![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Put all the things on that you believe in
Was this Readercon cursed? I made my nice post about my much improved Saturday and took a shower and went to bed and I yawned and an excruciatingly gristly thing occurred in the hinge of my jaw that prevented me from sleeping more than two hours for the rest of the night because it took three hours lying in the semi-dark with a makeshift ice pack melting down the side of my face just to get the pain to calm down from crying point. I walked into my panel on Lloyd Alexander and existentialism in one of those crystalline states that is sort of the ten percent visible of an iceberg of collapse and lampshaded: "A Fflam is never hungover."
It was a great panel. We had people who'd read Alexander at deeply formative ages; we had an existentialist who'd read him first for this panel; we could have gone another hour, easy. We barely even got outside the scope of the Chronicles of Prydain and the Westmark trilogy. We did manage to name some other existentialist fantasies, but I'd honestly love to see a sequel panel delve into them more deeply. A lot of talk about responsibility, about absurdism, about the theme of reckoning with the world as it is. About what happens after the end of the fairy tale—magically, politically. Seriously, we could have just kept talking. As for the panel on horror and marginalization and being disbelieved, I don't quite want to say it was refreshing that the panelists were all AFAB, chronically ill, and variously marginalized after that, since we comprised a terrible indictment of the American healthcare system, but we really bonded over Gwynne Garfinkle's description of the scene in The Exorcist (1973) where a mansplaining doctor gets demonically slapped across a room. The discussion went real-world a lot faster than it went toward fictional recommendations, but it was very satisfying as such. Intergenerational trauma, gaslighting on the interpersonal and social scales, disbelieving yourself, learning to listen. I did manage to talk about The Naked Kiss (1964).
I saw so many people this convention whom I did not get to do much more than wave at or hug or mutually enthuse in a hallway. A totally incomplete list would include Sherwood Smith, Amal El-Mohtar, Rob Cameron, Mike and Anita Allen, Jim Freund and Barbara Krasnoff, Farah Rose Smith, Rose Fox, Marissa Lingen, Romie Stott and Ciro Faienza, Gwynne Garfinkle, C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez, and teri.zin, with slightly more featured time from Michael Cisco, Fiona Maeve Geist, Gemma Files, Ruthanna and Sarah Emrys, Greer Gilman, Erik Amundsen, Elise Matthesen, and Lila Garrott. I think I just sort of shouted at Nibedita Sen about how much I love her short fiction, but it seemed to go over well. Marc Abrahams got sung at, but he's already heard me read very fast from some very strange papers. I think I actually ran out of social skills by Friday and just kept going on theater.
And in the considered opinion of the urgent care doctor whose office I finally walked into this evening when by half an hour from close of business they still hadn't called me back from this morning, I probably subluxed my jaw last night. Which is why it still hurts and I'm supposed to eat a lot of soups and custards over the next few days. (I've had a milkshake today.) I will be calling my physical therapist first thing tomorrow and in the meantime I am trying to figure out if it's the Quincy Marriott or me. I never got food poisoning or anaphylaxis or partially dislocated bones in Burlington. I mean, I got stalked, but at least my skeleton didn't fall down on the job.
I still think I had a very good convention. All of my panels went well. I had a good time at my readings. People kept asking me to sign books (even if my collection could not in fact be gotten in the dealer's room except for this one copy that mysteriously manifested halfway through) and saying nice things about programming they had seen me on. I added copies of Michael Cisco's Unlanguage (2018) and Gwynne Garfinkle's People Change (2018) to my book-hoard. All of my fellow panelists were great, which puts me ahead of a couple of un-dodged bullets I heard about from friends. Emotionally, it was a fun and fulfilling experience! Physically, we're pushing the boundaries of irony here.
And of course I cannot actually collapse because I have deadlines. But I am going to sit on this couch with Autolycus for half an hour and breathe. A cat is a good decompression. This was a dramatically variable weekend.
