What can I tell you about Anticipation?
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniWorldCon is a pocket universe, the memories of which quickly blur, while the repercussions dog one for months.
Let's see...Steve and I had a reading with Daniel Dern on Friday morning at 9 a.m. We expected to spend that early hour catching up with Daniel and drinking coffee. Instead, we read to a gratifyingly full room -- Daniel treated us to several fairy tales and some limericks; I read the first chapter of Carousel Tides and Steve confounded everyone with the scavage chapter from Fledgling. After, we had time for a brief Q&A and, as far as I could tell, everybody left happy.
Before that, on Thursday, Steve and I were empanelled with the Kollin brothers -- Dani and Eytan -- to discuss Collaboration, How We Do It. It was a lively panel, though I'm not sure how informative for the audience, and was again very well attended.
What else? Ah. Aunts in Space. There's apparently a great deal of interest in this issue, and I hope that some other convention will pick it up and allow it to be given the scrutiny it apparently needs. Alas, I walked into one of the larger meeting rooms, which was standing room only, to find only two of the four panelists on-board, myself (the moderator) and the excellent![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
malkingrey. Kathy Sullivan is a hero of the revolution, allowing me to draft her out of the audience at a heartbeat's notice to get us up to three discussants. Even so, the question was thrown out to the audience, which contained many knowledgeable people with opinions, and we spent a fraught (for the moderator; I hope not for others) hour trading favorite aunts and the books in which they live, and trying to get our teeth into what kinds of Aunt stories particular readers feel are missing from the fabric of SF.
Because of Conditions, I did, in my capacity as moderator, cut the official discussion off at one hour, though it had been scheduled for an hour and a half. It is, I think, a testimony to the interest people have in this topic that many stayed afterward to continue the discussion among themselves.
Sometime later in the con -- and I don't actually remember when -- I was moderator of a panel discussing Kick-Butt Heroines. Again, a lot of audience participation in a room set up in a hollow-square, rather than the usual table at the front facing auditorium lines of chairs. I think it worked well, though I am. . .somewhat nonplussed to be scolded (gently) for having opinions formed by my life experience. I expect that I'm on the edge of becoming non-useful in discussions of kick-buttness, as women now proceed to the next level of consciousness.
On Sunday, cleverly scheduled right before lunch, was Food for Writers.jonsinger moderated, with myself, malkingrey and Allison Sinclair trying to keep up. Happily, Steve and I met arcaedia immediately after, and dined well at Boris Bistro.
At some point late Sunday, I was on an Avatar panel with Cynthia Huckle, Madeline Ashby and Nora Jemison. The panel was in the Children's Area, where no adult dared to go, so we had a wide-ranging discussion with one of the panelist's husband, Liam and his brother, whose name I don't believe I got, and, later, Corwin. The moderator called the panel early, and I went down the hall to the in-progress Baen Traveling Slideshow, to sit with Steve. Alas, Jim Minz saw me come in and proceeded to embarrass me by calling for an extemporaneous talk about Fledgling and Saltation. I believe I made sense, but it's often hard to tell from behind the mike.
Saturday at 9 a.m., I joined Mindy Klasky, Patrick Lundrigen and two new writers to critique their works in progress. That was a dynamic session and I think everybody in the room learned Valuable Writer Foo Stuff, which counts as a success. Kudos tobirdhousefrog for organizing the Workshop Track, a huge task that she acquitted with both honor and humor.
Beside the lovely lunch witharacaedia, we had a relaxing dinner with Myles and Nancy at an Italian restaurant with a bilingual menu (Italian and French); an a leisurely dinner with the Baen Crowd. The Friends of Liad Breakfast was very well attended this year -- we got a head count of 23; far surpassing my guess-for-reservation-purposes of twelve. Our waitress, Thuy, managed us all handily.
As with any WorldCon, there were people we wanted to meet that we missed, and people we hadn't seen in Forever who we finally got a chance to chat with. Because we were so lightly scheduled (in terms of other cons and WorldCons), I came home relaxed rather then exhausted, which I could very much get used to.
It was a slightly expensive trip with regard to Personal Belongings -- my moonstone-and-triple-moon pendant lost its clasp, the back fell off of my tree-and-dragon pin, and! my lovely lightweight black slacks acquired a hole. Repairs on order.
In sum, a good and relaxing time was had by the Lee Contingent, and I'm glad I went to WorldCon this year.
And, now, if you'll excuse me, I have a ton of work to do.
Let's see...Steve and I had a reading with Daniel Dern on Friday morning at 9 a.m. We expected to spend that early hour catching up with Daniel and drinking coffee. Instead, we read to a gratifyingly full room -- Daniel treated us to several fairy tales and some limericks; I read the first chapter of Carousel Tides and Steve confounded everyone with the scavage chapter from Fledgling. After, we had time for a brief Q&A and, as far as I could tell, everybody left happy.
