So this weekend was Trinoc*con in Durham. It was the first convention where I'd actually gotten invited as a guest, and I was really excited about it. I went to the Meet the Guests party Friday night, and talked for a while with Andreas and Luna Black, and met writers Steve Ramey (who was wearing a Clarion 35th Anniversay t-shirt) and Susan Linville. Lawrence Watt-Evans was the Literary Guest of Honor, and that dude has the biggest mullet I have ever seen. I was exhausted after a really long week, so I left at 8:00.

The next morning, I woke early, got cleaned up and dressed in my suit. Normally I wouldn't dress that fancy for a convention, even if I'm on panels, but I had a wedding Saturday at 3:00 in Apex (which was 45 minutes away from the con in Durham), and they scheduled me for a panel at 1:00; in other words, I didn't have enough time to go home and change before the wedding, so I'd have to go straight there from the convention. Anyway, I drive back over to Durham for the first panel of the morning at 9:00, Taboos in SF, with me, Michael Bishop, and Jim Grimsley. We talked about things that are still hard to write about and sell within SF (like extreme sex, hardcore violence, gay relationships), and generated some interesting discussion (like the difference between erotica and porn). It was so cool being on a panel with these two writers that I respect, and actually finding myself contributing to the discussion. Yay me!

There was a panel on Celtic mythology next, so I took a peek and looked at the handout that they, er, handed out. Lots of really good information. At 11:00, Michael Bishop had a signing in the dealer's room, and Jamie was sitting next to him, so I hung out with the two of them for a while. I talked to Margaret Coin, who apologized profusely for leaving me out of the program book (which I was pretty disappointed about; I took the time to write a bio for these people, and they didn't even use it). I also talked to her about some possible freelance graphic design work for my lady when she gets here. Dale Bailey came up and got Michael to sign some things too, and I got to talk to him about Sycamore Hill. Michael had a reading next, and he read "Last Night Out" from his new Golden Gryphon collection Brighten to Incandescence (which he actually read last year, but it was worth telling again), and talked for a while.

Then was the big panel of the convention: writing workshops. The panelists were me, Michael Bishop, Dale Bailey, Allen Wold, Steve Ramey, and Jennifer Barlow. Since most of us had been involved in some fashion with Clarion or Clarion West, the conversation tended that way, though we also talked about writers groups. It was pretty kewl.

When the panel was over, I rushed out to my car, paid to get out of the parking deck, and hauled ass over to Apex. I actually got there fifteen minutes early, and saw some folks from work (the bride was one of my coworkers). The wedding was a Catholic one, and it lasted over an hour, with mass and communion and standing and sitting and everything. Buh. It convinced me more than ever that my wedding is going to be short. As in "Do you? Yeah. Do you? Yeah? Good, you're married, kiss her." Well, maybe a teensy bit longer. Bitching aside, it was a lovely wedding, and Kimberly looked very beautiful, and it was cool getting to hear passages from the Bible being read in a British accent (the groom is from England).

The reception was all the way in north Raleigh, half an hour away. I stopped in Quail Ridge on the way to get a book by Jim Grimsley (since they didn't have any in the dealer's room). Then I headed on to the reception, which unfortunately, I didn't get to enjoy too much, but I did manage to eat something and say congrats to the bride and groom before getting back in my car and driving the 45 minutes back to the convention.

I was only five or six minutes late to my next panel at 7:00: when the characters take over, along with Michael Bishop (once again, that makes three), Warren Rochelle, Allen Wold, and Jodie Forrest. After that, I peeked into an artist's panel with Jamie Bishop and Tim Mullins, and was surprised how similar the techniques and experiences of artists were to writers.

At 9:00, my reading. This was the part of the convention I was sweating the most, since even though people were looking at me blabbing on the panels I was on, I was the only one up front at the reading. Andreas and Luna showed up, along with Steve and Susan, which was four more people than I was expecting, so I was excited. Since the fluorescent lights were vibrating at a strange frequency that might have possibly sent me into epileptic fits, Steve turned them off, so that the room was just illuminated by the few incandescents in the ceiling and sconces along the walls, kinda like reading by candlelight. I read "Last Fare", which at 5400 words took 40 minutes and made my throat froggy and scratchy by the end (but I was glad I read it, since I've been told it's my best story yet), and then, because "Last Fare" is serious and a bit sad, I also read "Night Off", the goofy fun Santa/Buddha short short that I wrote last weekend and at 800 words took only ten minutes. The crowd seemed entertained, and I had fun reading, so it was a big success for me.

Afterward, I talked a bit more with Andreas and Luna, then got my book signed by Jim Grimsley and talked for a while with Jamie and Michael out in the hall. I found out from Jamie that Tim Mullins is putting the next issue of Dream Engine on temporary hiatus to work on some paying gigs. So, I may be putting "One Big Crunch" back into circulation, possibly to Christopher Rowe if he'll read another story by me for the next Say... We all three were leaving at the same time, and Jamie and Michael weren't coming back the next day, so we talked a bit more then said goodbyes.

I drove home and was still pretty jazzed about my three panels and really good reading, and because my internet connection at home had been spotty lately and I hadn't been able to email Janet, I decided to surprise her with a phone call. We talked for about an hour, then I crashed. I don't think I've been that tired since the jet lag when I returned from Singapore.

This morning, my panel was at 10:00, which allowed me to sleep in a little more, and it was about tools of the trade. Between Allen Wold and Laura J. Underwood, I barely got in two words, but they were important: disposable manuscripts. I can't stress this enough. Editors know if a manuscript's been at another magazine, and from what I've heard, don't appreciate sloppy seconds. Paper and ink are fairly cheap. Just print your story again.

I went into the dealers' room after the panel, since I'd purposely kept out of there. I did find two paperbacks by Sean Stweart (since he and James Blaylock are authors I always look for), as well as an ARC of Caitlin Kiernan's new novel Low Red Moon from Warren Lapine and the nice preview edition of the brand new H.P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror with Ol' Mike Jasper's and Tim Pratt's "Helljack". I also found a few birthday goodies for Janet, then left around noon.

On the whole, this year's convention wasn't nearly as good as the previous years. Notable abscences were Mike Jasper, John Kessel, Richard Butner, Andy Duncan, Brett Cox, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant. And maybe because of that or the fact that the con was moved from October to August, the attendance was down quite a bit. I tell ya, this was the first year Dan Reid wasn't involved with the convention, and it was so disorganized in terms of preparation. My name wasn't added to the list of guests on the website until last week (my bio still isn't up), the programming went up only a few days before, and the list of readings was never posted. I hope things are better next year.

I was actually talking with Dan Reid a little bit and he said that since next year is Trinoc*con's fifth, they might be inviting back everyone who's been here already, which would be cool. They really need to beef up the literary aspect of the con, and hopefully this will help.

So to sum up, I had fun being a guest, but it definitely could have been better.

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Now Reading:
Viriconium by M John Harrison

Stories Out to Publishers:
10

Books Read This Year:
27

Novel Word Count:
9200