Insert Witty Journal Title Here

I'll be doing the Clarion Write-a-Thon again this year. I haven't had much of a chance to really sit down with it, trick out my author page, hit people up for money, etc. What with Wiscon and work and then getting sick. But! I will. I will totally hit you guys up for support (monetary and non-monetary). So watch this space.

If you're a writer and are looking for motivation to write and want to help out Clarion, you can. You don't have to have gone to Clarion to join the Write-a-Thon.

Look! Here's a link and all!

So this Wiscon I felt like I was always talking to a different group of people! For me, I get all these intersections at Wiscon. Wiscon itself and the people running it, Broad Universe, Outer Alliance, Clarion, people I met in previous years, people I met online (usually _because_ of Wiscon in some way). And this year in particular, I really felt that.

I helped out with Access, though not as much I should have. Though perhaps as much as I could have without feeling stretched extra thin. And I had wanted to attend a panel that was being interpreted, but too many conflicts.

I was on a panel about Broad Universe. Where the panelists exactly numbered the audience members. Except that one of the audience members could've been on the panel. It was a bad timeslot. Not because it was early in the morning or late at night, because it wasn't, but because it was the most crowded timeslot, like, ever. There were a least a dozen other things going on. The panel went well even with the low attendance, and it was fun to talk about BU.

I was on a reading for Outer Alliance. That was well-attended for its timeslot -- the parties were all in full swing. The room felt full, even though there were technically empty seats. I read one of my Clarion stories. Well, part of it.

I went to the Outer Alliance party, but had a panel conflict at the start of it. That also seemed to be going well, as people would stick around for the book giveaways. And I saw many people take the reading list there and at a later panel on YA dystopias.

Speaking of Outer Alliance, Julia Rios recorded several panels (I think all ones I went to!!) for the OA podcast. So if those recorded well, you can look forward to hearing those in the future.

I ran into Emily Jiang, or rather she ran into me, who was in the Clarion class after us. I felt all.. big brotherly.. no wait, that sounds sinister.. but like, I wanted the 2008 class to do really well and enjoy Clarion as much as (I think) the 2007 class did. They were the second class to be in San Diego. So if we were the guinea pigs, they were the capuchin monkeys.

As previously mentioned, I went to the gender variant dinner, despite not knowing anyone! (Tried to convince some people I _did_ know to come, but didn't manage it. Three times I tried!) It turns out I did sort of know some of the people I ate with, from seeing them on panels (or they saw me on one) either this year or past years, or from LJ.

But yea, I'm all brave and extroverted and stuff now. Because I _also_ sat down at a table in the dessert salon with nobody I knew. A whole table of strangers! Met Vanessa, who does horror movies, and later we chatted in the Arisia party as well.

I was generally comfortable joining a group if I knew someone in the group, and would join in if I had something to say. Although a lot of the time, I won't have anything to say, so I might still come off as quiet or shy. It really is just as fun listening to a conversation go on, really! You can learn so much at Wiscon just doing that.

So yea, nice putting faces to LJ names! See if I can actually remember them all now. :}

If anyone I met at Wiscon is following me now and wants me to friend them, I can totally do that. I don't really write friends-locked posts though, so you're not missing anything.

(Note: Please don't anyone feel bad if I didn't mention you by name in this post. I may mention you in a later post. Or not. And if anyone I _did_ name wants their names redacted or altered, just let me know.)

I'm also over on Facebook. Oh no, internet platforms colliding!! It's http://www.facebook.com/juliemandrews. Because I'm that cool.

Turns out a shuttle from the hotel across the street from where I live is cheaper than the cab to the bus station + bus ticket. So I'll be doing that more often in the future. The downside is no wifi on the shuttle, but it's a shorter trip.

Flying into Chicago and taking a bus from there worked okay. Except that I arrived a bit later than I wanted to and left earlier than I wanted to. Pricewise, it was the right decision. I left the hotel around 9:30am on Monday. I could've taken the 11:30 bus instead of the 10, but it would've cut it close at the airport. If traffic was heavier or the line at security longer, I might've been in trouble. And I would've worried the whole time that I'd miss my flight.

If I do the bus thing next year, I'll probably just pay for the bus when I get on the bus, rather than buying an e-ticket ahead of time. That way if there's a plane delay until the next day, I won't be out the cost of the bus ticket. But seriously, I need to buy plane tickets sooner and just fly straight to Madison. (Well, not straight, there'd be at least one plane change.)

