Ketchup

One of the things that was the most fun about this WorldCon for Diana and myself is that we’re really starting to be in with the in-crowd. Most of the pros in science fiction and fantasy are open, interesting, and interested people, not at all fatheaded with their success. They’re welcoming and friendly…

…although there are notable exceptions. One idiot with a single novel under his belt went out of his way to snub me, for no reason I can imagine except possibly that I don’t share his high level of education. I found this bizarre. In the crowd, I would have barely noticed if he simply hadn’t been nice. Instead, he made an *effort* to be rude, so now he’s made an enemy, pointlessly, and you never know who’s going to end up where. For one thing, I’m now editing anthologies. And I won’t be shy about sharing my opinion of this fathead. It’s a small community. Why go out of your way to blacklist yourself? I'm guessing his behavior must be about ego gratification– trying to make me small to make himself big. I find that bizarre and sad.

But I digress! Half the fun in Denver was that we’ve come to know a bazillion writers and editors, from those with a few short stories in print to those with thirty bestselling novels, and it quickly became obvious that we couldn’t walk from one room to another without meeting three friends in between. Sometimes everyone was in too much of a rush to do more than point and grin. Sometimes we huddled together for five minutes, or twenty, in a fast-talking rush to catch up and share.

It’s exciting to be part of the excitement. I’ll spare us all a blow-by-blow naming of names, but Diana and I introduced ourselves to several writers whom we respect and happened to run into. We also caught up with a dozen more pros whom we'd become acquaintanced with during the NORAD tour or had been friends with in the years before.

My first gig for Friday was a kaffeeklatch, an event designed as a chance to sit down with your favorite writer or editor in a limited group of ten folks and talk for an hour and a half. I didn’t really expect anyone to sign up for me. My second novel is barely out, and folks like Joe Haldeman and Michael Swanwick were also available… or not. I saw the sign-up sheets. Joe had fifteen people on standby, waiting for the first ten to get hit by a bus. Nobody waited all morning in their sleeping bags to be the first to get on my sheet, and yet there were four autographs beneath “Jeff Carlson.” Awesome. Diana made five, and we had a good time talking about breaking into publishing. Three of the four were would-be writers themselves.

The kaffeklatch was followed by my first panel, Are Writers’ Workshops Right For You?, which was fairly well attended and proceeded nicely. All of my co-panelists had impressive resumes as instructors for Clarion and other workshops. We also kicked around the pros and cons of local writers’ groups, college courses, and the like.

Off to the dealer room! Every table had my books in stock. I signed big stacks of War especially and saw some more friends and colleagues, some of whom were the book sellers themselves, others who were editors or fellow writers.

After that, already dizzy, we ran back to my hotel room. My publicist had interested the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview, and I wanted to eat and to be in a calm, protected space for that phone call. Kudos to Valerie Cortes at Ace/Penguin! The interview went very well, I think, and we’ll see what the Chronicle has to say tomorrow, 8/14.

After that we trotted back toward the convention center to the Hyatt Regency bar, where we were due to sit down with my German editor at Piper Verlag, who is releasing Plague Year as Nano in just a few weeks. More excitement.

Naturally, we were unable to walk into the bar without being accosted by more friends and acquaintances. This being-at-the-nexus-of-the-sf-world stuff is awesome! We traded more hugs and handshakes in a hurry, then sat down with Carsten Polzin, my German guy, for cool drinks and a bilingual get-to-know you. Diana grew up in Germany, the daughter of a U.S. Armyman and a local fraulein, so they had fun listening to my few, rudimentary phrases in German. It was also no surprise to discover that we had favorite movies, books, and early influences in common. Carsten is an educated, passionate, well-spoken and well-read successful young man. But not as good-looking as me, right?

There were lots more familiar faces in the bar, including Ace chief Ginger Buchanan, who joined us for several minutes and for the photo at the top. She’s telling Diana to put down my drink! ;)

Labels: editors, science fiction, WorldCon report, writers

# posted by Jeff Carlson @ 10:37 AM