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.