Category: Conventions

This is why I don’t go to WorldCon

By:  TempestConventions
This is why I don't go to WorldCon

I used to go to WorldCon every year without fail, kind of like the way I go to WisCon now. But long ago WorldCon chafed on me, and I realized that it was far more expensive than other cons and more of a trip to see my friends than an enjoyable con experience. Beyond that, though, it got to be more than a little annoying to deal with the cluelessness around race. WorldCon is big — not Comicon big, but big. Therefore you cannot predict from what quarter the crazy might come at you and thus avoid it.

So when I read posts like Karnythia’s about her first WorldCon experience, it just reinforces my conviction that being there would not be healthy for me. That’s a big ball of fail right there.

I know that I will go back to WorldCon someday. When I have a book out I’ll need to promote it. And when I’m nominated for a Hugo I want to be on the scene in case I win. And I acknowledge that the entire con is not some huge, writhing mass of fail. Like anywhere there are good parts and bad parts and neutral parts and there’s usually a squid, too. But for the amount of money it costs, plus the energy it drains, I’m better off making WisCon and World Fantasy my must-go conventions with a happy dash of ReaderCon on the side.

2009 Hugo Award Night of Win

By:  TempestConventions
2009 Hugo Award Night of Win

Though I am not fond of WorldCon, I do wish I could be there tonight to party with the Hugo winners. Many people I know and love to pieces won tonight:

  • BEST NOVELLA: “The Erdmann Nexus” by Nancy Kress (Asimov’s Oct/Nov 2008)
  • BEST SHORT STORY: “Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two, also: audio version)
  • BEST RELATED BOOK: Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998-2008 by John Scalzi (Subterranean Press)
  • BEST EDITOR, SHORT FORM: Ellen Datlow
  • BEST SEMIPROZINE: Weird Tales edited by Ann VanderMeer & Stephen H. Segal
  • BEST FAN WRITER: Cheryl Morgan
  • BEST FANZINE: Electric Velocipede edited by John Klima
  • BEST FAN ARTIST: Frank Wu

I seriously don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hugo winner list made of more win. Special congrats to Weird Tales for breaking the million-year Locus winning streak and to my main man, John Klima, for his fanzine win. I am dancing in my living room and singing at the top of my lungs in praise of all y’all.

Four Things Makes A Post (last day of vacation edition)

By:  TempestReadings
  1. My full Readercon schedule can be found here. I don’t know that I will actually be reading at the Interfictions 2 reading… or maybe we’re doing the thing where we each read for 2 minutes. I now have something to do on each day. When I’m not on a panel or attending one I’ll probably be hanging around the Prime Books table. There you will find copies of Sybil’s Garage and Electric Velocipede as well as Federations (and whatever else that doesn’t matter to me ;) ).
  2. My Week 2 story was complete in the early hours of Sunday morning. But it has no name, so I can’t send it anywhere. Boo! I hate titles.
  3. Today is the last full day I have to spend with my nieces here in Virginia. We went to Barnes & Noble and I bought them a TON of books. I tried desperately to interest my older niece in good stuff like Delia’s Changeling and Neil’s Graveyard Book but she wanted American Girls books. Save me. I did get her to buy Harry Potter, so that’s a start. I got a thrill when I saw Carol’s Graphic Universe books on the shelves. No Twisted Journeys, though. So I’ll have to send them to her. I have some age-appropriate Tiptree submissions I’ll send, too. I’m turning into the aunt that sends books. Hrm. (I also have a small friend in Texas who is getting some books soon, too.)
  4. Don’t forget that tomorrow is the Federations NYRSF reading. Click the link for deets and location and such.

Readercon

By:  TempestEvents
Readercon

I’ll be attending Readercon in a couple of weekends and this time I’m on a bit of programming. If you’d like to find/stalk me, here’s the deets:

Friday, 3PM — VT: Interfictions 2 Group Reading
Delia Sherman (host) with Amelia Beamer, K. Tempest Bradford, Matthew Cheney, F. Brett Cox, Michael DeLuca, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Shira Lipkin, Rachel Pollack, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine
Readings from Interfictions 2: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing, edited by host Sherman and Christopher Barzak and forthcoming in the fall from Small Beer Press under the auspices of the Interstitial Arts Foundation.

