Another 10 a.m. panel Monday morning, this one on the Future of Energy (ironic, considering the distinct lack of energy to be had at 10 a.m. on the fourth day of a four-day SF convention). It actually went very well. My fellow panelists were Karl Johanson, Blair Petterson, A. M. Arruin and Hayden Trenholm. After a certain gloominess regarding the likelihood of politicians getting their act together well enough to manage the transition from our current energy usage pattern to what will be required in the future, we managed a bit of an optimistic take on things based on improving technology. Politics permitting, our consensus seemed to be, the future of energy will lie in a much more decentralized system, where every house is a potential net-energy producer, and many different technologies will work together to meet energy needs.
Of course, what we do in the West doesn’t matter a lick in the long term: it’s what China and India decided to do that may well dictate the future of energy.
After that, I sat in the Dealer’s Room for an hour manning a table featuring several books from authors not well-represented by the larger booksellers. I sold out my small inventory of Lost in Translation and also sold a couple of Andy Nebulas over the course of the day.
During the hour I managed to get my science column for CBC Saskatchewan’s Afternoon Edition polished up enough to be able to e-mail it to guest host Joanne Skidmore, although I had to leave my next panel (on the Internet and the burgeoning amount of information available on it–lots of talk about privacy issues and the lack of editorial control) early to do so.
Then I had a joint reading with Leslie Carmichael; I read from Lost in Translation and she read from Lyranel’s Song, her upcoming YA fantasy. Among those in the audience: Artist Guest of Honour Mark Ferrari, who said he enjoyed the reading and was sorry the book was sold out in the Dealer’s Room. Alas, I wasn’t able to help him, since I only brought five copies. (Bad author. Stupid author.) I enjoyed Lesley’s reading very much and look forward to reading the entire book soon.
Once that was over, we made our way over to the Eau Claire Market for a quick lunch before returning to the hotel, where Margaret Anne went off to one panel and I went to another, Three Chapters and an Outline, with Nina Munteanu and David G. Hartwell (which is where I talked to Kathryn Cramer and she told me she’d linked to my blogging of the con).
A few interesting notes from that panel: Hartwell said an author’s actual writing is far more important than a synopsis, which he, at least, doesn’t read until after he’s bought the book. Kathryn Carmer noted (from the audience) that the best thing to hope for is that you get a chance, either from a query letter or by having talked to an editor at a convention, to send the entire manuscript, thereby skipping the synopsis/sample chapter stage altogether–it is, after all, just “another chance to say no.”
A synopsis doesn’t really come in useful until it’s time to send the book to marketing, Hartwell said.
He also noted that the wave of the future (or of the present, really) is to use an agent: the majority of New York editors will not look at an unagented manuscript, he pointed out.
He also made the point that it is important to distinguish between editors and houses–large publishing houses have many editors, who specialize in different types of books. Sending a book to the wrong editor can end up in an instant rejection or (pretty much as bad) the book being dumped into the corporate slush pile, where it may be lucky to get a reading of any sort.
Hartwell said the most important thing in creating a book that captures his interest is an interesting setting: nothing kills a book faster than an inadequate or generic setting, especially in a fantasy novel.
“I’m looking to be surprised,” he said.
After that panel, I returned to the room and settled in to do a little blogging and await the phone call from Regina. It duly came, and I managed a pretty fair piece on Westercon for the folks back home.
After that, it was off to Nick’s Cafe for the traditional IFWA and friends and guest authors’ dinner at what is supposedly one of Calgary’s finest steakhouses (well, that’s one someone told us, though I have serious doubts). Anyway, it’s traditional to go there, and so to there we went, and there, indeed, we had the traditional Traditional, plus a steak (in my case) and kebob (in Margaret Anne’s case), and some good conversation. Robert J. Sawyer, S.M. Stirling, Patrick and Honna Swenson and Dave Duncan were among the guests who made the trek.
We all eventually got food and drink (it took a while, since there must have been 30 of us there), and I even capitulated to Rob Sawyer’s wishes and sang “Old Man River,” much to the bemusement of the rest of the restaurant patrons, who had no idea who I was or why I was singing while they were trying to eat.
We returned to the hotel and visited the Dead Dog party in the Con Suite; Margaret Anne and I had a lovely chat with James C. Glass and his wife, Gail. Then it was…well, right about now, or shortly before now, when I sat down to finish up this account of Westercon.
Overall, a fun con that seemed to run smoothly (though no doubt the Operations people have some horror stories, as they always seem to). It felt little different from ConVersion, except for the time of year and the number of panels running concurrently; it was hard to tell if it was much larger.
People are wending their way homeward now, as will we on Wednesday, after a day at the Calgary Zoo tomorrow. I may or may not blog until I’m back at my desk.
If I don’t…well, try to keep a stiff upper lip.
