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It's been a busy whirl here at Chicon.
We arrived here late Thursday afternoon, with enough time to get into our room, register, and drop down to the Dealer's Room to wave to George (RR Martin) and say a brief 'hi!' at the tail end of his autographing. Then back up to the room to change out of traveling clothes and get ready for the dinner with Shahid Mahmud of ArcManor Press (who has published much of my backlist as well the original novel THE WOODS). Denise and I sat with Janis Ian and her partner Pat, who we really enjoyed talking with, even if the Resnick's booth, one over, was having a lively conversation regarding the literary merits of Jane Austen, strange snippets of which kept leaking over into our conversational space. I was able to talk with Carolyn Gilman, whose novel HALFWAY HUMAN was one I greatly admired (and which tied with my own DARK WATER'S EMBRACE for the Spectrum Award's Best Novel that year).
We got back to the con eventually, and managed to find the CFG suite, where we stayed for a bit before retiring to bed.
Friday morning was my session in the mass autographing tank in the dealer's room, which went well enough -- I had a steady stream of 'traffic' for signatures through my hour and a half stint, though I left about ten minutes early to find Sheila Gilbert, my editor at DAW Books, who was taking Denise and I out for lunch. We ended up at a nice restaurant called Henri's on Michigan Avenue, and had a delightful time catching up. Sheila and I talked about DAEMON HEART, the draft of which she's was reading, and -- as has happened every time Sheila's given me revision notes -- I had an "Aha!" moment which will drive the revisions. I came way eager to return to the novel and finish it with that in mind.
On the way back to the hotel, the three of us made a detour to see the "Bean" in Millennium Park -- which I gotta admit is an interesting sculpture with the way it reflects and twists the landscape around it.
Back in the hotel, I jotted down some of Sheila's comments (and actually kicked up the novel again and started to revise a bit). I got a text from George, saying to meet him in the Green Room, and headed down there. We talked a bit, then walked over to the other tower of the Hyatt where our Wild Cards panel was scheduled to start. Gotta admit it was the best Wild Cards Panel I've even been on, bar none: George, Melinda Snodgrass, Carrie Vaughn, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and myself were the panelists, the crowd was large, and we had a rousing time. Even if Bob Hess was sleeping in the front row.
Friday night was the DAW dinner -- always a treat, and this one was no exception. The group of us (about 29; I won't mention names for fear of leaving out someone, but let's just say that if someone was a DAW author and at Chicon, they were probably there) left the hotel around 7:30, and we wouldn't return until midnight… Betsy and Sheila had made reservations in a private room at a great restaurant called NaHa, and we had a long, lively, conversation-filled dinner with more wine than I usually drink and excellent food. I've said this before, but in my estimation, DAW is the publisher to work for: they are a supportive and friendly environment with great people.
Back at the hotel, Denise and I changed out of our 'dress-up' attire and back to more casual con clothes, and went up to the Brother Without Banners party, George's enormous (and enormously-active) fan group for the Ice and Fire series, since George had said he'd be up there late. We spent the next few hours there, talking with George and getting occasionally sidetracked into other conversations -- it seems a lot of the group is also intimately familiar with the Wild Cards series. Good time!
Saturday we managed to drag ourselves out of bed in time to meet with the Perry's, and had lunch with David, Shannon, and their two delightful offspring. David had asked if I'd be willing to play bass for a concert he and his fiddle player were having at the con, and I'd been looking forward to it, but alas, the Wild Cards panel ended up being scheduled for the same time, so I couldn't. Still, David's a fantastic player and singer, and I've always loved the chances I've had to be in a music circle with him -- sometime I'd love to be on stage at the same time. We caught up with the Perry's for a time, then Denise and I wandered out of the hotel to see the Tribune building, which Steven Silver had strongly recommended as a side trip. I'm glad he did -- the Trib building's a gorgeous piece of Neo-Gothic architecture, and the truly astounding thing is that the builders incorporated into the structure stones and bricks and artifacts from structures all over the world: the Great Wall of China, the pyramids, roman ruins, the Taj Mahal…. We walked around the building, looking at all the pieces. We wandered a bit down more up Michigan Avenue (stopped in the Apple Store), and back.
