This was the co-winner of the 2008 Tiptree award.
I did really enjoy it but didn't quickly finish it after Wiscon.
Faves - Wallamelon
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Filter House by Nisi Shawl
I got this book at Wiscon and got Nisi to sign it at the sign out...
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
WisCon 33: Favorite moments
My favorite moments of WisCon 33.
Also in reading the Chronicles of WisCon 32 I think I missed at least 60% of what was fun then - so I know this is just a small chunk of what everyone else experienced. But it is my chunk.
1. Ellen Klages' Guest of Honor speech
(Right afterwards I ran up to my room and wrote a long email to my husband about the impact of this speech).
Also glad that I planned in advance to sit with bindr and Vy (and it turned out, Rina, Jacob, Amy, Anna, Matt, and Rez) for the dessert salon, which offset quite a bit of "who am I going to sit with" anxiety that had started to kick in already on Saturday.
Getting to hear Ellen read ALL of "Time Gypsy" at her reading on Saturday, since I love that story. With lovely and well-acted English accent for the character Sarah Baxter Clarke.
And of course the Tiptree auction!
2. Finally getting to read the end of Pat's story from her reading!
(the portion she read at WisCon is the 3rd time I've heard a portion of it, due to faithful attendance at her Bay Area readings!). Very moved by the 2nd half of the story.
3. Hanging out with folks after the Governor's Club closed on Saturday night.
Eating rhubarb pie provided by Geoff Ryman after it had mysteriously appeared in his room (after we determined it was not Nisi's pie), watching Pat entertain people with her bristlebots, and discussing some "interesting" YouTube vids.
4. The strong emotion when K. Tempest Bradford (and Catherynne M. Valente) introduced Nisi Shawl and presented her with the Tiptree Award. (And Nisi introduced her mother Rose!)
5. Random conversation with Jennifer Stevenson in dealer's room which led to an invite to join her and friends (Margaret McBride, Anne Harris , and Victoria Janssen) for lunch.
Both conversation and lunch invite initiated by Jennifer - next year I will practice the art of striking up more conversations). Enjoyed the conversation at lunch (touching on many topics) and got some extra info from Jennifer re: targeted marketing, and also Roller Derby!
6. The panels overall! The Kickass Moms panel still sticks in my head the most. commented on it on live journal.
7. Parties on Sun night:
Getting more writing advice/support from Eileen Gunn and Diane Silver and hearing about Eileen's Microsoft past. Meeting Georgiette who has been coming to WisCon since WisCon 3 (and was wearing a beautiful dress).
I, on the other hand, was not wearing a beautiful dress! While I would not have ventured into the Fancy Dress party by myself with no fancy dress, I was with Pat which made it easier.
8. Signout - Briefly meeting Catherynne M. Valente (I love In the Night Garden but haven't yet read Palimpest, which she signed for me).
In chatting about my name she tells me that she too will soon have a "Russian Z name husband". (hers more Russian than mine since he lived there until he was 12 years old. Hopefully my Z 3rd gen Russian husband will come to WisCon next year).
9. Non-WisCon but still important to the weekend - Memorial Day picnic with my godparents at their house after they picked me up at the Concourse on Monday (and then dropped me off at the airport).
Really nice to talk to them and start transitioning back to the "real world"slowly. If I plan this well enough hopefully this can be a WisCon tradition, as I was also able to see them last year. Their house is so comforting.
They have lived there for over thirty years. They met my parents when all were young working in Monroe, WI, where I was born. It's really inspiring just to watch them interacting together - they are one of the main current role models for a long and happy marriage for my husband and I (since his parents divorced when he was two and my mom died when I was 16). My godmother wrote this email about my mom for me a couple years ago.
Regrets on WisCon:
I wish my flight hadn't been delayed since I missed all of Friday night - got in really late at 12:30 am by cab, but jazzed and hard to sleep.
Wish I had planned my panels out a little more, I feel like I missed several that I should have gone to (plotting the novel, romancing the beast, children's books that we remember... etc)
Wish I had talked to more people and put myself out there a bit more.
Wish I had read more of Geoff Ryman's work and Nisi Shawl's, before WisCon.
Or at least remembered that Geoff also wrote and coded the interactive novel 253, which I loved! So I could talk about it.
Also in reading the Chronicles of WisCon 32 I think I missed at least 60% of what was fun then - so I know this is just a small chunk of what everyone else experienced. But it is my chunk.
1. Ellen Klages' Guest of Honor speech
(Right afterwards I ran up to my room and wrote a long email to my husband about the impact of this speech).
Also glad that I planned in advance to sit with bindr and Vy (and it turned out, Rina, Jacob, Amy, Anna, Matt, and Rez) for the dessert salon, which offset quite a bit of "who am I going to sit with" anxiety that had started to kick in already on Saturday.
