Deborah's Journal

At some conventions, I'm so heavily scheduled for panels, I don't get to actually attend any and listen to the discussions. Sometimes that's frustrating, other times, it's just the way things roll. Typically, panels and other events are an hour or an hour and a half long, wrapping up 5 minutes before closing to give everyone barely enough time to scramble to the next one. This time, Baycon scheduled 2 hours slots with 1 1/2 hour panels, which had the dual effect of ample discussion time, leisurely transitions, and far fewer panels. I think this is a worthwhile experiment. People, both pro writers/artists and fans, attend conventions for many different reasons. I doubt it's possible to create a programming schedule that fits everyone's needs, but trying different things is a good way to find the best balance.

So yesterday was mostly a schmoozing day, connecting with other members of Book View Cafe, as well as friends. I tend not to include Lists of Notable Names in my convention reports, and I won't do so now. Suffice it to say that it's a delight to meet in person fellow writers with whom I've been working with online. The internet creates its own kind of community. Well, many kinds, but mostly mediated through text -- emails, forums, groups, blogs, etc. Occasionally phone conferences and even less frequently video conferences. None of these substitute for face-to-face conversations. When the members of a community (in this case, Book View Cafe) are scattered not only across the US, but over the world, getting more than two or three of us together at the same time in the same place is nigh impossible. This is where conventions come in, because as pro writers, we often attend these anyway, so we seize upon the opportunity to "meet-up."( Read more... )

Despite the fact that a number of us specifically requested that we be on the panel on the Future of E-Publishing, none of us were. So a bunch of us went. The panelists included various writers, editors, and publishers, and I have no complaint about the discussion...except that BVC is on the leading edge of innovative epublishing. To the best of my knowledge, we're the first online author's cooperative, we have over 40 members, we've published work that made it to the New York Times Bestseller list, we sell our ebooks to libraries internationally, we include a wide range of genres (sf/f, Romance, historical fiction, YA, nonfiction, mystery, thriller, horror, etc.), and we are actively developing new models of cooperative publishing. Surely such a panel might make some slight reference to what we're doing?

So we made our presence known. At least, one of us went up and spoke to the moderator and got added to the panel. The usual result is that afterwards, panelists and audience members want to know more about us. Some of these conversations get as far as, How do I join? and a few of those go farther. Sometimes we as individual BVC members make contact with other groups of authors and we're still trying to figure out ways of supporting one another. BVC has an organic, consensus-based decision-making process that drives many people nuts and often results in very slow changes.

You meet people, you chat, you plant ideas on one another's minds. Maybe hearing how we do things will inspire other authors to group themselves together in ways that best serve them. Maybe some of the other seeds that are scattered bear unexpected and innovative fruit. Most will likely come to nothing other than a pleasant chat. But you never know...

In addition to the panels below, I'll be reading and discussing world-building with Juliette Wade. Look for announcement in the daily newsletter (and we'll try to put up flyers).

Women in Science Fiction on Friday at 2:00 PM in San Tomas (with Sarah Stegall, Ann Wilkes (M), Sandra Saidak). Panelists discuss interesting women in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other speculative fiction, both as characters and as writers.

Young Adult Fiction: More than Blanking-out the Sex on Friday at 4:00 PM in Alameda (with Sarah Stegall, Ingrid Paulson (M)). Young Adult Fiction is a rapidly growing sub-genre. What does it take to write YA, and how is it different from either children's or adult fiction?

Deep Reading, Deep Listening on Saturday at 4:00 PM in Saratoga (with Dave Trowbridge (M)). The un-panel where everyone is on the panel. A structured listening experience for fans and pros to share the book that changed their lives. See more details at: http://www.davetrowbridge.com/2011/11/when-a-book-can-change-you-forever/ Notes: Only Deborah J. Ross and Dave Trowbridge will facilitate this time. Due to room size, only the first 12 people to sign up will be admitted. Sign up begins at 4 pm on Friday at the Info Desk.

Sex in Space on Sunday at 4:00 PM in Alameda [You are moderating.] (with G. David Nordley, Howard Davidson, Art Bozlee, Ann Wilkes). Kind of self-explanatory - 'nuff said!

Baycon's a local convention, which means I commute, driving an hour each way over twisty mountain roads and freeway. This tends to color my experience, first because I don't have a quiet place (aka hotel room) to which to retreat, and second that because I'm not a night person, I rarely stay later than dinner time. This year I had a light schedule and many people I wanted to see, which is a nice combination.