Before that, on Thursday, Steve and I were empanelled with the Kollin brothers -- Dani and Eytan -- to discuss Collaboration, How We Do It. It was a lively panel, though I'm not sure how informative for the audience, and was again very well attended.
What else? Ah. Aunts in Space. There's apparently a great deal of interest in this issue, and I hope that some other convention will pick it up and allow it to be given the scrutiny it apparently needs. Alas, I walked into one of the larger meeting rooms, which was standing room only, to find only two of the four panelists on-board, myself (the moderator) and the excellent
malkingrey. Kathy Sullivan is a hero of the revolution, allowing me to draft her out of the audience at a heartbeat's notice to get us up to three discussants. Even so, the question was thrown out to the audience, which contained many knowledgeable people with opinions, and we spent a fraught (for the moderator; I hope not for others) hour trading favorite aunts and the books in which they live, and trying to get our teeth into what kinds of Aunt stories particular readers feel are missing from the fabric of SF.Because of Conditions, I did, in my capacity as moderator, cut the official discussion off at one hour, though it had been scheduled for an hour and a half. It is, I think, a testimony to the interest people have in this topic that many stayed afterward to continue the discussion among themselves.
Sometime later in the con -- and I don't actually remember when -- I was moderator of a panel discussing Kick-Butt Heroines. Again, a lot of audience participation in a room set up in a hollow-square, rather than the usual table at the front facing auditorium lines of chairs. I think it worked well, though I am. . .somewhat nonplussed to be scolded (gently) for having opinions formed by my life experience. I expect that I'm on the edge of becoming non-useful in discussions of kick-buttness, as women now proceed to the next level of consciousness.
On Sunday, cleverly scheduled right before lunch, was Food for Writers.
jonsinger moderated, with myself, malkingrey and Allison Sinclair trying to keep up. Happily, Steve and I met arcaedia immediately after, and dined well at Boris Bistro.At some point late Sunday, I was on an Avatar panel with Cynthia Huckle, Madeline Ashby and Nora Jemison. The panel was in the Children's Area, where no adult dared to go, so we had a wide-ranging discussion with one of the panelist's husband, Liam and his brother, whose name I don't believe I got, and, later, Corwin. The moderator called the panel early, and I went down the hall to the in-progress Baen Traveling Slideshow, to sit with Steve. Alas, Jim Minz saw me come in and proceeded to embarrass me by calling for an extemporaneous talk about Fledgling and Saltation. I believe I made sense, but it's often hard to tell from behind the mike.
Saturday at 9 a.m., I joined Mindy Klasky, Patrick Lundrigen and two new writers to critique their works in progress. That was a dynamic session and I think everybody in the room learned Valuable Writer Foo Stuff, which counts as a success. Kudos to
birdhousefrog for organizing the Workshop Track, a huge task that she acquitted with both honor and humor.Beside the lovely lunch with
aracaedia, we had a relaxing dinner with Myles and Nancy at an Italian restaurant with a bilingual menu (Italian and French); an a leisurely dinner with the Baen Crowd. The Friends of Liad Breakfast was very well attended this year -- we got a head count of 23; far surpassing my guess-for-reservation-purposes of twelve. Our waitress, Thuy, managed us all handily. As with any WorldCon, there were people we wanted to meet that we missed, and people we hadn't seen in Forever who we finally got a chance to chat with. Because we were so lightly scheduled (in terms of other cons and WorldCons), I came home relaxed rather then exhausted, which I could very much get used to.
It was a slightly expensive trip with regard to Personal Belongings -- my moonstone-and-triple-moon pendant lost its clasp, the back fell off of my tree-and-dragon pin, and! my lovely lightweight black slacks acquired a hole. Repairs on order.
In sum, a good and relaxing time was had by the Lee Contingent, and I'm glad I went to WorldCon this year.
And, now, if you'll excuse me, I have a ton of work to do.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
walking
Date: 2009-08-13 03:13 pm (UTC)Re: walking
Date: 2009-08-13 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-13 04:37 pm (UTC)[1] Thinking of which I must try to organise some sort of FoL activity over here at the UK Eastercon. Oops, I think I just did the V-word. Again...
Kick-Butt Heroines don't touch the ground?
Date: 2009-08-14 12:06 am (UTC)Thanks, but I think I'll take my heroines (and heroes) with muddy feet.
Re: Kick-Butt Heroines don't touch the ground?
Date: 2009-08-14 01:02 am (UTC)The point was made that we Must Be Careful to Be Inclusive. When I was growing up, my role models were men, because men treated me better than women did when I was child. Women wanted to force me into Girl Mode; my grandfather, my grandmother's friend Jack and other men in my life at that point taught me stuff and never once indicated that it wasn't proper for a girl-child to be able to think on her feet, to know when to cheat at cards, or to be able to say NO and make it stick.