Friday, 5PM — Salon E: Off Color
K. Tempest Bradford, David Anthony Durham (L), Eileen Gunn, Anil Menon, Cecilia Tan
At various sf conventions, we’ve been to more than one panel during which the panelists try to figure out why there seem to be so few writers of color in the field. As an alternative, we have invited several panelists to discuss what an sf field more enticing to writers of color might look like.

Friday, 8PM — ME/ CT: Annual Interstitial Arts (IAF) Town Meeting
Ellen Kushner with discussion by Liz Gorinsky, Theodora Goss, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Shira Lipkin, Delia Sherman, John Shirley, Sarah Smith, Catherynne M. Valente
Note: I’m not officially on this but will be there talking about the auction and salons and such.
Interstitial Art falls in the interstices of recognized genres. The Interstitial Arts Foundation is a group of “Artists Without Borders” fighting the Balkanization of art. They celebrate work that crosses or straddles the borders between media, the borders between genres, the borders between “high art” and popular culture. They are not opposed to mainstream fiction or genre fiction, nor are they seeking to create a new category. They are just particularly excited by border-crossing fiction (and music and art), and want to support the creation of such works and to establish better ways of engaging with them. The IAF has had a presence at Readercon from its beginning. In 2007, in cooperation with Small Beer Press, the IAF published Interfictions: An Anthology of Interstitial Writing edited by Delia Sherman and Theodora Goss, and in fall 2009 they will present Interfictions 2, edited by Delia Sherman and Christopher Barzak. They are also doing a lot with visual arts. Interstitial Arts is an idea, a conversation, not a hard-and-fast definition-and it’s a conversation you are invited to join.

Saturday, Noon — VT: Federations Group Reading
John Joseph Adams (host) with K. Tempest Bradford, Robert J. Sawyer, Allen Steele, Catherynne M. Valente,
Genevieve Valentine

Sunday, 11AM, Maine/Connecticut: The Future of Magazines, Part 2 (Online) — (part 1 is at 10AM)
K. Tempest Bradford, Neil Clarke, Robert Killheffer, Mary Robinette Kowal (L), Matthew Kressel, Sean Wallace
Are print magazines doomed? (Heck, if newspapers can’t make it …) Or will they survive in their tiny niches? Are there ways to make them more viable? Is that even worth the bother? After all, online magazines are now easy and relatively inexpensive to start — are they the answer?

I am the Mary Sue of this journal

By:  TempestConventions

My WisCon report will come later this week. I have a day off Thursday. But before that happens I need help!

So the Not Another F-ing Race Panel was da bomb diggity and so many awesome things came out of it. One of them was my answer to the question about what kind of companion animal I would want: a white pony with blue eyes and long, flowy hair to prance around behind me as I went through my day.

On Monday (and please forgive my fuzzy brain) someone showed me a drawing they did of this very thing!  yes, a prancing pony following me around! OMG.  I have completely forgotten who that was (fuzzy brain!) but I’m hoping they read my blog because I adore that picture to death and would love an electronic copy. From it I will make my new default icon: I am the Mary Sue of this Journal. (Another line from the panel, kinda.)

Merry Month of May

By:  TempestNon-Fiction Publications

At WisCon I was able to quietly sneak away with a copy of the latest Electric Velocipede (issue 17/18!). I was super excited to see it because my story Enmity is contained within. There are also stories by many friends of mine, including two other Altered Fluidians: Mercurio D. Rivera and Matthew Kressel.

I saw John Klima during his brief appearance and got to hug him a lot. Then on Sunday I wore The Shirt. You know, this shirt:

I have it on good authority that The Shirt moved many copies of the zine. (Also, if you are a fan of EV or of shirts or of me, you can get The Shirt on Zazzle and support the zine in the process.)

This May has been especially awesome for me because I had stories in a book and two zines come out this month. Federations, Sybil’s Garage 6, and Electric Velocipede 17/18 — and all of them were available in the dealer’s room. There were also many copies of the Interfictions anthology and all three WisCon Chronicles! I’m in each, and the newest one is especially spiffy with a fantastic cover. Liz Herny is a goddess.

