Denvention 3: An (Oh, Probably Not) Brief Recap
Posted on August 11, 2008 Posted by John Scalzi 52 Comments
So, how was Denvention 3? Well, you know. I had fun. Let me break it all up into easily digestible categories of personal experience.
1. Panels and Programming: This stuff worked out pretty well for me, I have to say. Unlike the Worldcon in LA, where I was on some panels where I ended up wanting to throttle someone either in the audience or on the panel, all my panels this time around were fun and interesting and not especially throttle-desire-inducing. Here’s how all my programming went down, in order of time:
Schmoozing 101: This was a panel in which I, Mary Robinette Kowal and agent Michael Kabongo tried to give tips to folks about how to handle meeting people they might admire and/or want something from, and also just how to carry on conversations with new folks. I think the audience had a lot of fun with this one; certainly the folks on the panel did.
My Signing: I did my signature over and over and over. Without getting too much into it, I still think it’s wacky that people stand in a line to get me to sign something. I hope I never get over it.
Bleeding Heart Liberals and Military Science Fiction: The panel (Joe Haldeman, Elizabeth Moon, John Hemry (aka Jack Campbell) and me) pretty much quickly dispensed with the panel topic because it was a little bit silly, and talked about military science fiction in a larger sense, especially touching on how folks today are relating to the subgenre. Perhaps not surprisingly, I was the sole panelist who had not been in the military. Given the caliber of the other panelists, it’s also not surprising this panel was (in my opinion) wide-ranging and fascinating.
Making a Living as a Writer – But Not Necessarily a Novelist: I moderated this one, which featured five other writers active in the SF community, but who weren’t making a living writing science fiction. The range of other writing jobs on the panel was impressive: Freelancer reporter, critic, scriptwriter, publicist, medical writer and so on. I think this might have been the most helpful panel I was on, because it made a point near and dear to my heart, which is that other sorts of writing can be nurturing to one’s fiction career, because it gives you security (or, at least, an income) while you’re developing your voice.
Reading: As noted before, Mary Robinette Kowal very graciously split her reading time with me, and we had a lot of fun, alternating between us, reading short stories, topped off by her reading a chapter from “The Sagan Diary,” which reduced me to blubbering tears. This was one of the real highlights of the convention for me, and all things considered, this is saying something.
“Hacking History”: I don’t think this was the actual title of the panel, but then, I wasn’t actually supposed to be on the panel, so I can be forgiven for not remembering the title. Basically, through a series of hilarious miscommunications, I ended up on the panel, discussing alternate history with John Hemry, Eric Flint, and Dr. Who scribe Paul Cornell. Since I was actually nominated for the Sidewise Award at the time, which honors alternate history stories and novels, I had some nominal association to the topic. It was actually a very interesting panel, so I’m glad I got sucked into it.
Sidewise Awards: As noted, I was nominated this year in the “short form” category, for this story. And as I said to Steven Silver, one of the jurists for the award, “I’m really happy to be nominated, but if I win, there’s something wrong with your award.” Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with the award, since Michael Flynn and Kristine Kathryn Rusch were announced as co-winners of the short form category.
Incidentally, at the Sidewise Awards, I have given that very cool “Editing! Gerunds! Death!” pin you see on my nametag lanyard by Xopher, who comments here from time to time. You are now my favorite person evar, Xopher. Thank you.
Kaffeklatch: Kaffeklatches fascinate me, because it’s ten people who sit at a table with me and watch me babble insensibly for an hour or so. Hey, whatever makes these folks happy, you know. And I did most certainly babble. Nevertheless, a good group at the table, and I think we had fun. It was right before the Hugo Awards, too, so I was pretty wired.
Hugo Awards: I did okay there. I’ll talk more about that in a minute.
2. Denver: I liked Denver, or at least the part of it that I saw, which was the 16th Street Mall, the Convention Center and their immediate environs. I stayed at the Sheraton, which was ostensibly the party hotel, but as it turned out, most of the hanging out action for the pro publishing folks took place at the Hyatt, which was right across from the convention center and also had a big-ass bar capable of handling several dozen drunken authors at a time. Funny how the authors are always at the bar. Anyway, a couple of people I knew noted that they were being affected by the altitude of Denver (it is famously the mile-high city), but I didn’t notice it too much. I did notice that staying up until 4am because I was partying me brains out led me to being tired a lot. They need to make a pill for that, I think.
3. People: I don’t know why anyone else goes to Worldcon, but I go to see many of my friends who aren’t otherwise in the same place at the same time and have a big ol’ ball staying up late and saying terrible, hilarious things. What sort of hilarious things? Well, let me just say this: The moment that I, Ian McDonald, Paolo Bacagalupi and Blake Charlton tried to sell an anthology to Lou Anders at Pyr Books by saying “Two words, Lou: Unicorn Bukkake” was not actually the most disturbingly, howlingly funny moment of the con.
