that the mystery writers/readers crowd are slightly more socially adept in some ways than the Sci-Fi/fantasy crowds. Not that I don't love the latter as well, mind you. But... social skills are not always present. We don't have the smoking problem at all, thank goodness!
Adele, my lovely, I hope to be doing a convention of sorts with you in the near future! Hard to imagine you nervous, though...
Kate, Laphroig makes everything better! And yeah, you certainly did put your money where your mouth is (I never even complained about a hospitality suite, so why the heck was I doing it?!) and OMG, it is a time suck! Even just doing the suite was so much planning and prep and stress... writing? HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
Margery, I like short readings. When I'm seeing authors, I prefer to hear them talk about other stuff... but good short readings are tantalizing. I notice when I"m watching audiences listen to readings that if you keep it under five minutes, their attention and good-will seems to be higher...
Kit...I have experienced the blowhards. No names either, but the last panel one of the panelists kept talking out of turn and the moderator spent a lot of time talking about his books and answering his own questions. Which ain't cool. So...send me the name via email 'cause I'm totally curious!
I'm new to cons but my first is a doozy. I'll be at zomBcon signing Dana's name in Hungry For Your Love and being on panels with Scott Browne (Breathers) and Scott Kenemore (Zen of Zombie).
I have no idea what to wear.
Is that normal?
That's my fondest memory of SF Cons Adele. That's before the MegaCons which do attract a larger audience but destroy the intimacy we used to find amongst our friends and fellow readers.
I really don't know what the problem is Margery. Perhaps the others don't care as much for their favorites as your fans seem to care for you? :-)
Love Me Like A Reptile? The title alone should ensure a pretty good sized group. (I'll have to read this as soon as it is published.)
I've been lucky enough to miss the blowhards--at leats there were none on any panel I ever heard. I guess the temptations of self ego gratification is just too strong for some. (Sigh)
Oh Dana, is that ever true! Though I hate to say it (I am a fan, after all) some fans have all the social skills of the proverbial dog in the manger. Similar to autos which carry the bumper sticker: That's right. I DO Own the Goddam Road! Don't know what can be done about it either, murder being still quite beyond the pale. :-)
Stacy, you will have a blast! And...waitaminute, signing my name?! What the...
Anyway, wear what makes you feel good, be it jeans or something sexed up, or whatever. Anything goes at conventions! I so wish I could be there too...
Jack, I think the dog in the manger has better social skills than some of the people I've met at conventions...
You're probably right, as usual. To think I may have slandered man's best friend....
It is not to be borne.
Dana I hope so too but I have no idea if it'll come off or not. *fingers crossed* ha, in real life I am a gibbering wreck, I just do a spectacular line in bravado. Gotta love the internet for teaching me to get over my shyness.
Oh Kit, I feel your pain! Having been a moderator on panels has given me no patience at all for microphone hogs... GRRM - I know who that is... Really? Disappointing.
-Kilt
Hah! I just asked you about that conference in an email! You read my mind, you minx!
The more you pretend to be confident, the easier it gets. I was SO shy in junior high/high school that people thought I was a snob... and I worked on the facade of confidence via drama classes... They paid off and I'm now (almost always) pretty good in public. With occasional and painful bouts of shyness now and again...
Okay, someone tell me who GRRM is. I feel left out of the secret society!!!
ANd Kilt, you're an excellent moderator!
Wait a sec... horror/fantasy author? Vampires on a riverboat?
Dang!...
George R R Martin , he writes 500 page epic fantasies that I haven't read yet. :)
Yeah, I guessed the name, but was doing the whole 'no names' thing... I haven't read any of his epics, but I did dearly love Fevre Dream... have you read that yet?
nope, i'm rubbish, too much stuff i've never read.
I enjoyed Fevre Dream, so I was looking forward to meeting the author -- then I was on a panel with him. Some people are best on the page...
On the other hand, some people are even more marvelous in person. I'll always use my "mentor" Clive Barker and pal Liz Hand as examples of people who write often really dark books and yet are so incredibly delightful in person, you know all the horror is on the page.
Now I fear I am starting a fevre dream of my own -- tea and juice in massive quantities! I refuse to be sick. Why oh why, did I spend so much time around other people yesterday? I should have been writing and healthy! ;-)
And Jack -- Love Me Like A Reptile is available from Noble Romance :-) Another one of my Naughty Nibbles. Next up is a retake of Cinderella and then The Goose Girl! But Kit keeps stealing the keyboard lately.
Email details, Kate! I know you can't do it here... Sigh. I hate it when people I admire turn out to be poops.
Love both Clive Barker and Elizabeth Hand. And VERY happy to know they're NOT poops in person!
OH dear, one hot whiskey toddy for you...
well, I just had my first Bouchercon experience, and it was a blast -- thanks in no small part to the marvelous hospitality suite run by Dana and SinC NoCal! And the bar. Oh yes, the bar. Very important.
I blogged about my experiences here for those curious.
For the panels, a good moderator is really essential.
Heh. Yeah, the bar is where a lot of the action happens, at least at the conventions I've been to for mystery writers/readers. I've been to a ton of the sci-fi/fantasy ones in my youth, but didn't hang out the bar much then...
