OryCon 2009 Report
Dec. 1st, 2009 11:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennifer_brozekI went to my first OryCon as a pro-guest over Thanksgiving Day weekend with my husband. For 2.5 days, it was amazingly packed. There was so much for me to do and, somehow, I managed to get everything that was required of me done even if I didn't get to go to all of the panels and readings I wanted to go to.
I had 8 panels to speak on. I would say this is a record but I've done more at GenCon. Still, it was a whole lot. By the end of the day, my words had fled. Ditto with my memory. There were two guys, Patrick and Sean/Scott(?), that I kept mixing up. Either that or it was just one guy that was really messing with me.
I went to my first SFWA meeting and got to meet Mary Robinette Kowal. I'm pretty impressed with her, her ability to speak and her willingness to entertain questions. I had a couple of contract questions that she, while not being able to answer directly, had some good advice on.
I got to meet Maggie Jamison (submissions editor) and Deb Taber (senior editor) from Apex Publications! I've been emailing them back and forth since I joined the Apex team and it was lovely getting to meet and hang out with them. I really like both and we plan to meet up again soon. When I was not at panels, eating or writing, I was in the dealer's room at the Apex table. Which means I wasn't there nearly as much as I wished I could have been.
I wrote 4000 words over the three days of the convention. Normally, it is not hard to crank out 4000 words. However, doing it at a convention is another matter. It's not something I recommend anyone do. I did it because I'm on a deadline and it did force me to leave the parties early because I had not gotten my word count done for the day. On the bright side, no hangovers to contend with.
It is hard to put down on paper all of the things that happen at a convention: the meets-and-greets, the inside jokes, the funny mistakes, the advice given or received, the reconnections, meeting someone you admire and thousands of other things that invariably happen when a large quantity of like-minded people get together.
So, I'm going to borrow a bit from my Apex Overlord, Jason, and give you 10 things that might or might not have happened while at OryCon 2009. Five of these happened. Five of them did not. You guess which is which.
1. I might or might not have been mistaken for author Patricia Briggs.
2. I might or might not have stolen a drink from author Phoebe Kitanidis.
3. I might or might not have taken compromising pictures of Talebones editor Patrick Swenson.
4. I might or might not have wandered off alone with author Mary Robinette Kowal.
5. I might or might not have forced author Jeff Soesbe to entertain IROSF's editor Stacy Janssen.
6. I might or might not have dodged a pen thrown at me by author Marti McKenna.
7. I might or might not have bribed author Alma Alexander with chocolate.
8. I might or might not have flirted with authors William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock.
9. I might or might not have abandoned editors Maggie Jamison and Deb Taber at a party.
10. I might or might not have teased author Lizzy Shannon mercilessly at her book party.
It was a good time and I hope to be invited back. The one complaint I had (that the readings were not put in with the rest of the panels) was told to CS Cole and she put it down on her list of programming reviews. I suspect, if I am invited back I will be happen to attend in 2010.
I had 8 panels to speak on. I would say this is a record but I've done more at GenCon. Still, it was a whole lot. By the end of the day, my words had fled. Ditto with my memory. There were two guys, Patrick and Sean/Scott(?), that I kept mixing up. Either that or it was just one guy that was really messing with me.
I went to my first SFWA meeting and got to meet Mary Robinette Kowal. I'm pretty impressed with her, her ability to speak and her willingness to entertain questions. I had a couple of contract questions that she, while not being able to answer directly, had some good advice on.
I got to meet Maggie Jamison (submissions editor) and Deb Taber (senior editor) from Apex Publications! I've been emailing them back and forth since I joined the Apex team and it was lovely getting to meet and hang out with them. I really like both and we plan to meet up again soon. When I was not at panels, eating or writing, I was in the dealer's room at the Apex table. Which means I wasn't there nearly as much as I wished I could have been.
I wrote 4000 words over the three days of the convention. Normally, it is not hard to crank out 4000 words. However, doing it at a convention is another matter. It's not something I recommend anyone do. I did it because I'm on a deadline and it did force me to leave the parties early because I had not gotten my word count done for the day. On the bright side, no hangovers to contend with.
It is hard to put down on paper all of the things that happen at a convention: the meets-and-greets, the inside jokes, the funny mistakes, the advice given or received, the reconnections, meeting someone you admire and thousands of other things that invariably happen when a large quantity of like-minded people get together.
So, I'm going to borrow a bit from my Apex Overlord, Jason, and give you 10 things that might or might not have happened while at OryCon 2009. Five of these happened. Five of them did not. You guess which is which.
1. I might or might not have been mistaken for author Patricia Briggs.
2. I might or might not have stolen a drink from author Phoebe Kitanidis.
3. I might or might not have taken compromising pictures of Talebones editor Patrick Swenson.
4. I might or might not have wandered off alone with author Mary Robinette Kowal.
5. I might or might not have forced author Jeff Soesbe to entertain IROSF's editor Stacy Janssen.
6. I might or might not have dodged a pen thrown at me by author Marti McKenna.
7. I might or might not have bribed author Alma Alexander with chocolate.
8. I might or might not have flirted with authors William F. Nolan and Jason V. Brock.
9. I might or might not have abandoned editors Maggie Jamison and Deb Taber at a party.
10. I might or might not have teased author Lizzy Shannon mercilessly at her book party.
It was a good time and I hope to be invited back. The one complaint I had (that the readings were not put in with the rest of the panels) was told to CS Cole and she put it down on her list of programming reviews. I suspect, if I am invited back I will be happen to attend in 2010.
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no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 09:10 pm (UTC)4K? The last con I was at I came up with ideas for 4 other anthologies, but didn't actually get to write for any of the projects I was supposed to be submitting work to. Jenn is way up on me.
no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-01 08:54 pm (UTC)And thanks for taking the time to chat about the story. Our conversations really helped me unlock the door on it and I'm well into revision. You should see the new version soon!
4K in three days! At a con! Awesome!
- yeff