BayCon 2010 with lots of pics

Baycon 2010 was a blast, although more tiring than usual. My back did great, but I sure pooped out fast. Friday, I popped in to get my badge and attend a couple of panels (I was staying with hubby in the city.) The first was "A pinch of improbability and a dash of implausibility," dealing mostly with the best and worse use of mcguffins. The second was on how YA differs from adult fiction. Wanda Kurtku sat on the YA (young adult) panel. She's a junior high school teacher and wrote the Star Trek Next Generation episode, "A Matter of Honor" (where Riker goes to the Klingon ship on an officer exchange program). Wanda and I had a nice chat in the green room on Saturday. She said she exposes her students to science fiction and fantasy books every chance she gets. I later emailed her a story that my husband said might do well as YA. It's been bopping around from one editor to the next. They all like it, but won't buy it for their mag. We'll see what Wanda's students think. Meantime, it's off to the next mag on my list.

My panel on Saturday was "Writing Workshops: Hit or Miss". We explored the benefits and pitfalls of various forms of writers workshops, MFAs and critique groups. Attendees were hastily jotting things down in their notebooks. That's a good sign. :)

And here we are left to right: Morgan Hua, Jay Ridler, me, Jon Cory.

(photo taken by Jeff Lemkin)

My husband, Patrick, and I had lunch with Jeff Lemkin and Mary Holland off-site at a noodle joint. And then dinner later with Cindy Pavlinac and her husband Marty Gregory. I met Jeff and Mary in the flesh for the first time that morning. Jeff and I found each other on someone else's facebook wall and Mary is a fellow Broad Universe member who was game for the BU RFR that wasn't. Cindy's a fellow CWC (California Writers Club) member and long-time friend. I'm sure she'll have more pics for me to share eventually.

Sneaky hubby Sunday morning.



Sunday, I led a panel on self-promotion for authors. Hubby took this one. Left to right are: Tony Todaro, Scott Sigler, me, A Kovacs, Emerian Rich.



The Dr. Who panel was loads of fun. It's always well-attended. And this year, I could actually participate since it focused mostly on the current Doctor and the latest incarnation of the show on BBC America. (rest of photos by Patrick Wilkes) L to R are Tim Crowley, Sandy Saidak, me, Bryan Little, Mette Hedin and Tadao Tomomatsu (standing).


If talking about Dr. Who wasn't enough to entertain everyone, about halfway through, a security guard comes in and whispers in Tadao's ear. Then Tadao turned to the panelists, microphone in hand, looking like he had some really bad or at least awkward news. Apparently, the water he gave all of the panelists was tainted. He poisoned the panel! Here's Bryan Little drinking the WATER!


Tadao collected half-empty glasses from a few of us and shook his head still more apologetically at those who had had their fill. We soldiered on in spite of the fact we might be running to the nearest restroom or becoming mostly dead any moment. Then some guy hits Tadao over the head with a rolled up program and tells him he's just been punked.

I think this is when I told them what I love about the Doctor and what makes him endearing and enduring. I illustrated his sense of wonder by telling the audience, "Just look at you! You're brilliant!"



Mette Hedin and Bryan Little attended in all their Oodness.


I horned in on a panel on Monday on SF Homemaking because I had just composed a list of things that would be great in my smart house for use in a future story or novel. In retrospect, I should have copyrighted my intellectual property first. ;) My favorite is my invisible repeller mat. You put it on your coffee table or dining room table and only things that have been added to the white list will stay there. Everything else that the household's clutterers try to put their will bounce right off. Is that way cool, or what?

Don't chuck your muck in my dustbin, my dustbin's full...

Still haven't been to a SF convention? You're missing out! Now I'm off to code my interview with Nnedi Okorafor, author of Who Fears Death. That's an interview you won't want to miss. The review and interview will post on Thursday. See you then!


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