On the flight back, I was across the aisle from a baby. Which was mostly a problem when the presumed father stood up in the aisle to jiggle the baby. At the exact time all the flight attendants and people going to the bathroom decided they needed to walk by. All elbows and butts for like 10 minutes.

Also there was a dentist or oral surgeon a few rows ahead of me and I could clearly see (could hardly avoid seeing) the powerpoint presentation he was working on. Teeth and mouths are gross.

American Airlines is very alienating. I was 'group 3' both times. How I ended up 'group 3' and not 'group 1' or 'group 2', I have no idea. But after they board all the super awesome people who bought super awesome crazy expensive tickets, and the super awesome veterans, and the super awesome I don't even know what, they boarded group 1 like 10 minutes later. Then group 2. Then me. And it's not based on where I was sitting either. You know, load the back of the plane first? No. For 9$ extra, I could've boarded sooner. Screw that. They also want you to pay more for super awesome (not really) seats. Like, the exit row? Hello? Since when was that a prime spot? (I always go for one over the wing, but not the exit row. I can't handle responsibility.)

Also, the chick taking boarding passes was delusional about carryon luggage. She thought my backpack wouldn't fit under the seat, I assured her it would. She said then my feet wouldn't. I assured her they would. Hey, I'm short, my feet don't even rest flat on the floor of the plane. I think I can handle sharing the footspace with part of my backpack. Not that I needed to. She also made me test my other carryon in the metal space-testing thing. It slid right in neat as you please. See, chick? It's fine. The only difficulty was my right arm got tired lugging the bag up the aisle of the plane and then I needed help getting it into the overhead bin. (I had done it fine on the bus.) Books, y'know. Heavy things. :)

American Airlines clearly states on their board while you're waiting to uh.. board, that first class people get a meal. And regular slubs get 'beverage'. And they mean it too. No snacks. And they ran out of ginger ale!

Southwest and Jetblue are definitely my top choices for airlines. Next time I might even pay a bit extra for them.

Lessons learned: Southwest or Jetblue if at all possible. Fly into Madison if at all reasonable. Take shuttle to airport. Pay for buses on the fly, not ahead of time.

Also, I think I'll arrive on Wednesday or leave on Tuesday next year. I haven't decided which.

Nearly an hour after I left my house, 35.50$ poorer, I am now a 5 minute car ride away from my house. But, hey, free wifi. Anyway, it turns out an airport shuttle is cheaper and while it wouldn't pick me up directly at my house for that price, it would pick me up at the hotel across the street. This bus is more crowded than I'm used to seeing it.

So because I procrastinated and because airlines go under and restructure and whatnot, I couldn't get a reasonably-priced plane ticket straight to Madison. This year I'll be flying into Chicago and taking a bus from there. It's not ideal, but I couldn't justify the ~300$ otherwise. Maybe when I'm rich and famous. Or at least rich. Although if you're famous, it's easy to be rich. Funny how that works.

Have now run out of things to do to take advantage of this free wifi and am contemplating turning the comp off and reading a book on the ereader.

Plan tonight is to get to the hotel by 6ish *fingers crossed*, check in, get some food, and see if Access or any other con department needs some help tonight.

Still don't know what I'm reading at the OA reading, but I printed out two Clarion stories if I fail to write a new story in the next 48 hours or so. Turns out I really gayed it up at Clarion. :)

In other news, I submitted two things to markets yesterday. Should hear back in a few weeks.

While I have your attention, I'll be doing the Clarion write-a-thon again this year. So be ready to support a great writing workshop!

Do you want a livejournal or dreamwidth userpic sticker at the Livejournal party? Say so here.

Also, Wiscon will have ASL interpretation this year! A few more details here. If you have questions, do contact the access email address! Please let any ASL users who are sf/f fans/writers know. Wiscon will also have CART captioning at the Guest of Honor Speeches/Tiptree Award ceremony for the second year in a row.

I've also seen people posting trying to give up and/or share a governor's club room, so if you're looking for a room, there's probably one available. Governor's Club is more expensive, but you do get some free food.

Oh yea, and the schedule is up! I'm afraid of looking to see what I'll be missing Monday as I board a bus for Chicago. :(

Because all the cool kids are doing it, here's my Wiscon schedule:

Friday 9pm - 10:15pm
YA Love Triangles - Cultural Advance or Retreat?
A common theme in popular YA novels, spec fic and otherwise, is the ongoing love triangle—usually one girl who is in love with two boys. So far, she always chooses just one of them. Why is this so popular right now? Does it support at least thoughts of polyamory, or does the average reader refuse to consider that option? Is the love triangle meant to demonstrate conclusively that only heteronormative couples are acceptable? Have any YA writers been specifically working against this trend?