It was a great panel. We had people who'd read Alexander at deeply formative ages; we had an existentialist who'd read him first for this panel; we could have gone another hour, easy. We barely even got outside the scope of the Chronicles of Prydain and the Westmark trilogy. We did manage to name some other existentialist fantasies, but I'd honestly love to see a sequel panel delve into them more deeply. A lot of talk about responsibility, about absurdism, about the theme of reckoning with the world as it is. About what happens after the end of the fairy tale—magically, politically. Seriously, we could have just kept talking. As for the panel on horror and marginalization and being disbelieved, I don't quite want to say it was refreshing that the panelists were all AFAB, chronically ill, and variously marginalized after that, since we comprised a terrible indictment of the American healthcare system, but we really bonded over Gwynne Garfinkle's description of the scene in The Exorcist (1973) where a mansplaining doctor gets demonically slapped across a room. The discussion went real-world a lot faster than it went toward fictional recommendations, but it was very satisfying as such. Intergenerational trauma, gaslighting on the interpersonal and social scales, disbelieving yourself, learning to listen. I did manage to talk about The Naked Kiss (1964).
I saw so many people this convention whom I did not get to do much more than wave at or hug or mutually enthuse in a hallway. A totally incomplete list would include Sherwood Smith, Amal El-Mohtar, Rob Cameron, Mike and Anita Allen, Jim Freund and Barbara Krasnoff, Farah Rose Smith, Rose Fox, Marissa Lingen, Romie Stott and Ciro Faienza, Gwynne Garfinkle, C. S. E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez, and teri.zin, with slightly more featured time from Michael Cisco, Fiona Maeve Geist, Gemma Files, Ruthanna and Sarah Emrys, Greer Gilman, Erik Amundsen, Elise Matthesen, and Lila Garrott. I think I just sort of shouted at Nibedita Sen about how much I love her short fiction, but it seemed to go over well. Marc Abrahams got sung at, but he's already heard me read very fast from some very strange papers. I think I actually ran out of social skills by Friday and just kept going on theater.
And in the considered opinion of the urgent care doctor whose office I finally walked into this evening when by half an hour from close of business they still hadn't called me back from this morning, I probably subluxed my jaw last night. Which is why it still hurts and I'm supposed to eat a lot of soups and custards over the next few days. (I've had a milkshake today.) I will be calling my physical therapist first thing tomorrow and in the meantime I am trying to figure out if it's the Quincy Marriott or me. I never got food poisoning or anaphylaxis or partially dislocated bones in Burlington. I mean, I got stalked, but at least my skeleton didn't fall down on the job.
I still think I had a very good convention. All of my panels went well. I had a good time at my readings. People kept asking me to sign books (even if my collection could not in fact be gotten in the dealer's room except for this one copy that mysteriously manifested halfway through) and saying nice things about programming they had seen me on. I added copies of Michael Cisco's Unlanguage (2018) and Gwynne Garfinkle's People Change (2018) to my book-hoard. All of my fellow panelists were great, which puts me ahead of a couple of un-dodged bullets I heard about from friends. Emotionally, it was a fun and fulfilling experience! Physically, we're pushing the boundaries of irony here.
And of course I cannot actually collapse because I have deadlines. But I am going to sit on this couch with Autolycus for half an hour and breathe. A cat is a good decompression. This was a dramatically variable weekend.
no subject
Glad the panels all went well even if your body kept breaking down.
no subject
It's possible that all of my social skills are theater skills. I'm not sure how I'd know (and other field calls of the non-neurotypical).
Glad the panels all went well even if your body kept breaking down.
Thank you! It was nuts!
no subject
It was great to see you. That panel today was a lot of fun (and I heard good things about the Lloyd Alexander panel from an audience member).
no subject
I just felt like I had enough on my plate already—who called for the exotic effects?
(Thank you.)
It was great to see you. That panel today was a lot of fun (and I heard good things about the Lloyd Alexander panel from an audience member).
Oh, neat! That's a really nice thing to hear back.
