deborahjross | Westercon (Reply)

Because Westercon was in San Diego the month before Worldcon in Anaheim, lot of people didn't go. They missed out on a good thing. This Westercon had a lovely balance of concentration of people and quiet spaces for chats, neither too noisy nor too disperse. I didn't stay for the whole 4 days, but had a lovely time. I even got to listen to a few panels and take a nap or two!

I went with the personal goal of making genuine connections with other people, and perhaps that made the difference, for I came away with that quiet feeling when you've done something real. Not just overloaded with talk. Touched base with some old friends and met some new ones, including artist

april_art and new writer/Clarion grad

tcastleb. As for panels and such, I was part of 3 out of 4 in the series on Fantasy World Building, an interesting discussion on imaginary sexes, and also one on "2nd generation writers" that included me, Mike Moscoe, Larry Niven, and Kevin J. Anderson, giving a rather wide perspective on the subject. Autographing/reading/kaffeeklatch turnouts are unpredictable, but I had an unusually good circle for the klatch. Whatever urge I had to hold forth on things in general and life in particular was adequately indulged.

My knee was well enough to withstand airport and hotel walking, so I ventured into Regency dancing and danced the whole time with no discomfort. This made me very happy I came home after a delayed flight very happy to dive back into writing. Good thing, for the house is quiet with just me and the cats. Dave is still communing with Quakers at Friends General Conference in Tacoma, Rose is with her sweetie, and I don't pick up Oka at boarding until tomorrow. May try a walk with one of my neighbors later this afternoon. If I can resume walking, I will be even happier!