Saturday 10am-11:15
Introduction to Broad Universe
Broad Universe is an international non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, encouraging, honoring, and celebrating women writers and editors in science fiction, fantasy, horror and other speculative genres. Come meet some of our members and learn more about this amazing organization.

Saturday 10:30pm-11:45
Outer Alliance: New Writings in LGBTQ SF/F/H
We'll be reading from recent work featuring LGBTQ protagonists and themes. Outer Alliance is an organization created to combat homophobia in sf/f and provide greater visibility for positive portrayals of LGBTQ/Quiltbag-themed work.

There are people more awesome than me on all of these things, so come check 'em out!

I'm not much of a party person, but I plan to stop in at the Outer Alliance one and the Beyond Binary one. And probably the video one, because watching videos is more my speed party-wise. And if there's a Buffy sing-a-long, I've practiced this year! I know the words!

I have a dessert salon ticket. I don't ever want to miss the Tiptree auction. And I'll probably swing by the BU Rapidfire Reading.

I have some ideas on the YA love triangles panel. Obviously, or I wouldn't have volunteered for that one. But I'm taking recs! I have about a month to read some more.

I've only recently gotten into listening to podcasts. Yea, I could totally do it on my mp3 player or, even more easily, on my iphone. But maybe I'm old-school or something. I just listen on the computer.

I've sampled a few, but here's the three I'll be coming back to regularly:

Outer Alliance Podcast - Julia Rios interviews cool people, or presents recordings of panels. I like this for its focus on quiltbag characters/authors in sf/f.

Broad Universe Broadly Speaking - Broad Universe is about women writing sf/f. This podcast is women who write sf/f talking about sf/f! BU also has a Broadpod, which is authors doing readings. A bit like the Rapid Fire Readings if you've ever been to one of those at a con.

Galactic Suburbia - You're most likely to have heard of this one. I've only listened to a couple so far, but they all have interesting and funny things to say about sf/f and feminist things that interest me. They're also 'down under', so they talk about what's going on in the Australian and New Zealand sf/f world that otherwise I likely wouldn't hear about. They're also Hugo-nominated!

The other Hugo-nominated podcasts in this year's new category 'best fancast' are:
The Coode Street Podcast, Jonathan Strahan & Gary K. Wolfe
SF Signal Podcast, John DeNardo and JP Frantz, produced by Patrick Hester
SF Squeecast, Lynne M. Thomas, Seanan McGuire, Paul Cornell, Elizabeth Bear, and Catherynne M. Valente
StarShipSofa, Tony C. Smith

Of those, I'd probably recommend the SF Squeecast first. But I'll let you hunt down the links yourself.

Any good podcasts I'm missing out on?

Saw a link to this last Friday, but didn't get around to read it until today. Paolo Bacigalupi on why no quiltbag people in dystopias.

I'd actually been thinking about this myself, in that weird hivemind/thoughts-in-the-ether way, last week. I'm currently reading Delirium by Lauren Oliver. This is at least the fourth dystopian YA I've read about a female protagonist and her love life. This ramps it up even a bit more though, by declaring love a disease that you're cured of at 18 with damaging brain surgery. So far she only has one boy she's interested in though -- that breaks the pattern of having two (potential) love interests.

While some of these dystopias mention the possibility of two people of the same sex loving each other, actual quiltbag characters are noticeably absent.

I started pondering how I could subvert the trope -- or mess with this new subgenre. And my thoughts really did go towards.. well, what if you made a dystopia that was pretty much what life is already like for queer people. My thoughts didn't get too much further than that, since I have school, work, and other things crowding out my brain.

Which is to say, I agree with Bacigalupi to the point that the dystopia is already here. And to make it worse, you'd really only have to go to certain parts of the country (US) or other parts of the world, or just a few decades back in time. You can't get more dystopic for gay people than Nazi Germany, really, can you?

But subverting it by showing heterosexuality as deviant? It's been done. He even notes it's been done. I could probably come up with a few more examples with enough thought. (Forever War by Haldeman is one example I just read.) I dunno. You'd have to do it differently, or do it really well. It could be useful to have one of those in a bright, shiny YA cover and suck in all the Hunger Games and YA romance fans, but.. The story would still have a straight person as the main character now wouldn't it?

Look, we need more quiltbag characters in YA science fiction and fantasy PERIOD. Full stop.

