I didn’t get back to my room until around 2AM again, so again, I didn’t get any blogging done before going to bed. \u00a0It seems that I was much more disciplined about recording the details of my life when I went to Disneyland.<\/p>\n
After posting to my blog yesterday, I wandered briefly before getting to the Kaffeeklatsch room. \u00a0I was on the standby list to see John Berlyne, and I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to get in. \u00a0I was allowed in, and getting to sit down with John was absolutely fantastic.<\/p>\n
John Berlyne is an agent in the UK with clients all over the world. \u00a0He’s an extremely intelligent man with a someone brusque, sarcastic mien. \u00a0I actually found him a bit intimidating last year. \u00a0Then I got to talk to him for a while at one of the parties in Chicago, and he was amazingly supportive. \u00a0He didn’t sugar coat anything, but he also didn’t let me bullshit myself. \u00a0He asked me about my book and told me that when it was ready in a year or two to send it to him.<\/p>\n
Sitting down with him yesterday, I found him to be exactly as he had been in Chicago. \u00a0He’s sarcastic and witty, but more generous than one might expect. \u00a0He re-invited me and a few others to send our stories to him when we’re ready. \u00a0Obviously it’s no guarantee. \u00a0My work my night even be a good fit for him. \u00a0Still, I’ll take all of the encouragement I can get.<\/p>\n
After the Kaffeeklatsch, I went on to the SF Signal meetup. \u00a0I wasn’t sure what that was going to be like, but it was only okay. \u00a0There weren’t really enough tables and chairs for everyone to sit together. \u00a0Michael, Todd McCoy, and acquired our lunches and sat together just outside the main set of tables. \u00a0I had been looking forward to catching up with Emma Newman at the meetup, but she wound up at a complete different set of tables.<\/p>\n
Fresh from lunch and full of energy, I went to a couple of panels. \u00a0The first one was titled “But Why Can’t You See My Genius” and it was about how to handle rejection letters. \u00a0A lot of the information was stuff I’d already heard before, but there were a few interesting tidbits I put in my notes, and the presentation of the information was entertaining.<\/p>\n
I almost attended a panel called “Should SF\/F be Covert Commentary on Current Social Issues?” I went in, sat in a chair, and looked at the name of the panel again. \u00a0My novel questions few current social issues in a subtle fashion, so I determined that I could answer the panel’s question on my own. \u00a0I got up and went to a different one.<\/p>\n
I chose “Use of Language in Fantasy.” It’s an ambiguous panel title, as it could be dealing with what the characters are saying, how the author is telling the stories, or made-up languages. \u00a0The panel actually touched on all of that and more, and was more applicable to what I’m working on than I expected. \u00a0Mary Robinette Kowal was on this panel, just as she’d been on the previous one I’d attended, and she was fantastic.<\/p>\n
With the panels done, I wandered a bit. \u00a0I’m actually struggling to remember what I did next, and I feel bad because I think I hung out with someone. \u00a0I’ve met up and spoken with tons of people this week, but I don’t necessarily remember everything chronologically. \u00a0This is one of the reasons I wanted to do these posts before going to bed.<\/p>\n
The last official event I participated in was a Kaffeeklatsch with Nancy Kress. \u00a0She’s a delightful writer, and now that I think about it, she’s similar to John Berlyne in that she has no place for nonsense. \u00a0She’s very sweet and nice, and she invited conversations very easily. \u00a0She seemed ready to shutdown hogwash quickly and effortlessly, without being mean about it. \u00a0It’s hard for me to describe.<\/p>\n
I want to make one more note about that Kaffeeklatsch. \u00a0There were a few in attendance that didn’t seem fully healthy mentally. \u00a0There was another guy that just seemed bored and disinterested, although that might have just been how he presented himself. \u00a0There was an older woman sitting to my immediate left that was excited about the sit-down, but she was a little hard of hearing and kept talking over Nancy. \u00a0It made it more challenging for me to enjoy the Kaffeeklatsch. \u00a0Nancy was very graceful about the whole thing, and continue to invite conversation.<\/p>\n
After the Kaffeeklatsch I went in search of dinner. \u00a0I was determined not to get something fro the food court, and I was hoping to have dinner with someone. \u00a0Michael was unavailable, having made a bee-line for the next party\/get-together at Ernie’s Bar. \u00a0I wound up going to Chili’s and eating by myself, feeling just a little bit lonely. \u00a0A pigeon was foraging near my chair, pecking at chip crumbs and other dropped food. \u00a0At one point, he started attacking some discarded breaded chicken, and all I kept thinking that it was cannibalistic.<\/p>\n