Wiscon Day 4 - Report 11
Jun. 22nd, 2008 11:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
julieandrewsSo S, K1, and I had teamed up with Karen Joy Fowler (one of our awesome Clarion instructors) to do a reading at Wiscon. Since it was everyone but Karen's first Wiscon, and probably first reading as well, we didn't really know what we were doing. We didn't realize that the readings at Wiscon all have cool names. Like everyone was talking about Taboo for the name and theme they had going on. And it didn't occur to us to post flyers either.
But then K1 did up a brilliant flyer for us during the con and posted it around. Again, I have a picture, but it's like.. still on my camera.
Our reading was at Fair Trade coffee shop, which was a bad location. Between the noise of the people and the various coffee-making machines, it was too loud to do a reading inside. Fortunately there was a patio thing out back. Where there was a giant air conditioner or other fan-type unit which kept turning on and off. Also very loud, but at least we could be heard outside. The space was cramped and hampered by a fire escape. Definitely not feng shuied. There were ants and other bugs crawling all around, including on people. And general street noise and smoke from, well, streets.
But that's all right. It was cozy and a number of people came to hear us read. Some of them I knew, but there were strangers there too. Eep.
I'd tell you what everyone else read, but my brain was having trouble concentrating. As guess as far as nerves go, that's better than butterflies in my stomach or sweaty palms or something. Suffice it to say that everyone read brilliantly and the parts I do remember from their stories were excellent.
I read part of a story I wrote at Clarion.. except that it's since been rewritten so it only bears passing resemblance to that story. It's based on an exercise that Jeff Vandermeer had us do, where he gave us the characters and the plot and said no speculative element could be in it. It was a hard exercise for all of us, for differing reasons. I really had to work to make the characters my own and people I could use. It was my first time writing from an outline. And I frequently rebel against writing mainstream stories.
So at the reading, I explained a little of this, then I read the first part of my story. And I generally told people to support Clarion in various ways, including by shopping at Mysterious Galaxy, whose Tshirt I was wearing. They're an independent bookstore in San Diego and you can support them and Clarion by shopping from here.
My part of the reading was probably shortest, but it worked out fine because it left S with plenty of time before our reading block ended, rather than short-changing her just because she read last.
I don't think I did too badly, though I would've preferred a podium. You can fidget more with a podium.
So I survived my first reading, and anyone who didn't go really missed out.
After that it was dinner time and we didn't really have plans, so we weren't sure what we were going to do until S, who'd gone on ahead, contacted us about dinner with the Carl Brandon Society.
S is really good at getting people together.
We ate at a pub-type place.. I think it was called Angelic, or something like that. I will avoid it if possible next year.
The restroom was a wreck -- paper towel holder half off the wall and things like that. Not a good first impression. The service was incredibly slow, which was a problem because some people were intending to go help set up for the dessert salon. They did have a veggie burger and it wasn't bad, but the tomato slice looked like it had been sitting on a hot plate for awhile and much of the piece of lettuce was brown.
They were able to seat a whole lot of us at one long cobbled-together table and they did give us separate checks, which most places won't do. And they also didn't seem to charge me for my drink. So they did do a few things right, just.. not the more important ones.
Venue aside, I really liked this dinner. I already knew a fair bit about the Carl Brandon Society from reading online, but I learned some new things. And I found out they're behind on the Kindred and Parallax Awards because the Octavia Butler scholarship took sudden and immediate precedence. The organization was still new then, and still is new, so kudos to them for getting the scholarship successfully running so quickly.
We also had an interesting discussion about the study that said the most beautiful face in the world is a combination of a whole lot of faces (and thus races). Apparently that study had been debunked and it doesn't work nearly so well as all that.
Which is a symptom of the wider problem of studies being picked up on by the media and published before they've had a chance to be vetted by other scientists and researchers. But that's another subject entirely.
I guess it's a benefit of the slow service that we had so much time to talk.
If you want to find out more, you can and should visit The Carl Brandon Society's website.
A storm was blowing in as we walked back to the hotel. I didn't have dessert salon tickets, so I went up to the room. Called my parents and ended up talking to them for quite awhile. (Isn't that always the way?)