So go forth and write a dystopia where heterosexuality is forbidden. But, also, or instead of, write a dystopia where the main character isn't straight. Write a dystopia where one of the love interests is bi. Write a dystopia where they mess with your gender. Write a dystopia where orientation doesn't matter and it's a dystopia for other reasons. And write a story with rocket ships piloted by lesbians. Write a fantasy full of boy dragons raising eggs together. Write all the things!!

We need it all.

--

Related note: Stone Telling's queer issue is out -- Haven't read it yet, but it's sure to be full of super-awesome things, since they didn't accept my awesome things. ;)

This was my first Boskone. Also, since I've never attended an Arisia, it was my first time in this con hotel as well. I was waffling all over the place, so I missed the room block at the con hotel. I called to see the price of a non-block room and it was $260. Yea.. no. So I stayed at the Marriott Renaissance a block or so away. Both hotels only had free wifi in the lobby, so no on-the-spot con reports.

I got a ride down with two fellow NH Broads *waves*. Thank you! I'd been prepared to take the bus, but this was faster, involved less schlepping, and more conversation.

I'd intended to attend the discussion group on Harrassment in fandom, but was too new to the con to actually find it before it was half over with. And at that point, I didn't want to interrupt. See, what threw me was that there's this huuuuuge room with eeeeeverything in it! That the dealer's room and artshow should share the same space made sense to me. That it was also the consuite, and a gaming space, and demo space, and discussion group and kaffeeklatsch space.. wow, that's a lot. I did eventually start to appreciate how it brought everyone together in interesting ways, but it does have its downsides.

The freebie table was packed! Overflowing with old sf/f magazines mostly. I did snag a Cecilia Tan antho (to say which would make me blush more than just saying 'Cecilia Tan antho') and I did see some Arietty posters that tempted. I was trying to travel light though and thought they'd get smushed.

I'd been expecting a Dunkin Donuts and CVS every five feet, but there were neither! Well, my phone insisted there was a DD, but it was down on a pier and I didn't see any signs, and there was a gate across the road.. so I gave up that search. Later, I found the con restaurant guide which guided me to the Italian deli/market right near my hotel! Yay! I'm doing this out of order, but.. there were 3 Starbuckses between the two hotels and the only other building you pass between them! And did you know they sell bagels, but they don't toast them?!

At the Italian deli/market thing, I got a cheese sub for a very reasonable price of I think $3.50 and some potato salad. It was not good potato salad. It was giant chunks of potato and a little bit of mayo and other stuff. Seriously, it was like eating a bunch of red bliss potatoes, without butter or salt. The sub was good though. They also do breakfast, so if I go to Arisia or Boskone next year, I'll be going there again.

Consuite food was interesting/different. Nobody is beating Wiscon's consuite in my mind, not with the popcorn and the veggie hot dogs. But they did have a constant supply of interesting breads and there was fruit. The thing I most appreciated were the hard-boiled eggs. It's a good dose of vegetarian protein. And portable!

The artshow was very impressive to me, who knows very little about art. I saw some artists I recognized from Wiscon. Mostly it was the sheer _amount_ of art, almost all of it really good and also coooool. One of these days I'll have a place with a lot of wall space and need to buy some of this cool art I keep seeing. Dragons! Space! They also had displays up of authors/artists who'd passed away in the last year, and those were nice.

The only thing I bought in the dealer's room was _Machine_ by Jennifer Pelland, from the Broad Universe table. Got it signed! And got two other awesome Broads to sign my copy of UnCONvential (which you should totally buy/read). I was trying to travel light, as I said, so I didn't browse the dealer's room much beyond one wander around. Didn't want to be tempted!

I guess I'll do the panel reports, such as they might be, in another post. And at another time, when I have my notes in fr... actually, it just occurred to me I do have the schedule (on my phone) and the notes in a notebook right in front of me. Well, later in any case!

But a final shoutout to that phone app! Awesome! I think the app itself is Guidebook, so other cons, you should definitely use that!! They released an update on Friday that wiped out my schedule and screwed up the descriptions so they didn't match the panels, but they eventually fixed it. I was worried about installing the further updates, because I thought it might wipe out my schedule each time. Learning curves. But srsly, I want this for Wiscon!

Con or Bust auction starts just past midnight tonight.

Con or Bust

I've resisted looking at the things going up in any detail, since I couldn't bid yet. But some good stuff and some good stuff sure to come!

Con or Bust gives fans of color financial support for attending conventions. While some of it is in the form of free memberships donated by the cons themselves, most of it comes from this yearly auction. So go check it out and bid on cool stuff!