I would love to be on more panels with you. Everybody I know needs a teleporter. Or, you know, a travel budget and a country that doesn't make it like pulling teeth.
no subject
Commiserating because the Readercon dealers’ room has never had my novels ever, and probably never will even if I manage to show up again.
no subject
Thank you!
Commiserating because the Readercon dealers’ room has never had my novels ever, and probably never will even if I manage to show up again.
Seriously? That is not on. If you do show up again, get your agent to make Solaris and Disney/Hyperion do their jobs!
no subject
no subject
I've always thought of it in terms of publishers having their tables in the dealer's room (Steve Berman did not come to Readercon this year, so there was no table for Lethe Press; he did send two books to be sold by Small Beer, but neither of them was my collection), but it's true that might be more of a factor with small presses. Even so. You only have multiple Hugo nominations and a fandom.
no subject
Disney-Hyperion I'm less sure about--I was told by their publicists that for middle grade books, school visits are where it's at, because the people buying middle grade books aren't usually the actual readers (schoolchildren) but the gatekeepers for those children (parents, teachers, and librarians). So general sf/f conventions probably aren't a high priority for them.
no subject
I feel like I'd be shocked if Dragon Pearl wasn't sighted in the dealer's room this year. (The fact that I didn't see it is not diagnostic: I spent almost no time in the dealer's room myself, because I had no money.) If it helps, however, you are consistently on the shelves of my local independent bookstore, Porter Square Books, and in fact I saw someone buying Hexarchate Stories the last time I was in there.
no subject
Aww, thanks, that's sweet to hear; I have honestly been convinced that Hexarchate Stories wouldn't make it to any physical bookstores because the audience is, well, it's deliberately kind of niche and that has consequences.
no subject
Aw! Thank you. Don't forget you sent me a book recently! I do not think anyone in the dealer's room would have sold me a copy of Hexarchate Stories with a mer-cat author-drawn inside it.
I have honestly been convinced that Hexarchate Stories wouldn't make it to any physical bookstores because the audience is, well, it's deliberately kind of niche and that has consequences.
Nope. Living human being whom I did not know personally, standing in front of me in line already holding a copy. (That was actually how I found out it had launched.) The rest of your catalogue comes in and out of visibility on the shelves, suggesting the stock doesn't hang around.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
But it was a good con, wasn't it?
no subject
It absolutely was! I just wasn't expecting the weird incapacitation. I was braced for the normal kind. Note to universe: some expectations need not be exceeded.
no subject
I think 2019's combo of Readercon and Quincy Marriott was just jinxed somehow--Sherwood reported some bad stuff too. An exorcism of some flavor or other may be in order before next year.
Your list of people you saw/talked to is wonderful.
no subject
You would have loved it! If there is a sequel panel, you should totally be on it.
I think 2019's combo of Readercon and Quincy Marriott was just jinxed somehow--Sherwood reported some bad stuff too. An exorcism of some flavor or other may be in order before next year.
At least two other people got food poisoning that I heard about, which is just a bad number. (More than one person getting food poisoning is a bad number! The ideal number is none!) I would not be averse to the exorcism concept in any way.
Your list of people you saw/talked to is wonderful.
They're wonderful people. I hope to see you among them again.
no subject
no subject
Thank you! It is definitely less painful than it was last night, when it really was almost unmanageable, but it is not painless, which is why I will be asking my PT for help. The urgent care doctor estimated three to five days to heal if I don't do anything stupid with it like eat something chewy. I tried some soft noodles tonight and am wondering if it's all that bad for a person to live on milkshakes for a week. (Sympathy on your own jaw!)
no subject
no subject
Thank you. I have made phone calls and am waiting for people to get back to me.
Even if it was slow, I am glad you healed.
no subject
I did the jaw thing at the beginning of a long-haul flight about ten years ago. It took me about two months to really feel confident about chewing. It did resolve more or less, but I was wary. I still have to be careful about opening wide at the dentist. The less you challenge it now, the happier your outcome will be!
