I’m resting up after three days at World Fantasy in Oakland. Overall, I’m glad I went, but I also had a few low points…
I’ll start with the bad/uncomfortable:
- Some of the smaller conference rooms were poorly ventilated (though no fault of the organizers)
- Some cringey social awkwardness among adults who are enthusiastic about make believe, myself included (but that’s par for the course when going to sci-fi and fantasy cons)
- There was no way to purchase a ticket if you didn’t pre-register, which excluded a friend who was happy to pay
- Getting hard-pitched by an author in the expo hall trying very hard to sell me his epic fantasy series
But many highlights!
- Listening to Ted Chiang talk about the ideas and philosophies behind his stories, as well as how the movie Arrival got made
- Listening to an interview with Robert Silverberg (Lord Valentine’s Castle was one of the novels that inspired me to write SFF)
- Attending a reading where my friend Beth Dawkins read two excellent stories
- Another reading where I heard some intriguing work in progress from Paolo Bacigalupi
- Learning about the career and artistic process of artist Stephanie Law
- Meeting some new writers and getting to know others a bit better, despite the fact that I wasn’t feeling particularly social or extroverted
I rarely write fantasy, and this was my first fantasy-only con. But attending was a no-brainer since it was so ridiculously convenient, and both friends and favorite authors attending.
Next up, maybe ’27 Nebulas in Seattle (again, pretty convenient).