LA Con V
Back from WorldCon - LAcon V - to find in my e-mail the editorial notes on the next Benjamin January mystery, now titled The Devil's Dinner... due in less than two weeks. So this'll be brief.
Briefly, it was a wonderful con. There was a shortage of volunteers - travel being far more expensive this year, among other things - so I had the impression that the committee was run ragged making sure everything was covered. Nevertheless, they put on a marvelous range of program items (over 1600 of them!), and kept things running smoothly - though Ursula Vernon (Toastmaster) had to vamp her way through IT delays during the Masquerade and the Hugos with Fun Facts About Weird Animals (including more than you ever wanted to know about starfish anatomy and the mating habits of porcupines). (She is VERY funny).
I was on a lot of panels, so there was a lot of the convention that I simply didn't have time to see. I made the time to visit the Art Show... Beautiful stuff. (And because I was a guest, the Committee was kind enough to give me space to put up some of my own paintings). Coming and going from the Marriott to the northern half of the Anaheim Convention Center - a long walk in seriously blazing heat - one passed through the other event at the Convention Center that weekend: a Zumba Academy, with loud music, lots of sweat, and wall-to-wall spandex. (I would have loved to see what was in THEIR Dealers Room...)
Also, because I was a guest, and because my birthday was Friday, they gave me a Birthday Tea, with free cake for everybody. (The line went out the door and down the hall).
But mostly, for me, the convention was about getting together with people, talking over breakfasts and lunches and between panels, meeting and chatting with fans and old friends, writers and artists (including people I'd gone to college with back in the Triassic Age). Lovely memories of sitting with friends out on the lanai area - with parties going on in most of the rooms around - watching people come and go and listening to the rolling thunder of the Disneyland fireworks across the way.
I had no idea what to expect at my first WorldCon and was a bit nervous going across the country on my own for an event where I wouldn't know a soul. I'd seen on your blog that you would be at WorldCon, and thought "Wow, I wish I could go and meet Barbara Hambly and tell her how much her books have meant to me." This was followed by "You know, I have Skymiles. I COULD go. Could I really go?" For a couple of weeks, I kept looking at flights, putting a convention pass in my cart... and letting the pages time out. But I've spent a lot of my life letting things 'time out' and pass me by. A cancer diagnosis in 2024 was a wakeup call that we aren't guaranteed time to make up for all the vacations we put off to meet work deadlines, the camping trips we skipped to do housework, the "we'll have to get together sometime" lunches that don't happen. In the end, I booked the flight, did the signup, and closed my laptop before I could second guess myself. Absolutely no regrets. When I got an email Saturday night at 10pm, saying that I didn't get a spot at the table talk, I was disappointed. But I was still awake at 1:30 am when I got a second email, informing me that there had been a cancellation and I was in. I’d never heard of a table talk before the con, but what a nice way to have a quiet chat. In the line for autographs, it made me smile to see how many of us had brought old and cherished books. My Time of the Dark, with its yellowed pages and spine creased by years of re-reads, now has an inside cover inscribed "To Grayson on her 15th birthday" and a title page signed almost 40 years later by Barbara Hambly herself. Like kids' toys, the favorite books are the ones that look thoroughly worn out.
ReplyDeleteHello Barbara and I hope you are doing well. I have been a lover of all kinds of genres in reading and recently I watched a video featuring Janny Wurts. She talked about a lot of her favorite authors and she had mentioned your book “Those Who Hunt The Night”. It sounded so interesting so I found a copy and picked it up. I immediately fell in love with the rich descriptions and prose and will be looking for more of your work. I was wondering, is it possible to send you my book to get signed? I’m sorry if this is the wrong way to ask this sort of thing. Also, if you are too busy, no worries at all. I just thought it would be nice to have. Thank you for your time!
ReplyDeleteJeffrey, no this is exactly the right way to ask for this sort of thing. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book - it's one of my favorites. Send the book, with a self-addressed, stamped mailer, to me at P.O. Box 4271, Chatsworth, CA, 91313. Please send me a message on this website telling me that you've sent it - I don't visit the PO Box very frequently, so this warns me to check it. (I'm still trying to get in touch with the folks who run my professional Facebook site: "Barbara Hambly, Writer." I haven't been able to post there since February.)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes - I will be delighted to sign your book!