L.A. Con IV, the 64th World Science Fiction Convention. For
more information, visit
http://www.laconiv.org/.
"I'll say this right away: Anaheim is not
Scotland. Going in, I knew this experience wouldn't be half as
enjoyable as last year's Worldcon. And with that kind of attitude, I
was mostly right. I suppose the relatively short drive from north
L.A. beats a nine-hour plane ride across the Atlantic, but, aside
from that, I'd have to humbly challenge Disneyland's claim to being
the 'happiest place on earth.'
In any case, I wasn't able to attend the entire
weekend, and so didn't see many panels. I did get to tour the
dealers' floor, with its usually impressive—and
sometimes outlandish—props, artwork, and so forth from the science
fiction and fantasy community. The convention also gave me a chance
to catch up with my brave editor Diana Gill, publicist (and author)
Jack Womack, and a number of other friends, fellow authors,
booksellers, and industry insiders. My most unexpected encounter had
to have been with Craig, the founder of the popular classifieds
website
www.craigslist.org. The most memorable would be getting to meet
one of the industry's biggest agents, who said that I did not look
like I belonged anywhere near a science fiction convention. I'm not
sure if that was a friendly dig at my appearance, or that of
the stereotypical convention goer, but I chose to take it as a
compliment.
All around, the weekend
was of limited excitement, as you can tell. But, as I said before,
I'm not sure I gave this year's convention much of a chance to begin
with. Fortunately, I had to leave early for a brother's birthday, so
I didn't hang around long enough to spoil the festivities for
everyone else. Next year's Worldcon is being held in Japan, from
what I understand. Hopefully, that will prove to be a more exotic
locale than my own backyard in sunny Orange County, California."