Go ahead and do juice and milkshakes and smoothies for a week. A smoothie with a handful of kale or spinach and some yogurt and frozen fruit is 100% a meal! Add some protein powder too. It is gazpacho season, I point out, which is 110% a meal. (and the time for cold soups generally!)
no subject
Thank you. I have experienced the occasional TMI click or pop or pain-flash (although much less often since the physical therapy), but this was something different and I am not enjoying it at all.
A smoothie with a handful of kale or spinach and some yogurt and frozen fruit is 100% a meal! Add some protein powder too.
I don't have the ability to make smoothies for myself, but I have a lot of yogurt in the house. I had just really been enjoying salads.
no subject
This was the first time I've had a chance to see the Ig Nobel reading, you were all great. Your theatrical pacing and sipping for the coffee paper was particularly inspired, and started things off with great energy.
One highlight of the con for me was attending a Kaffeeklatsch for the first time, which was great fun. It was Malka Older's first time as an author at a Kaffeeklatsch, and as you'd from people excited to meet the author of Infomocrasy and State Tectonics, everyone merrily geeked up at the intersection of policy wonkery, political theory and SF.
no subject
Me too! I was really worried about today's programming. I wanted to be able to talk about Alexander as he deserved.
This was the first time I've had a chance to see the Ig Nobel reading, you were all great.
It was a lot of fun! I knew Claire would be amazing, but I don't think I had heard either Rose or Heath perform before; I especially was not expecting Heath's Renfield. There have been readings at Arisia for some years now, but this was their first time at Readercon and honestly I hope they stay.
Your theatrical pacing and sipping for the coffee paper was particularly inspired, and started things off with great energy.
Thank you! I didn't even have that in mind when I picked the paper out. It just seemed like the natural extension of the conceit.
It was Malka Older's first time as an author at a Kaffeeklatsch, and as you'd from people excited to meet the author of Infomocrasy and State Tectonics, everyone merrily geeked up at the intersection of policy wonkery, political theory and SF.
That sounds like an excellent time all round. I'm glad you were there for that.
no subject
no subject
Mine just hadn't done this before and I don't want it to get into the habit!
But it's nice to hear it was a good convention otherwise - the panel on Lloyd Alexander and existentialism sounds fascinating.
It was the program item I was most looking forward to (and most apprehensive about, because of being important to me) and it lived up to expectations. I don't know if it was recorded or if it will be made publicly available if so, but if either of these conditions are met, I'll link it. Also I wish my copies of the Westmark trilogy were not inevitably somewhere in a box.
no subject
What malicious spirit subluxed your jaw? I hope he falls into a nest of bullet ants.
Nine
no subject
Good! It was fun!
And the glacial pendant is sublime.
I'm going to wear it for NecronomiCon. I really love it.
What malicious spirit subluxed your jaw? I hope he falls into a nest of bullet ants.
I have no idea. I would also settle for warrior wasps. ("Why did I start this list?")
no subject
The passion all of you brought to the table was intoxicating.
I'm going to wear it for NecronomiCon. I really love it.
May it travel with you as a talisman.
I have no idea. I would also settle for warrior wasps. ("Why did I start this list?")
Bullet ants got a 4+ on Schmidt's list. They are beyond fierce.
Nine
no subject
no subject
I saw her briefly afterward! She and
no subject
no subject
I have to say it really hurts! I am hoping either my PT or the doctor who referred me can help. At the moment it's slightly scary.
But I'm very glad you were at least able to have fun overall at the con despite your skeleton's shameful dereliction of duty, and the Lloyd Alexander panel sounds AMAZING.
Thank you! I loved that one—I loved several of my panels—and even the one where I think I was least interesting (poetry and comedy) was still fun.
no subject
recover well. <3
no subject
Thank you! I am doing my best.
(I mean, at the moment I'm on the phone with doctors, but I'm hoping it will help lead to recovery.)
*hugs*
no subject
An entire 5,000-word fanfic in one line!
no subject
Thank you!
no subject
no subject
Thank you. At the moment I am still trying to get a doctor to call me back.