I was feeling very fancy having so many things in the room with my stories and essays in, so I took pictures:

WisCon 33 Dealer's Room of Me - Federations WisCon 33 Dealer's Room of Me - Sybil's Garage

WisCon 33 Dealer's Room of Me - Electric Velocipede

WisCon 33 Dealer's Room of Me - The WisCon Chronicles WisCon 33 Dealer's Room of Me - Interfictions

So I encourage you to order your copy of Sybil’s Garage if I didn’t force it ony ou at WisCon, to buy Federations and WisCon Chronicles vol. 3, to check the Electric Velocipede blog to see when the latest issue will be available for ordering (the copies at WisCon were special advance ones — contributors and subscribers should get theirs soon), and to read, read, read, not just my stories, but all the fabulous stuff in these offerings. May 2009 is a month of awesomeness.

(More) WisCon POC Events

By:  TempestConventions
(More) WisCon POC Events

First one is something a lot of people asked for since it was pretty awesome last year.  Second one is something I’ve been wanting to do for months and months, especially since I didn’t follow up with the great ideas from last year. Third most of you know about already.

WisCon POC Meet & Greet

Come hang out with POC WisCon attendees Friday evening — at 5:30 (the dinner break) we’ll gather in the lobby of the Concourse and at 6:05 we’ll depart for a place to hang and talk or a place to eat and hang and talk. All POC are welcome to attend, whether this is your first WisCon (especially if so!) or your 30th or anywhere in-between.

Strategies for Talking Amongst Ourselves Both Online and Off

An informal POC discussion group. It’s no surprise to any person of color paying attention that there are plenty of us who love SF/F/H despite the problematic elements in both the community and the media. But not all of us are connected, even tangentially, to the larger/mainstream community or the satellite POC-specific groups that have formed online and off. How do we better facilitate the dialogue between SF-loving POC who aren’t on LiveJournal (or its clones) or Ning, or Facebook or online at all?

During this gathering I’d like to brainstorm ways to better connect with each other (jumping off of the excellent ideas put forward during last year’s discussion) and put the ideas into action before we quit the room. All POC attending WisCon are invited to attend. Bring your lunch and your laptop (if you’ve got one).

Time: Saturday, 11:30AM – 1PM
Place: Room 634

Meet (and Eat with) the Angry Black Women

All three contributors to TheAngryBlackWoman.com will be at WisCon 33. Together for the first time!: K. Tempest Bradford, Nojojojo, and Karnythia. If you’ve ever wanted to meet one or all of us, talk about angry blackness, blogging, or anything else, then come have lunch with us.

When: Sunday, 11:30AM – 1PM

Where: Noodles & Company (short walk from the Concourse) — very top level. Lots of options for vegetarians and meat-eaters

Who: We’d like to keep this part of the unofficial POC-only gig at WisCon. If you identify as POC, bring yourself on over.

What: We’ll just be talkin’ about angry black stuff. Also about guest blogging opportunities in the future and our own personal projects which include new books, new publishing ventures, and new shoes.

Please pass this along to any POC WisCon-goers who may be interested. You can also post to various interested communities or your own blog. There will be flyers at the con.

WisCon 33

By:  TempestEvents
WisCon 33

Later with this than anyone else, but there were some changes to my panel lineups and I was waiting to make sure everything else was settled. As I emailed everyone on the panel I’m moderating on Sunday, I figure I can be public about it all now.

NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL — Fri 9:00 – 10:15PM — Senate A
Nora Jemisin (M), K. Tempest Bradford, Moondancer Drake, Nnedi Nkemdili Okorafor, Naamen Gobert Tilahun

Writers of color working in F/SF face unique challenges, it’s true. But, at the end of the day, being a ‘person of color’ is only one aspect of what makes up our identities as writers and, while it’s very flattering to asked to be on panels, most of these panels never crack the ceiling of Race 101. With that in mind, wouldn’t it be nice for multiple writers of color to sit on a panel that isn’t about race at all? Here’s our chance to do just that. So, what are we gonna talk about, instead? Practically anything! Presented in game show format, NOT ANOTHER F*CKING RACE PANEL brings together writers of color to get their geek on about any number of pop culture topics (perhaps chosen from a spinning wheel of fortune)—none of them race related.

