Day Two

We got up early on Saturday morning and picked up some breakfast pasties (egg, cheese, Canadian bacon) from Teddy Wedgers near the hotel. They sell all sorts of Cornish pasties, including the aforementioned breakfast variety. Great stuff :) After breakfast we went to readings by Nalo Hopkinson and Samuel R. "Chip" Delany, neither of whom need any introduction to most SF fans. Nalo read a novel excerpt, as did Chip, and both were well worth getting up early for.

Next up was the "Children's and YA Publishing: What Not to Do" panel. Despite the panel's title, there weren't actually any publishers present. Still, all of the panelists were involved in some way with children's and YA writing, and each had some interesting things to say on the subject. Panelists on this one were David Lenander, Nicola Griffith, Hilary Moon Murphy, Patrick Samphire, and Jan Bogstad.

After the panel we went to the dealer's room and found some good books, then it was on to the Tiptree bake sale for some baked goodies. We briefly visited the Farmer's Market around the State Capitol, but the stalls were mostly closing up by that stage. I noticed a used bookstore nearby (Shakespeare's Books), so I had a quick look through there while Carrie went to get some lunch.

I had trouble deciding which panel I wanted to go to at 1pm (three sounded interesting), but I eventually decided on the "Myth of Class Mobility" panel. Panelists were Avedon Carol, Matthew H. Austern, Samuel R. Delany, David D. Levine, and Victor Jason Raymond. The panelists had some interesting and informative discussions, but it was a bit too one-sided for my liking. I probably would've gotten more out of the "Does your baby make you smarter?" panel, since much of the subject matter will become relevant quite soon. That's the curse of Wiscon, I suppose--too many choices!

We had a late lunch, realizing too late that we'd missed Geoff Ryman's reading. Drat! He was the 2005 Tiptree Award winner, and everyone seemed to be raving about his book, Air. It would've been nice to catch his reading. I'm sure others will blog about it, anyhow. While waiting for the next panel, I went online and caught up on journals, news, etc.

I went to the "Selling is Work, Too" panel while Carrie took a nap. The panelists consisted of agents, editors, and writers, so there were some different perspectives presented, which was nice. Panelists were Shana Cohen (agent), Jack Byrne (agent), Virginia G. McMorrow (writer), Jim Minz (editor at Del Rey), and Katherine Pendill (formerly of Tor). They talked about what goes into a synopsis and query letters, with the take-home messages being "do your research" (as far as agents and editors), and "short fiction is an excellent way to improve writing skills and develop name recognition." Remind me to post my notes on this one when I get a chance!

After the panel we went to the A Room of One's Own bookstore looking for Geoff Ryman's book, but as we'd suspected, they'd all been sent to Wiscon and sold-out. We did some browsing and Carrie picked up The Time Traveller's Wife, which sounded interesting. For dinner we headed across the street to the Angelic Brewery for burgers and brews (Carrie stuck with lemonade). The seasoned waffle-fries I had with the burger were nice.

The Tiptree auction was next. This year there were so many people that they'd divided the room into two halves, with a platform in the middle. Highlights included David D. Levine in a chicken suit, the raffling of a Tiptree quilt signed by guests of honour past and present, Jane Yolen and Sharyn November (Ellen Klages' editor) auctioning a few items, and Ellen Klages in her usual role as auctioneer / stand-up comedy performer. The auctioning of a fan letter from James Tiptree Jr. (author Alice B. Sheldon's pseudonym and Tiptree award namesake) to writer Carol F. Emshwiller (returning GoH) elicited gasps from the audience, especially when bidding reached stratospheric heights. Other items auctioned included a rare (!) SpaceBabe comic page, a SpaceBabe figure, a music box, a preview copy of Ellen Klages' forthcoming novel, and many more.

We left the auction around 9pm to attend the "Welcome to our Worlds" readings, with writers Stephanie Burgis, Jenn Reese, Patrick Samphire, and Sarah Prineas. Unfortunately we got there late and missed Patrick's reading and half of Stephanie's. Jenn read a couple of her zodiac tales (Owl, and Praying Mantis) which raised some laughs, and Sarah read an excerpt from her novel about a thief turned Wizard's apprentice, which was both atmospheric and entertaining.

Thankfully the Scribe Posse book launch party for Barth Anderson's new novel, The Patron Saint of Plagues, was only just getting started, so we picked up a copy of the novel and a virology chapbook (a freebie!). They also had some homebrews there, with names strangely appropriate for the book launch ;) I tried the Cold War Cream and the root beer, both of which were very tasty. We had a chat with Jason Erik Lundberg about the new Two Cranes Surreal Botany project. It sounds like it'll be another good one!

We stayed at the parties for about an hour before heading back upstairs to catch up on some sleep.

To be continued....