Getting to hear Ellen read ALL of "Time Gypsy" at her reading on Saturday, since I love that story. With lovely and well-acted English accent for the character Sarah Baxter Clarke.
And of course the Tiptree auction!
2. Finally getting to read the end of Pat's story from her reading!
(the portion she read at WisCon is the 3rd time I've heard a portion of it, due to faithful attendance at her Bay Area readings!). Very moved by the 2nd half of the story.
3. Hanging out with folks after the Governor's Club closed on Saturday night.
Eating rhubarb pie provided by Geoff Ryman after it had mysteriously appeared in his room (after we determined it was not Nisi's pie), watching Pat entertain people with her bristlebots, and discussing some "interesting" YouTube vids.
4. The strong emotion when K. Tempest Bradford (and Catherynne M. Valente) introduced Nisi Shawl and presented her with the Tiptree Award. (And Nisi introduced her mother Rose!)
5. Random conversation with Jennifer Stevenson in dealer's room which led to an invite to join her and friends (Margaret McBride, Anne Harris , and Victoria Janssen) for lunch.
Both conversation and lunch invite initiated by Jennifer - next year I will practice the art of striking up more conversations). Enjoyed the conversation at lunch (touching on many topics) and got some extra info from Jennifer re: targeted marketing, and also Roller Derby!
6. The panels overall! The Kickass Moms panel still sticks in my head the most. commented on it on live journal.
7. Parties on Sun night:
Getting more writing advice/support from Eileen Gunn and Diane Silver and hearing about Eileen's Microsoft past. Meeting Georgiette who has been coming to WisCon since WisCon 3 (and was wearing a beautiful dress).
I, on the other hand, was not wearing a beautiful dress! While I would not have ventured into the Fancy Dress party by myself with no fancy dress, I was with Pat which made it easier.
8. Signout - Briefly meeting Catherynne M. Valente (I love In the Night Garden but haven't yet read Palimpest, which she signed for me).
In chatting about my name she tells me that she too will soon have a "Russian Z name husband". (hers more Russian than mine since he lived there until he was 12 years old. Hopefully my Z 3rd gen Russian husband will come to WisCon next year).
9. Non-WisCon but still important to the weekend - Memorial Day picnic with my godparents at their house after they picked me up at the Concourse on Monday (and then dropped me off at the airport).
Really nice to talk to them and start transitioning back to the "real world"slowly. If I plan this well enough hopefully this can be a WisCon tradition, as I was also able to see them last year. Their house is so comforting.
They have lived there for over thirty years. They met my parents when all were young working in Monroe, WI, where I was born. It's really inspiring just to watch them interacting together - they are one of the main current role models for a long and happy marriage for my husband and I (since his parents divorced when he was two and my mom died when I was 16). My godmother wrote this email about my mom for me a couple years ago.
Regrets on WisCon:
I wish my flight hadn't been delayed since I missed all of Friday night - got in really late at 12:30 am by cab, but jazzed and hard to sleep.
Wish I had planned my panels out a little more, I feel like I missed several that I should have gone to (plotting the novel, romancing the beast, children's books that we remember... etc)
Wish I had talked to more people and put myself out there a bit more.
Wish I had read more of Geoff Ryman's work and Nisi Shawl's, before WisCon.
Or at least remembered that Geoff also wrote and coded the interactive novel 253, which I loved! So I could talk about it.
WisCon 33: plane ride home
The trip from Madison to Chicago was relatively uneventful. There were a group of people on my plane obviously talking about WisCon but I didn't talk to them much.
At O'Hare I walked under the Brachiosaurus replica (which I really appreciated, in the large airy concourse, a huge beloved dinosaur!) And twittered about it.
In the gate area Freddie Bear spotted me reading Nisi Shawl's Filter House, and came over to talk. She mentioned her friend Lyn also had been at WisCon and they were both on this plane.
(BTW, I love Freddie's blue sparkly glasses but did not tell her.)
On the plane my seatmate turned out to be Lyn (Paleo) who lives in the Bay Area and co-wrote
"Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror" - and now works for First Five of Contra Costa county. (Small world since both Dave and our friend Anna Olsen worked for First Five of San Mateo County in the past).
I found out from Lyn that Freddie is the famous Freddie Bear of WisCon T-shirts fame.
Actually I didn't find out more about Lyn until a little later in the flight, since we were initially talking about WisCon and then reading (me reading Nisi, she reading Ellen's Portable Childhoods).
It was fun talking but I think both of us were very tired. I'm only now recovering from not being tired yesterday. Trying to do work and WisCon writing at the same time.
At O'Hare I walked under the Brachiosaurus replica (which I really appreciated, in the large airy concourse, a huge beloved dinosaur!) And twittered about it.
In the gate area Freddie Bear spotted me reading Nisi Shawl's Filter House, and came over to talk. She mentioned her friend Lyn also had been at WisCon and they were both on this plane.
