Susan Forest

Can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday evening — too dragged out from the week to write, but didn’t want to veg. Erika, Dave, Randy, Val, Kim and I were there as part of a packed house, and it was great fun. Thanks to Pages On Kensington for running stuff like this for authors — we are very lucky to have them (I bought a book, not only to support the authors, but to support Pages as well). The writers only read a little, but told stories about how the work came to be (which was relaxed and hilarious), and then a bunch of us went for drinks and late dinner after — it’s wonderful to network with other authors. Look on my blog roll for a link to Eileen’s website.

Susan

Should have posted this at the time, but thanks to Brian Hades, who took this photo of me with two Aurora Awards! Randy McCharles is the first person in history to have won in both a professional and fan category: Best Work, Short Form, and Fan Organizational. I was pleased and proud to be asked to accept the awards on his behalf.

What better place than the airport to blog about going to Worldcon in Montreal? I’m sitting on 2 panels and moderating a third, doing 2 signings, a reading, and appearing in a radio play. And, of course, the Aurora banquet — as well as volunteering for SFWA and spending some time at the Edge table. Will be a busy weekend! Hopefully, the hotel will have free internet access and I can post every day.

Randy McCharles and I signing for Edge Press at Denvention, 2008.

So, here is a picture of me and Brian Hades, Publisher of Edge Press at Denvention last year. Now that I know how to put pictures up, expect lots of pictures from Anticipation, coming up next week!!

I went to the Edge launch of its new imprint, X-Press, at the Venturian Art Gallery. What a first-class event! The venue, which was awesome (gorgeous art work) was packed and it was semi-formal, with nibblies and wine. I had the opportunity to read (I love to read) as well as Randy McCharles and Marie (last name?) who runs Edge’s podcasts. Marie also told some very funny stories. After the break, Rob Sawyer read, who is always awesome, and Christian Bok, a poet whom I hadn’t heard before, but whose performance was breathtaking.

Also, it was great to touch base with some people I rarely see, such as Quartet Publisher, Rose Scollard. Barb Galler-Smith (whose first novel, Druids, will be coming out from Edge in the fall) and Ann Marsden came down from Edmonton. And — here was my surprise for the evening — Brian and Anita’s son was there: he works with my husband. What a small world!

Thanks to everyone who took a moment to nominate me for the Aurora Award — I have been short listed in the Short Fiction category for my short story in Analog last June, entitled “Back.” Doubly good news, I am in competition with my good friend, Randy, who wrote a humorous novella, “Ringing the Changes in Okotoks, Alberta,” which appeared in Tesseracts 12 by Edge Press last November. Randy was also nominated in the category, Fan Achievement – Organizational for running the World Fantasy Convention in Calgary last fall, which was a great convention.

So much to post about – I should have kept my promise and posted about World Fantasy every day. David Morrell was a wonderful guest to host – his workshop was great (he has lots of good stories to illustrate his points) and he was very easy to talk to. I sat on a panel with Tad Williams and Lee Moddisett which was informative and hilarious, and I got to make a point or two as well (Thanks for moderating, Barb). Great experience. My reading went very smoothly, and signing books at the Edge table was lots of fun – I even got to do a podcast with Randy McCharles and Holly Phillips.

As for the rest of the convention, I sat in on some very informative panels, enjoyed the art show immensely (I think it was one of the better ones I’ve seen) and had fun at Edge Press’s kickoff party with the Plaid Tongued Devils. In between, I was able to catch dinner with the likes of Barbara Hambly, Tom Doherty and George R R Martin at various venues, including Kim Greyson’s home (thanks, Kim!).

Probably the most awesome part was that Rob Sawyer introduced me to an agent in the firm that handles him, and although the meeting was only supposed to be 5-10 minutes, we wound up all going for lunch together, which as a real thrill. And, yes, I do have an invitation to send my manuscript in (I sent it last Wednesday), so now my writing has to sell itself. Wish me luck!

The convention ended with the World Fantasy Awards, and David Morrell graciously invited me, as his host, to sit with him at the head table. It doesn’t get much better!

All in all, World Fantasy was a first class convention. The hotel was upscale and well-situated, the book bags have a million pockets and will be used for years (not to mention that they were bulging with free books), the entire affair was well-organized (not a glitch in the entire weekend, that I could see), the parties were fun, the people were in good spirits — a very classy affair, all around. Kudos especially to Randy McCharles who is AWESOME and to Kim Greyson, who set out to treat the guests like princes, and succeeded.

Susan

Tomorrow I meet David Morrell! How awesome is that? Kim Greyson, Guest Liaison for World Fantasy is taking David out to dinner when he arrives in Calgary, and as his host, I am invited as well. That kicks off the week. Then I will host (and attend) David’s full day session on writing on Wednesday, followed by Edge Press’s social. Thursday, I’m sitting on a panel on the use of appendices in novels, and my reading is at 8 PM in the evening. Those are highlights for me, along with all the sessions I will be able to attend and touching base with so many people I have met from around the world at other conventions. I’ll try to post more often (daily?) about the convention — I know it will be awesome!

And full of writing and writer-related (and fan-related) fun. Saturday was the World Fantasy Barbecue and Brian Hades of Edge Press spoke about publishing. Though I arrived late (okay, the kids needed school supplies so we were out shopping in the morning) I was told that the speech was excellent. Food was great, and I picked up some classics as well as some new books I haven’t read yet at the raffle. In the evening, all the actors in IFWA Players got together to look at the footage of our play, Armageddon Idol, from last month. Looks like Anna will be intercutting the two cameras to create a DVD for us. Yay, Anna!

Today, though, is my writing day. I woke up with a fantastic idea yesterday, and 2 more plot bunnies have attacked me since.