Thursday, November 04, 2004

World Fantasy, Clarion Buddies and More

When I stepped off the plane in Phoenix last Thursday, I was met with rain and lots of it. Fortunately, that was the low point of my trip. Just a few hours later, I was reunited with five of my Clarion friends and four Clarion instructors. For some of us (myself included) it was our first con. So naturally I had the "deer in the headlights" look for most of Thursday evening ("Hey, that really IS Stephen R. Donaldson!") and Friday morning.

Most of the panels I attended turned out to be:
1 - Fairly informative
2 - Fairly entertaining
3 - Four authors ranting
4 - Two of the four authors fighting

The best panels were the ones with editors. I learned more about writing from listening to Ellen Datlow in one hour than I did in four hours of author panels. The YA panels were pretty good too. (And feisty!)

I met a lot of writers (published and non-published) and editors. I spent way too much time (and money) in the book dealer room, but came away with some great stuff: Eileen Gunn's new collection, Polyphony 3, Rossetti Song (four stories by Alex Irvine), and the Masterpieces anthology.

Saturday was just too beautiful to stay inside, so Njihia, Tenea, Marjorie, Rebecca and I decided to do a little exploring/rock climbing. We managed to survive encounters with small children, an unstable woman climbing in four-inch heels, deadly cacti, and other life-threatening episodes. Lots of fun.

As usual, the time with my Clarion friends flew by faster than the planes leaving the Sky Harbor Airport. What a great group of people. I miss them terribly.

On to see my brother Bob, his wife Lynda, and my mom. It was good to see Mom getting adjusted to life in Arizona. Bob/Lynda/Mom's new house is coming along and should be ready next month. They're all very excited. Now I'm wondering how we can get transferred to Arizona...

Wrote a poem today based on the zombies at BWI airport. (Kelly Link would be proud.) Started studying John Cheever's "The Enormous Radio." I plan to do another pass on "Family Plot" tonight. Bullet's sleeping on the floor at my feet. Rained all day.

Now Playing = Beethoven Symphony No. 1 - Berlin/Karajan/1963

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