(BTW, I love Freddie's blue sparkly glasses but did not tell her.)
On the plane my seatmate turned out to be Lyn (Paleo) who lives in the Bay Area and co-wrote
"Uranian Worlds: A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror" - and now works for First Five of Contra Costa county. (Small world since both Dave and our friend Anna Olsen worked for First Five of San Mateo County in the past).
I found out from Lyn that Freddie is the famous Freddie Bear of WisCon T-shirts fame.
Actually I didn't find out more about Lyn until a little later in the flight, since we were initially talking about WisCon and then reading (me reading Nisi, she reading Ellen's Portable Childhoods).
It was fun talking but I think both of us were very tired. I'm only now recovering from not being tired yesterday. Trying to do work and WisCon writing at the same time.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
rhubarb pie at WisCon (yay we did not eat Nisi's pie!)
Very happy to be at right place, right time (both always seem to be the case when getting the chance to hang out with Pat at WisCon) -- for an impromptu rhubarb pie offered by Geoff Ryman.
One thing I noticed this morning - that group was not talking about their work or really much about writing specifically at all, just hanging out.
I was thinking of stuff I could have said this morning - I was looking at my earlier post about the 2008 anthology and remembering how much I liked KJF's story "The Last Worders".
But in that group, same feeling as when standing near Pat when talking to Cory Doctorow - it's not a place for the superficial fandom of "oh, i love such and such! You are the best since sliced bread!"
-- it's just "Hey, here we are sitting on a couch in a hotel hallway."
Not sure if Karen really has ever met me. It was nice to see her, since last year I had not read anything of hers, and now I've at least read "The Jane Austen Book Club" and the short story mentioned above.
I don't remember actually talking to her last year, and Pat probably assumes that we have met (since when she does introduce me to people, like Liz Henry, sometimes I know them).
Karen read out loud an excerpt from Laurell K Hamilton (that she found online using Pat's laptop) and there was much amused disdain (of Hamilton). Interesting and sad that the romance genre is so popular, and some of it is good, but more of it isn't so much.
One thing I noticed this morning - that group was not talking about their work or really much about writing specifically at all, just hanging out.
I was thinking of stuff I could have said this morning - I was looking at my earlier post about the 2008 anthology and remembering how much I liked KJF's story "The Last Worders".
But in that group, same feeling as when standing near Pat when talking to Cory Doctorow - it's not a place for the superficial fandom of "oh, i love such and such! You are the best since sliced bread!"
-- it's just "Hey, here we are sitting on a couch in a hotel hallway."
Not sure if Karen really has ever met me. It was nice to see her, since last year I had not read anything of hers, and now I've at least read "The Jane Austen Book Club" and the short story mentioned above.
I don't remember actually talking to her last year, and Pat probably assumes that we have met (since when she does introduce me to people, like Liz Henry, sometimes I know them).
Karen read out loud an excerpt from Laurell K Hamilton (that she found online using Pat's laptop) and there was much amused disdain (of Hamilton). Interesting and sad that the romance genre is so popular, and some of it is good, but more of it isn't so much.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
WisCon 33: Ellen Klages 10 am reading
I was trying to decide whether to see Ellen read at WisCon (as conceivably I _could_ hear her read in the Bay Area...) or to go to a panel on "Reinventing the Adventure" which featured Carol Emshwiller.
I'm so glad I went to the reading, as she was able to read "Time Gypsy" which is one of my favorite stores, in its entirety!
Basically she picked that since she never gets to read it this much time to read it anywhere else: "Where else do they give you more than an hour to read!?!"
Before she started, she told us that she'd had to go grab a copy of Portable Childhoods from the Tachyon table, since this is one that is a little long to have memorized:
- "Do you have a copy of my book?"
"Yes, you know, we published it!" and off she went.
There was also a bit of banter about the suggestion that she could bring the book back, signed, to the Tachyon table, with an inscription that reads "Mangled and Spine Cracked by Author"
(she had bent the spine back and then wondered if Tachyon would be upset about that). The audience seemed to agree that a book mangled by its actual author would be a pretty cool thing.
(I wonder what actually happened to that copy since i did buy a copy of portable childhoods from tachyon later in the day).
Anyway -it was really fun to hear her read "Time Gypsy" - I have the chapbook which I should get signed. I had totally forgotten that Sarah Baxter Clarke has an English accent! EK did a great job switching back and forth between the accents (of course!).
(oh and before the reading when I was hanging around near the reg table, she marched up and asked "anybody know where the Guest of Honor reading is?!?")
I also like the whole theme here of looking up to a mentor and then realizing that there is a real person behind the mentor (of course if you get a chance to actually see that person). In this case in the past they are the same age. But the two women meeting in the present would obviously be different.