When I was a young woman, it was necessary -- and I think this is something I have in common with other women my age -- to reject All of the Accepted Woman Role in order to gain autonomy, and thus I and others do not value Pretty Things as we necessarily ought.
Nowadays, women are trying to reclaim "classic femininity" and still retain autonomy. So I'm told. Bragging on not owning a dress is therefore non-inclusive, and will doubtless hurt someone's feelings.
Clearly, I'm too old to discuss the sensibilities of modern, young kick-butt heroines.
Or... how else does one form opinions? Out of unfounded principle, untouched by experience? I'm fascinated by the suggestion that there is a better way to formulate opinions...or test them.
One forms opinions through experience, and by thinking about one's experiences. I get my nose out of joint when I'm told that I'm wrong to think or feel in a certain way, but, hey, that's just me.
Re: Kick-Butt Heroines don't touch the ground?
Date: 2009-08-14 12:01 pm (UTC)Weird and wonderful. So not hurting feelings is now an attribute of modern, young kick-butt heroines? That seems somewhat odd...
Re: Kick-Butt Heroines don't touch the ground?
Date: 2009-08-14 01:29 pm (UTC)Let me beat some tolerance into you?!
Date: 2009-08-14 05:33 pm (UTC)Sorry, sorry, I just get bent out of shape about people telling others their opinions are wrong. I'll get off my soapbox now.
I've noticed, while sailing with a group of 2 50-something women and 2 40-something women, that we have certain very different reactions to 'feminist'/equal rights issues. They are all valid, they're just different. I found that surprising (that they're different) and then was kicking myself for being surprised. A lot of social change happened in the 60s and 70s and it has definitely affected us. I find it refreshingly positive how far we've come - not that we don't have further to go, but we as females have progressed in the positive direction (in my opinion).
Personally, I'd get a kick out of reading a story where the female protagonist got positive mentoring from a dad/grandad/uncle. I don't see enough of that in Literature. It makes me miss my Dad all the more. (Who else would teach me carpentry while building the family tree house?)
I hope that Aunts in Space discussion gets picked up by other cons.
Lauretta
Re: Let me beat some tolerance into you?!
Date: 2009-08-15 02:11 pm (UTC)That whole trope raises my hackles, as someone female who is a military veteran and was at the end of many-to-few gender ratios in college and in ROTC decades ago. It irks me to see that despite the passing of all these years, despite both Harvard and MIT having female presidents, despite all the women who've graduated from the US federal and state schools feeding the Coast Guard and the Merchant Marine and the military, despite women being race car drivers, jockeys, CEOs, lawyers, politicians.... that ther is still the Queen Bee plot in SF/F as an acceptable trope rather than having to explained as an exception....
E.g. in Darkover Landfall, which came out around the early 1980s?, the author created a situation in which there were values changes implemented in the culture of the new colony, based on trying to make the colony survive on a planet which was not the intended destination, and upon loss of critical equipment and supplies and information access. Those conditions got set early-on in the book. No such explanations showed up in The Hidden Worlds for why the cultures treat women as second class citizens at best...
Re: Let me beat some tolerance into you?!
Date: 2009-08-16 09:29 pm (UTC)Amen I say unto thee....grrrrr
Lauretta
Collaboration
Date: 2009-08-15 10:56 pm (UTC)I have no idea what it's like writing fiction, but I found in my journalism career that double-bylined were awkward in many ways. Clearly, it works for you guys, but I'm terribly curious how. :-)
Is there somewhere you've already written about this that I could go read? Thanks!
Re: Collaboration
Date: 2009-08-17 02:05 pm (UTC)It's funny, I always thought of newspaper work as a multi-layered collaboration that must work for the good of the paper. In fact, that was one of the things I talked about at the panel with the Kollins.
Re: Collaboration
Date: 2009-08-18 04:28 am (UTC)There's definitely multi-layered collaboration in any newsroom. But the meshing of two (or more) people's writing into a single story always seemed awkward to me. But perhaps that's because the bulk of my experience was at the AP, which until recently strongly frowned on double bylines. For breaking stories, for example, the person who got sent to the scene (and therefore achieved the desired dateline) automatically got the byline on a story even though s/he usually contributed the least reporting (and none of the actual writing) to the final story on the wire.
Certainly I contributed to far more stories, both as a reporter and as an editor, than I actually bylined in my nearly 20 years in journalism, and I always felt good about being a part of a big story even if I didn't get the glory of the byline. (And of course the AP is also known as the Anonymous Press since so many papers don't actually run AP bylines so it's somewhat moot anyway, even if you assume that normal newspaper readers actually notice reporters' names on stories.)
Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing about how you guys work together! And thanks for letting me ramble here. :-)