Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions and Me

So I completely spaced on writing my blog post yesterday. Bad senior editor! I blame the World Fantasy Convention, which I was at this past weekend.

Have you ever been to an SF&F convention? There are two different kinds. World Fantasy Con is literature-focused – the panels are about books, the guests and attendees are authors and publishers and editors and aspiring authors. The other kind is all about media – the guests are actors, the panels are about TV or movies or anime, and the attendees dress up (cosplay). San Diego Comic-Con is an example of the second kind.

I’ve been going to both kinds for a long time.

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Back in high school, I was a huge Star Trek: The Next Generation fan, so I would dress up in uniform (gold, like Data) and go to get autographs from Star Trek actors and buy memorabilia. I have Wil Wheaton’s autograph from back when he was (in)famous for being Wesley Crusher and not for being an internet personality. (Side note: It’s very strange to see these actors becoming famous again for something completely different. Case in point: George Takei.)

Later, I started volunteering at a small SF&F publisher, and after doing that for a while, I found myself standing behind their dealer’s table at a literary convention. Having a dealer’s nametag is pretty cool, because it makes you the person everyone wants to talk to, plus you get to look at, I mean sell, books all day. Oh, and I talked to Terry Brooks and didn’t recognize him and made a fool of myself. Whoops.

Here in Toronto, we’re lucky enough to have both kinds of conventions. Fan Expo is the place to go to see masses of people doing cosplay; SFContario and Ad Astra are the ones for panels about books and writing. And World Fantasy Con, which (sadly for me) moves around from year to year. Next year it’s in Brighton, UK. In 2014 it will be in Washington, DC, which might be just close enough to justify going to.

This year’s World Fantasy Con was a little bit frustrating because I’m still on the outside. I don’t have any “real” publication credits (Turtleduck Press doesn’t count for much in these circles) and I’ve never been on a panel. I’m not even sure I’d be good at it, but oh, how I want to try. Maybe by 2014 I’ll Be Somebody. I’ll have something published, and that means I will have arrived. I’ll be the center of attention and the toast of the con. And I’ll be all confident and bubbly and I’ll know what to say on the spot instead of hours later and…

Stop laughing, you in the back. Hey, a writer can dream!

3 Comments:

  1. Heh. I don’t want to be the center of attention (probably.) I want someone to read my name from my badge and gasp, though. The fantasy goes on with them telling me how much the love [name of book] and they’ve read everything I have out, but that one book–

    Yeah. One day. πŸ™‚

  2. Yes. How that book changed their life and/or got them through a rough time, and they’re so thrilled to finally meet the author…

    Siri

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