I began on Friday with a panel on "Writing Rituals." Actually, before the panel, with running into Chaz Brenchley, our own desperance. One of the delights of conventions is getting to meet my favorite authors, finding new favorites, and enjoying the resulting friendships. The participants included me and Chaz, Ian Grey, Laurel Ann Hill, and Susan Krinard. The panel itself was a bit unfocused, which is not necessarily a bad thing. The discussion ranged from how the medium we use influences our writing (including voice recognition software or dictation vs typewriter vs longhand vs computer) to our personal superstitions about writing or selling to the struggle just about all of us face in actually Sitting Down To Write. Chaz talked about how writing on a typewriter forced him to craft each sentence in his mind before typing it because it was such a pain to retype mistakes or changes. I thought voice recognition software might be a good way to write with a cat on my lap and also to help me over the "inertial hump" of getting that initial and thoroughly disposable paragraph on the page. Susan shared how she uses deadlines to set daily or weekly goals. Laurel Anne had researched the odd habits of famous writers -- who liked to write naked, for example, or in a bathtub, or lying down. Dani Kollin joined us half-way through the panel (which often happens in early-scheduled panels) and talked about how his collaborative style (he writes with his brother, Eytan) structures his own writing. Collaborations create interesting "rituals," depending on how the work is divided (do you both create prose, do you alternate drafts, does one do the story creation/outline and the other fill it in?)

Chaz and I wandered to the dealer's room, where we ascertained who was carrying which of our books and whether they wanted them signed now or later in the con, admired leather clothing and swords, told more stories, and eventually met up with klwilliams, who transported us away to a Chinese restaurant. We returned to the hotel midway through the Meet the Guests event, but I still had the chance to circulate and chat with Guest of Honor Mary Robinette Kowal, with whom I'd had a grand time hanging out at last year's Orycon, as well as a bunch of other fine folk. I wrenched myself away before Regency Dancing could begin (or I would not have been able to leave, as it's something I adore and get to do far too infrequently) for the long drive home.

Saturday morning's highlights involved getting together with local members of Book View Café, first in a breakfast meet-up and then a panel on who we are and what we offer the ebook reader. Dave came in with me and added his perspectives on the creative use of internet marketing resources. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff was there, but participating in the writers workshop; we waved greetings-in-passing. The panel included Madeleine E. Robins (madrobins) and Irene Radford (ramblin_phyl, as well as me and Chaz, and Kit Kerr in the audience. Given how early the panel was scheduled, I was delighted at how well attended it was. Mad and Irene, who were founding members, talked about how a bunch of writers, including Vonda N. McIntyre and Sarah Zettel, with the support of Ursula K. Le Guin, decided to pool their skills to epublish their out of print back lists. Eventually, they formed Book View Café. The Café now has 30 members, all established pro writers, 3,000 subscribers, and currently lists 100 ebooks, plus a daily blog posts and free fiction.

After the panel, I stayed to discuss a BVC anthology project that I'm editing along with Irene, then Dave and I headed back to Santa Cruz for a memorial service of a dear friend, my Quaker mentor Ellie Foster.

I was back at Baycon the next morning, still a bit weepy but very happy to be around book people. The autographing sessions were scheduled in an out-of-the-way room, quite a distance from the dealer's room or any flow of traffic; as a consequence, no one appeared during the time slot I shared with Diana L. Paxson, but Diana and I had a wonderful time catching up on career news and the challenges we each face as inheritors of two of the series created by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley. Diana had been double-scheduled for a panel, so she headed off to that and I wandered back to the dealer's room, where I spent far too much money on books, then back to the autographing room to hang out with Mad Robins and Juliette Wade, a local writer and co-conspirator of the Lady Writer's Lunch. Mad entertained us with tales of her life in the theater, and various plots were hatched. This is the way of conventions, even if no autographs were dispensed.

My final con event was a "themed reading" of short science fiction. I shared the time slot with Cliff Winnig. As I was on my way, however, I had an unexpected treat, which was meeting a dear friend of my older daughter and her partner. I'd heard them mention Mari with great fondness, but had never met her before and am delighted to report that the fondness is mutual all around.

Cliff and I had read together before and had exchanged emails about how to divide the time. (I highly recommend this, if you're ever faced with a similar presentation.) At Cliff's suggestion, he read a short piece involving a ballerina spy and a giant Nazi robot on an airship, then I read a longer, more serious piece ("Mother Africa" from Asimov's 1994), and he followed up with steampunk on Mars, complete with costume. He dubbed this a "Deborah sandwich." Then I was on my own but there wasn't much happening until after dinner, so with some regret, I wended my way home.

Over the years, I've learned that there are some cons when it seems all I do is speak on panels and catch my breath in between, and other cons when I get to sit back and enjoy other people holding forth, learning new cool stuff, attending readings by writers I don't know, and such like. I try to take each one as it comes, especially given the limitations of time and energy when I'm commuting. I had a lovely time when I was there and am pleased with the choices I made as the best of what could be managed. As always, the best part was the people -- old friends, new discoveries, mutually appreciative relationships. I was particularly grateful for the community during this otherwise grief-filled weekend.