In the hotel room again, I worked more on the revision -- especially since I going to read the first chapter of DAEMON HEART at my reading at 5:30 that afternoon. I managed to get enough done that I did exactly that. The reading wasn't hugely attended, but there were enough people to read for (hi, Frank!), and they seemed to enjoy what they heard -- at least I heard chuckles in the proper places.
Saturday night was the Wild Cards dinner. George, Melinda, Carrie, Mary Anne, Ian Tregillis (yay!), David Levine and his spouse, Mike Cassutt, Paul Cornell, and Denise and I all headed out to Santorini's in Greektown, where we had a lovely, leisurely family-style dinner. I was stuffed.
And eventually back to the hotel… Denise and I wandered a bit, talking to Daniel Abraham in the bar, then going up to the CFG suite, then again up to Brothers party -- which was an open party that night, and was, as a result, severely crowded. However, we managed to locate George in a side room, which was significantly less crowded, and we spent the rest of the night there. Parris, George's wife and a longtime friend, was there as well; I was able to sit and chat with her for a time, which has nice since I hadn't managed to see her yet. This was a good place to be; people I wanted to see and catch up with drifted in and out throughout the night…
Today, I've another panel at 3:00, and right now, other than the Hugo Award ceremony and another party we're obligated to hit tonight, that's all we have firmly scheduled. We'll see what happens and who we meet and where we go… and Monday we drive back to reality and home.
We arrived here late Thursday afternoon, with enough time to get into our room, register, and drop down to the Dealer's Room to wave to George (RR Martin) and say a brief 'hi!' at the tail end of his autographing. Then back up to the room to change out of traveling clothes and get ready for the dinner with Shahid Mahmud of ArcManor Press (who has published much of my backlist as well the original novel THE WOODS). Denise and I sat with Janis Ian and her partner Pat, who we really enjoyed talking with, even if the Resnick's booth, one over, was having a lively conversation regarding the literary merits of Jane Austen, strange snippets of which kept leaking over into our conversational space. I was able to talk with Carolyn Gilman, whose novel HALFWAY HUMAN was one I greatly admired (and which tied with my own DARK WATER'S EMBRACE for the Spectrum Award's Best Novel that year).
We got back to the con eventually, and managed to find the CFG suite, where we stayed for a bit before retiring to bed.
Friday morning was my session in the mass autographing tank in the dealer's room, which went well enough -- I had a steady stream of 'traffic' for signatures through my hour and a half stint, though I left about ten minutes early to find Sheila Gilbert, my editor at DAW Books, who was taking Denise and I out for lunch. We ended up at a nice restaurant called Henri's on Michigan Avenue, and had a delightful time catching up. Sheila and I talked about DAEMON HEART, the draft of which she's was reading, and -- as has happened every time Sheila's given me revision notes -- I had an "Aha!" moment which will drive the revisions. I came way eager to return to the novel and finish it with that in mind.
On the way back to the hotel, the three of us made a detour to see the "Bean" in Millennium Park -- which I gotta admit is an interesting sculpture with the way it reflects and twists the landscape around it.
Back in the hotel, I jotted down some of Sheila's comments (and actually kicked up the novel again and started to revise a bit). I got a text from George, saying to meet him in the Green Room, and headed down there. We talked a bit, then walked over to the other tower of the Hyatt where our Wild Cards panel was scheduled to start. Gotta admit it was the best Wild Cards Panel I've even been on, bar none: George, Melinda Snodgrass, Carrie Vaughn, Mary Anne Mohanraj, and myself were the panelists, the crowd was large, and we had a rousing time. Even if Bob Hess was sleeping in the front row.