SBC would no doubt have another side of herself (the professional mentorly side) that she would usually have for Carol.
I think Sarah S might enjoy these stories.
I'm so glad I went to the reading, as she was able to read "Time Gypsy" which is one of my favorite stores, in its entirety!
Basically she picked that since she never gets to read it this much time to read it anywhere else: "Where else do they give you more than an hour to read!?!"
Before she started, she told us that she'd had to go grab a copy of Portable Childhoods from the Tachyon table, since this is one that is a little long to have memorized:
- "Do you have a copy of my book?"
"Yes, you know, we published it!" and off she went.
There was also a bit of banter about the suggestion that she could bring the book back, signed, to the Tachyon table, with an inscription that reads "Mangled and Spine Cracked by Author"
(she had bent the spine back and then wondered if Tachyon would be upset about that). The audience seemed to agree that a book mangled by its actual author would be a pretty cool thing.
(I wonder what actually happened to that copy since i did buy a copy of portable childhoods from tachyon later in the day).
Anyway -it was really fun to hear her read "Time Gypsy" - I have the chapbook which I should get signed. I had totally forgotten that Sarah Baxter Clarke has an English accent! EK did a great job switching back and forth between the accents (of course!).
(oh and before the reading when I was hanging around near the reg table, she marched up and asked "anybody know where the Guest of Honor reading is?!?")
I also like the whole theme here of looking up to a mentor and then realizing that there is a real person behind the mentor (of course if you get a chance to actually see that person). In this case in the past they are the same age. But the two women meeting in the present would obviously be different.
SBC would no doubt have another side of herself (the professional mentorly side) that she would usually have for Carol.
I think Sarah S might enjoy these stories.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
WisCon fandom
I am only now (3 days before I fly out) starting to get back into the "WisCon mindset" - or at least the mindset I seemed to be in at the end of WisCon last year.
Bought "Changing Planes" by Ursula K. LeGuin, which I will read while flying out and actually changing planes.
I was going to write here a list of people I was interested in seeing again (all of them I met last year!) and new people I want to talk to if they're there:
Kij Johnson ( see below comment about "The Evolution of Trickster Stories by the Dogs of North Park After the Change")
It's kind of overwhelming going back now that I have something to expect...
I wish we had planned better so that Dave could come with me. Or Kari...
Plan to stock up on non-perishable foods to sustain the Con Suite provisions...
Bought "Changing Planes" by Ursula K. LeGuin, which I will read while flying out and actually changing planes.
I was going to write here a list of people I was interested in seeing again (all of them I met last year!) and new people I want to talk to if they're there:
Kij Johnson ( see below comment about "The Evolution of Trickster Stories by the Dogs of North Park After the Change")
It's kind of overwhelming going back now that I have something to expect...
I wish we had planned better so that Dave could come with me. Or Kari...
Plan to stock up on non-perishable foods to sustain the Con Suite provisions...
Camouflage by Joe Haldeman
Invaded the Redwood City Public Library last night to look for Tiptree Honor Books before WisCon...
Found Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (which attracted me because I just read parts of it in the Tiptree Anthology Vol 2).
More below about the actual book....but was momentarily distracted when creating alink to the book for this blog(and excited).
There are 2 signed first editions of Camouflage for sale on Amazon for $100 and $150!
So I'm not going to try to summarize the plots here because we can read them on Amazon. The part that I initially liked in the Tiptree selections, was the tale of the "changeling" who decides to come out of the ocean and learn to become a human.
(Amazon paragraph about Tiptree collection had a good summary: "an immortal, shape-shifting alien who alternates between male and female identities, human and animal. ")
The view of human culture, sexuality, war, etc was fascinating coming from this perspective (instead of the human trying to understand the alien).
It also seemed like it must have been fun to write the changeling's way out of various tight spots (being chased by someone who ripped off your arm? No problem, just jump out the window, get to the water, make yourself into a fish, and swim away!)
Found Camouflage by Joe Haldeman (which attracted me because I just read parts of it in the Tiptree Anthology Vol 2).
More below about the actual book....but was momentarily distracted when creating alink to the book for this blog(and excited).
There are 2 signed first editions of Camouflage for sale on Amazon for $100 and $150!
So I'm not going to try to summarize the plots here because we can read them on Amazon. The part that I initially liked in the Tiptree selections, was the tale of the "changeling" who decides to come out of the ocean and learn to become a human.
(Amazon paragraph about Tiptree collection had a good summary: "an immortal, shape-shifting alien who alternates between male and female identities, human and animal. ")
The view of human culture, sexuality, war, etc was fascinating coming from this perspective (instead of the human trying to understand the alien).
It also seemed like it must have been fun to write the changeling's way out of various tight spots (being chased by someone who ripped off your arm? No problem, just jump out the window, get to the water, make yourself into a fish, and swim away!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)