Most of the authors I've had the privilege to meet were delightful. With the exception of the very few (And GRRM was one of these)they all were "just plain folks". The highest moment was meeting Robert A. Heinlein, who turned out to be polite, funny, easy to talk with, and still every inch the Navy officer.
Jack, what is this GRRM like?
He appears to be wuiet and well mannered until you try to praise his work or ask him a question. Then he acts like an overly taxed parent having to explain something to a child for the twentieth time.
After our first meeting I avoided him thereafter. It simply appeared that I wasn't wanted so I obliged him from then on.
I don't mind giving a public figure privacy--I'm all for it. But I don't believe the treatment I recieved was correct or necessary.
(On the other side, Mr. Martin may be embarrased by all the attention he recieves and, in his essential shyness, may be trying to cover himself with a rude exterior. In any case it's the wrong tactic because it can actually turn potential readers away from what is really a body of excellent, though very dark, work.)
Or he may just not have social skills. No matter what the reason, no excuse for rudeness when someone is being complimentary and not over-stepping boundaries.
The weeks sure do fly by! I have a 1/2 finished post saved someplace for you, Dana, but...time. It flies. (It's already October! And the end at that! I'm nowhere near ready for this.)
Conferences. I enjoy conferences to a point. I dislike crowds, which is a big problem conference-wise, but like talking with others, finding new authors, learning something. Two weeks ago I was at Albacon (with CMK/KAL/KM) and had a blast on the various panels. The people were great, too. :)
Then again, my very first con was a Star Trek Convention in college. Nothing like a bunch of Trekkies to shake all fear out of you!
Better late than never! Not that I've ever been to a convention, but the idea sounds great. I need to get out more, me thinks...
Trekkies can be fun, Star Warriors can be a bit weird (especially those regiments of masked Storm Troopers). But what ca shake me up are the strange groups we sometimes find ourselves sharing a hotel with. (Such as the Pentacostal group at one major convention. I'm sure there were prayers of exorcism aplenty that weekend. And no, they didn't work. ;-) )
Kristabel, it's the most fun I've ever had--and still do. :-) By all means get out more. Most con goers are an absolute delight.
After reading all the comments (I'm at work, it's slow going) I'll take a hot tea, please, with a nice scone if you don't mind Dana, dear.
Now then...George R.R. Martin? Game of Thrones? You do know it's an HBO series with Sean Bean, right? I haven't read the book, not sure I will, but I'm all over Sean. I mean...I'll be sure to watch that series!
Sean Bean is hard to beat. I'll have to catch that series myself. LOLThanks Isabel! :-)
Once upon a time long, but not so long ago I got wrangled into working a Home and Garden Convention in Vegas. Interesting. I learned many things I didn't know:
1. Enormous breakfasts can be consumed and burned off easily when on your feet for 10 hours straight.
2. If you insult a bartender, or in my case state the truth, and say that they make weak drinks--you get triple the liquor as comeuppance. All I can say is come up some more.
3. My boss couldn't drink me under the table even after his 35 years in Sales and our big bosses drink like little girls and do unholy things to steak, like order them well-done.
The bling sucked compared to your free books. I have envy.
Do your bosses then slather them in (ugh!) Steak Sauce?
I went to Killercon last year. I really enjoyed it and it was nice getting together with Lori, as well as meeting a few other authors who have written for RR. I really wanted to go this year, but it conflicted with the beginning of the new semester. :-(
I really want to attend more conferences, but finishing my education is my top priority right now (I see it as investing in my writing).
I would love to meet you all at a conference or two....
Caution to the winds: gimme a nicely warmed snifter of Remy Martin, please. It's the best thing for a cold, I'm told.
Cons can be great, especially if you go with friends. It's hard on your own, especially if, like me, you're not especially extraverted.
Bummed I missed most of the party, but bits late enough now for me to have a stiff drink!
I've sadly never been to a con. I didn't started writing until I moved to this rock in the middle of the ocean. Now I can't afford to fly over the Pacific for all the great cons!
I'm still holding out hope for at least a RR meeting to be held here in paradise!!
I heard about your hospitality at Bouchercon and what a great job you did.
Order anything I like huh? Hmmm, how about an order of Sean Bean with a side of Karl Urban.
As for conferences, I've attended a few and have several slated for this coming year. I learn a lot at the various workshops and enjoy them.
Jack, just about. The waiter looked horrified, but after hearing their drink orders I couldn't be surprised. Mind you this was a $50 steak, not an Applebee's special.
I've never been to a con of any sort. I'vve lived a very sheltered life. I think I might enjoy going to one or two but going alone would be terrifying so I'd have to have company! Perferabaly I'd have 3 or 4 girlfriends so we'd be a force to contend with.
Dang, I missed the evening party! Sorry, folks, I was out and about and then felt the need to get to bed VERY early 'cause I think I'm catching Dave's cold...
Sean Bean is a honey. Lucky for all you ladies I'm willing to share. :-)
Tea/scones/G&T's/REmy Martins, all dispensed (magically backwards in time!).
I learned that some people are nice no matter what and some people are assholes no matter what. coffee really has nothing to do with it...
Post a Comment