BilmBlog500

My second WorldCon in San Jose, and it's starting next week. Here are some things I remember from ConJose in 2002: John Hemry/Jack Campbell and I went looking for lunch, and we walked and walked and walked on a kind of hot day, and we never exactly found the restaurant.  John still holds this against me.  And I kind of can't blame him.  But, like -- there was barely MapQuest in 2002, let alone the wonder of Google Maps. Tobias Buckell isn't a client of mine any longer, but I had the honor of representing him at the start of his career, and we had a pretty long chat at the Starbucks in downtown, around the corner from the Waldenbooks now long since gone, about the wonderful novel that became Crystal Rain.  The Starbucks is still there, and I'll think fond thoughts of Toby and Crystal Rain every time I pass by. It was an adventure getting to the party floors at the Fairmont, finding the secret stairs to walk up and up and up because the elevator service wasn't up to i...

Hard to believe it's barely over a week until Sasquan, the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention. I still remember heading over from Back Bay Station to the Hines/Sheraton for the 1989 WorldCon in Boston, which was my first WorldCon as both a member and program participant, and it's still a thrill to me to be at WorldCon and to be there for you! Here are my official program items at Sasquan: Wed Aug 19, 1pm Understanding Contracts panel with Mike Resnick and Jim Fiscus Convention Center, Room 300D I'm not due into Spokane until around 9:30 which should be plenty of time for me to settle in and get to my 1pm panel, but if I'm delayed, I've asked my colleague Sam Morgan to be my DH. Thu Aug 20, 5pm Horror/Paranormal - What's New with Nick Mamatas, Christie Melerz and Laura Anne Gilman Convention Center, Room 300C Pitch Sessions Fri August 21, 9am Sat August 22, 3pm advance registration required - details Kaffee Klatche Sat August 22, noon advance registration requ...

As I get ready to head down to San Antonio for LoneStarCon 3, the World Science Fiction Convention, some reminiscences of LoneStarCon 2 in 1997... First and foremost, having WorldCons in Texas is good!  Both times in the life of JABberwocky that I've gone to San Antonio for a WorldCon, I have had a Hugo nominee on the ballot.  In 1997, it was Elizabeth Moon's Remnant Population for Best Novel, and this year Brandon Sanderson's The Emperor's Soul for Best Novella.  I have to confess I wasn't expecting a win in 1997.  The competition was amazing, with Kim Stanley Robinson winning and novels by Lois McMaster Bujold and Robert J. Sawyer as well as Bruce Sterling to split the Texas vote.  (Several years later when Elizabeth was a Nebula finalist for Speed of Dark, I was rather more optimistic and told her at breakfast the morning of that I felt she has as good a chance as anyone and better have a speech ready, which was good advice!)  I'm not as up on short fict...

I am attending LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World Science Fiction Convention in just a couple weeks, and I am putting my full schedule below followed by some comments and annotations. One important thing to mention ahead of time:  I'm not open to query letters, but both I and my assistant Sam Morgan will be at the convention, we are always excited and interested to meet people, and often do agree to open the door a bit for submissions from people we meet.  Besides getting to hear me speak on several panels with a lot of other knowledgeable people in the field, I have a Kaffeklatsch this year which means a select group of people will get some extended quality time with me.  Opportunities like this don't come around often, and I hope you'll take advantage of this. So here's the schedule: How to Obtain an Agent Thursday 14:00 - 15:00 You've written something. You're pleased with it. You're finally ready to shop it out. You think it might get published. How do you se...