But I made it downstairs in time for the GoH speeches. Which will have to be in yet another post. Did this con ever end?
But then K1 did up a brilliant flyer for us during the con and posted it around. Again, I have a picture, but it's like.. still on my camera.
Our reading was at Fair Trade coffee shop, which was a bad location. Between the noise of the people and the various coffee-making machines, it was too loud to do a reading inside. Fortunately there was a patio thing out back. Where there was a giant air conditioner or other fan-type unit which kept turning on and off. Also very loud, but at least we could be heard outside. The space was cramped and hampered by a fire escape. Definitely not feng shuied. There were ants and other bugs crawling all around, including on people. And general street noise and smoke from, well, streets.
But that's all right. It was cozy and a number of people came to hear us read. Some of them I knew, but there were strangers there too. Eep.
I'd tell you what everyone else read, but my brain was having trouble concentrating. As guess as far as nerves go, that's better than butterflies in my stomach or sweaty palms or something. Suffice it to say that everyone read brilliantly and the parts I do remember from their stories were excellent.
I read part of a story I wrote at Clarion.. except that it's since been rewritten so it only bears passing resemblance to that story. It's based on an exercise that Jeff Vandermeer had us do, where he gave us the characters and the plot and said no speculative element could be in it. It was a hard exercise for all of us, for differing reasons. I really had to work to make the characters my own and people I could use. It was my first time writing from an outline. And I frequently rebel against writing mainstream stories.
So at the reading, I explained a little of this, then I read the first part of my story. And I generally told people to support Clarion in various ways, including by shopping at Mysterious Galaxy, whose Tshirt I was wearing. They're an independent bookstore in San Diego and you can support them and Clarion by shopping from here.
My part of the reading was probably shortest, but it worked out fine because it left S with plenty of time before our reading block ended, rather than short-changing her just because she read last.
I don't think I did too badly, though I would've preferred a podium. You can fidget more with a podium.
So I survived my first reading, and anyone who didn't go really missed out.
After that it was dinner time and we didn't really have plans, so we weren't sure what we were going to do until S, who'd gone on ahead, contacted us about dinner with the Carl Brandon Society.
S is really good at getting people together.
We ate at a pub-type place.. I think it was called Angelic, or something like that. I will avoid it if possible next year.
The restroom was a wreck -- paper towel holder half off the wall and things like that. Not a good first impression. The service was incredibly slow, which was a problem because some people were intending to go help set up for the dessert salon. They did have a veggie burger and it wasn't bad, but the tomato slice looked like it had been sitting on a hot plate for awhile and much of the piece of lettuce was brown.
They were able to seat a whole lot of us at one long cobbled-together table and they did give us separate checks, which most places won't do. And they also didn't seem to charge me for my drink. So they did do a few things right, just.. not the more important ones.
Venue aside, I really liked this dinner. I already knew a fair bit about the Carl Brandon Society from reading online, but I learned some new things. And I found out they're behind on the Kindred and Parallax Awards because the Octavia Butler scholarship took sudden and immediate precedence. The organization was still new then, and still is new, so kudos to them for getting the scholarship successfully running so quickly.
We also had an interesting discussion about the study that said the most beautiful face in the world is a combination of a whole lot of faces (and thus races). Apparently that study had been debunked and it doesn't work nearly so well as all that.
Which is a symptom of the wider problem of studies being picked up on by the media and published before they've had a chance to be vetted by other scientists and researchers. But that's another subject entirely.
I guess it's a benefit of the slow service that we had so much time to talk.
If you want to find out more, you can and should visit The Carl Brandon Society's website.
A storm was blowing in as we walked back to the hotel. I didn't have dessert salon tickets, so I went up to the room. Called my parents and ended up talking to them for quite awhile. (Isn't that always the way?)
But I made it downstairs in time for the GoH speeches. Which will have to be in yet another post. Did this con ever end?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-22 08:10 pm (UTC)Lovely post, Julie. I'm glad you're doing con reports.
I'd like to extra-recommend that people go visit the Carl Brandon Society page today, because it would have been Octavia Butler's 61st birthday.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-06-22 08:51 pm (UTC)I need to remember to make backup copies in case Livejournal gets hungry.
And yup, people should go over there. If only to find out who Carl Brandon is.