Was It Good for You? — Sat 10:30 – 11:45PM — Conference 4
Nora Jemisin (M) , K. Tempest Bradford, Sumana Harihareswara, Rachel Kronick, Betsy Lundsten

A common response to requests for increased representation of women/PoC in science fiction seems to be—we are just looking for good stories. Writers are concerned that, even absent overt discrimination, the themes they want to write about and the stories they want to tell will be dismissed as irrelevant to the white male audience. This doesn’t really have anything to do with quality. What stories do readers wish they could see more of and what stories do they wish they never had to read again? How many technically proficient stories about nothing, and stories that are metaphorical for male orgasm, do we have to read, anyway? Why is it so hard to find stories about my experience?

Judging the Tiptree — Sun 8:30 – 9:45AM — Senate B
K. Tempest Bradford, Gavin J. Grant, Catherynne M. Valente

I think maybe Gavin might not be there after all, so it coudl end up being the Tempest and Cat show. At 8:30am on Sunday we may have to promise people major shenanigans to get a crowd.

Authorial Intent vs. Reader Response — Sun 4:00 – 5:15PM — Capitol A
Vito Excalibur (M), K. Tempest Bradford, Ellen Kushner, Debbie Notkin, Delia Sherman

Umberto Eco said once that a novel was “a machine for generating interpretations….” Once a book has been released into the cruel world, does it matter what the author intended for people to get out of the book? If it does, does it matter more than what the readers see in the book?

Netbook Show and Tell — Sun 10:00 – 11:15PM — Conference 5
K. Tempest Bradford (M), Shaun Kelly, Rowan, Genevieve Valentine

Asus EEE, Acer Aspire One, HP Mininote … do those names sound familiar? What are those wee laptops around the size of a hardback book? Bring your netbook and show it off! Discuss the pros and cons. Q&A for those looking to purchase their very own netbook.

Additionally I will be participating in the following POC-only events:

POC Meet & Greet — Fri 5:30 – 7:30PM — Madison Concourse Lobby

We’ll head somewhere to eat or chat at 6:00PM.

Meet the Angry Black Women — Sun Lunch — Noodles & Company
K. Tempest Bradford, Nojojojo, Karnythia

Have lunch with the three contributors to the Angry Black Woman blog.

I think I am most excited about the netbook panel! Not just because I am mod, but because after 3 days of RACE GENDER LITERARY THEORY and TIPTREE I feel I will enjoy being able to just geek out about computers for an hour. The Not A Race Panel panel should be a good time, too. Also, I am on a panel with Ellen and Delia and Debbie and Vito?  *swoon*

There will be other additions to this schedule once the final, full-length one comes out.

Raise Your Hand If You’ve Ever Been Mistaken For Nalo (or Chip, or Octavia…)

By:  TempestConventions
Raise Your Hand If You've Ever Been Mistaken For Nalo (or Chip, or Octavia...)

I was just reading this excellent entry by Pam Noles. There’s a rather long sidetrack in there about being mistaken for Whoopi Goldberg often and in public and also being mistaken for Nalo Hopkinson at SF cons/events. There’s some verbiage in there about why the latter ends up being more annoying than the former.

Whenever I go to a con, I can usually count on at least one person mistaking me for some other black person, be they Nalo or just some black woman who is also at the con. Apparently at last year’s World Fantasy people kept confusing N K Jemisin with Alaya Dawn Johnson and Doselle Young with David Anthony Durham.

Yes, I am being serious.

I find this equal parts funny and annoying. Some days I just laugh, some days I’m like, “Really, people? REALLY?”

Anyway, I fall on the side of being slightly amused by this today, so I wrote a silly poll (ETA: poll taken down because the plugin is ass). Just how widespread is this phenomenon? How many people experience it, and where? Who do they think you are if they don’t think you’re you?

And also, when Nalo is around, who do they think she is?

WisCon Netbook Meetup

By:  TempestConventions

So, over at my tech blog, Victoria mentioned that she wanted to have a netbook panel at WisCon.  I know she’d talked about this before, but I didn’t see it on the programming form.  I suggested that we have a luncheon or something similar where people who have netbooks can gather to talk about how awesome they are and people who are interested in netbooks can come, ask questions, and actually touch some of the beasts.  I’ll do my best to bring more than one, myself (though I don’t know if I will be allowed to do so).

Does this sound like a good idea to anyone else?  Shall we do it in an overflow room, head to Michaelangelo’s, or option C to be named in comments?  I think it could be a lot of fun.

So this is my week to get everything wrong on the internet!  :)  I think I will now just go to bed and not blog anymore for a while.  But yay netbook panel.