Bella Pagan has written a lovely piece about her experience at Eastercon…which include getting lost in those scarily winding corridors at the Renaissance Hotel. I had a wonderful time also, and I’m left with a number of rich memories that will stay with me:
- drinking too much wine with John Jarrold, Darren Nash and Bella Pagan, and hearing John sing a medley of songs from Guys and Dolls;
- marvelling at Charles Stross talking about the future, in his Guest of Honour Speech, with such effortless articulacy and attention to detail and casual charisma;
- listening spellbound to Neil Gaiman reading from his new novel, about a little orphan boy raised by ghosts;
- meeting the wonderful and very charming Tanith Lee, who is astonishingly young considering she’s written nearly 100 books. Tanith admits that her writing method involves very little planning, and few revisions; her process is more like the ‘channelling’ experienced by a medium who is possessed by spirits than mere humdrum writing.
It’s rare to meet so many engaging people in such a short space of time; and (as an avid reader of SF who has never been to a convention before) a pleasure to so quickly become part of that science fiction community. I’m looking forward to the next Eastercon already.
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I just wanted to say that I just finished reading Debatable Space and all I could think about was the pursuit of achieving hermeneutic advantage in a Debatable Space.
On topic: Charles Stross is an amazing individual and his book Accelerando is blissfully fascinating.
Also, don’t be scared of cons, they are a brilliant device used for interacting. Nah…heheehehe
Glad you had a good time! I’ve never been to a con, either. And I’d love to hear Neil reading from The Graveyard Book!
I’m trying so hard to get a copy for review… 
I might try and make Eastercon next year. (Which means, of course, I won’t be able to — but I’ll try!).
~Chris
I hope you do make the next Eastercon, Chris. I think it’s in Bradford? Which is a wonderful city, the Florence of the North in my blown-away opinion.
Neil’s a great performer as well as a great writer…a rare combination of talents.
Yeah, I’ve always thought Neil to be one of those types to have maybe — just maybe — made a pact with Him With the Horns.
(Which is what I thought of Paganini when I tried to learn the violin at twelve — I settled for piano, eventually, when I broke both my arms after violin lesson! Surely a sign…)
Have you heard him read Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar? It’s essentially condensed stand-up comedy, and is pure brilliance. With a Lovecraft touch.
http://www.neilgaiman.info/Sho.....d_Peculiar
~Chris