Friday night was the DAW dinner -- always a treat, and this one was no exception. The group of us (about 29; I won't mention names for fear of leaving out someone, but let's just say that if someone was a DAW author and at Chicon, they were probably there) left the hotel around 7:30, and we wouldn't return until midnight… Betsy and Sheila had made reservations in a private room at a great restaurant called NaHa, and we had a long, lively, conversation-filled dinner with more wine than I usually drink and excellent food. I've said this before, but in my estimation, DAW is the publisher to work for: they are a supportive and friendly environment with great people.
Back at the hotel, Denise and I changed out of our 'dress-up' attire and back to more casual con clothes, and went up to the Brother Without Banners party, George's enormous (and enormously-active) fan group for the Ice and Fire series, since George had said he'd be up there late. We spent the next few hours there, talking with George and getting occasionally sidetracked into other conversations -- it seems a lot of the group is also intimately familiar with the Wild Cards series. Good time!
Saturday we managed to drag ourselves out of bed in time to meet with the Perry's, and had lunch with David, Shannon, and their two delightful offspring. David had asked if I'd be willing to play bass for a concert he and his fiddle player were having at the con, and I'd been looking forward to it, but alas, the Wild Cards panel ended up being scheduled for the same time, so I couldn't. Still, David's a fantastic player and singer, and I've always loved the chances I've had to be in a music circle with him -- sometime I'd love to be on stage at the same time. We caught up with the Perry's for a time, then Denise and I wandered out of the hotel to see the Tribune building, which Steven Silver had strongly recommended as a side trip. I'm glad he did -- the Trib building's a gorgeous piece of Neo-Gothic architecture, and the truly astounding thing is that the builders incorporated into the structure stones and bricks and artifacts from structures all over the world: the Great Wall of China, the pyramids, roman ruins, the Taj Mahal…. We walked around the building, looking at all the pieces. We wandered a bit down more up Michigan Avenue (stopped in the Apple Store), and back.
In the hotel room again, I worked more on the revision -- especially since I going to read the first chapter of DAEMON HEART at my reading at 5:30 that afternoon. I managed to get enough done that I did exactly that. The reading wasn't hugely attended, but there were enough people to read for (hi, Frank!), and they seemed to enjoy what they heard -- at least I heard chuckles in the proper places.
Saturday night was the Wild Cards dinner. George, Melinda, Carrie, Mary Anne, Ian Tregillis (yay!), David Levine and his spouse, Mike Cassutt, Paul Cornell, and Denise and I all headed out to Santorini's in Greektown, where we had a lovely, leisurely family-style dinner. I was stuffed.
And eventually back to the hotel… Denise and I wandered a bit, talking to Daniel Abraham in the bar, then going up to the CFG suite, then again up to Brothers party -- which was an open party that night, and was, as a result, severely crowded. However, we managed to locate George in a side room, which was significantly less crowded, and we spent the rest of the night there. Parris, George's wife and a longtime friend, was there as well; I was able to sit and chat with her for a time, which has nice since I hadn't managed to see her yet. This was a good place to be; people I wanted to see and catch up with drifted in and out throughout the night…
Today, I've another panel at 3:00, and right now, other than the Hugo Award ceremony and another party we're obligated to hit tonight, that's all we have firmly scheduled. We'll see what happens and who we meet and where we go… and Monday we drive back to reality and home.
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From:
no subject
Glad you guys had a good time at the BwB party (particularly the Friday party, since I was working that one: I like to think it was a success). And the Wild Cards panel was indeed the best I've seen, as I think I said to you and Denise at the party. It was lovely to meet you both, and for a Wild Cards fan it was an incredible convention - met yourself, the lovely Carrie, Mike Cassutt, Walter, Ian, David, and Melinda. Also, some George guy. But I'd already met him, so whatever. ;)
From:
no subject
The BwB parties were excellent (as they always tend to be), though Saturday was rather too crowded for my taste. Good to talk to you!