(Also, if you don’t know what “bukkake” means, for God’s sake don’t look it up. Especially at work. For serious, man.)
If I listed everyone I know who I saw it would get really boring fast, so I’ll just run through some of the new folks I got to befriend: Kat Richardson, who shares a hometown with me and is just crazy fun; Ian McDonald, who I had met briefly before, but who I now spent more quality time with (along with his lovely wife); Alethea Kontis, who is smart and sweet and quite gorgeous; Paul Cornell with whom I had some deeply amusing conversations about British pop music; SFWA president Russell Davis, whom I finally met in the flesh and who met up with all expectations of competence and class; Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders of io9.com, both of whom are as snarkliciously fun in life as they are on their blog; Jon Singer and Jo Walton, whom I’ve known and read online and with whom I share so many friends that in both cases it was simply like meeting a dear acquaintance for the first time, and Diana Rowland, who if all goes to plan will have a most interesting acknowledgement of me in one of her upcoming books. You’ll know it when you see it, folks.
There are of course many other people I met at Denvention and whose company I was delighted to share for the first time, but my brain is still of a flan-like constitution from travel and con-fatigue, so I will ask their forgiveness for not giving them a shoutout at the moment. You know I was delighted to meet you.
4. The Hugo Ceremony: I’d like to say I was all cool and mellow before the ceremony, but I’d be lying my ass off, so let’s just say that while I strove to maintain an outward image of cool, inside my id was running around, on fire, tripping over objects. But in the end it turned out well, and I got namechecked in Denvention Toastmaster Wil McCarthy’s opening speech, and how cool is that.
I’m actually going to discuss my Hugo win and so on in a separate post, but for the moment the short form is, yes, I’m incredibly happy to have won the Fan Writer Hugo, I’m really not at all worried about having missed out on Best Novel, and to diminish the joy of one with grousing about the other would be the height of total loserdom. I had a good night, you know?
As good a night as I had, however, it’s nothing compared to the night my friend Mary Robinette Kowal had, when she was crowned (literally, as we have a tiara) as the Campbell Award Winner for Best New Writer. Mary’s been making a name for herself in the last year both for the quality of her writing and for her involvement in the sf/f community (she’s currently the secretary for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America), and her Campbell win was basically confirmation of what some of us already knew: Here is a star, people. We’re glad the rest of you are in on the secret now.
My only regret is that my wife Krissy wasn’t able to be there to see me get the award. As consolation, my awesome friend Yanni came as my Hugo date, and aside from wearing the sort of dress that makes most men and some women walk into walls (and being able to rock that dress), she helped keep me grounded and sane, before, during and after the awards. I am blessed with friends who are good for me. Yanni is one of them.
5. My Denvention Highlight: As it happens, I had two of them, and both of them involved Mary Robinette Kowal. One, the reading the two of us did, I’ve already mentioned. As for the other, well:
After the Hugo ceremony (which, to be clear, really was a high point, too), Mary and I and a group of friends began our walk to the Hugo after-party, which was at the Sheraton hotel a few blocks away. The Hyatt was on the way, so I suggested to Mary that we cut through the lobby, so we went in, and as she and I walked through the lobby, toward the huge Hyatt bar which happened to be filled with lots and lots of our friends and con-goers, Jay Lake, who was in our group, said in a loud voice “Ladies and gentlemen, your winners!” or something to that effect. At which point the entire lobby area erupts into huge applause, and people come running up to me and Mary with hugs and yelling and general madness. It’s one thing to be applauded from a stage, and another to be in the middle of all that.
We kept moving (we had a party to go to), but while the parties were a hell of a lot of fun, my big memory of that whole convention will be walking through that lobby with Mary, awards in hand, cheering around us, the two of us having a really big night together. To share that moment with one of my dear friends made it just that much richer. It’s possible that in my professional life I might have bigger moments. But those moments are going to really have to work to be better.
And that was my Denvention.
(Photos from Denvention via Tom Suter, with thanks and much appreciation.)
John, congratulations on the Fan Writer Hugo. Am I correct that it was based on Whatever? Whether or not I’m right on that, your blog is one of my favorite stops on the Net, and it’s one of the things that inspired me to start my own blog. I don’t have any expectations of becoming a pro writer, I’m just doing the occasional mini-essay, slice ‘o life, and keepsake memories for me, my wife, and the kids.
Isn’t Paul Cornell awesome? I love him! So much fun to talk to!
(And, as good as “Blink” was, HE WUZ ROBBED.)
What a wonderful moment that must have been, walking through the lobby, being cheered and hugged! It fills my heart just to read about it. Many congratulations, John. Your win is much deserved.
It was really great having you with us at Denvention/Worldcon this year. We had a great time and are planning on attending again in the future, this was our first one.
All of the panels I attended were excellent I know my wife Debby really enjoyed Schmoozing 101. (I was in panel on AI which was also excellent). It looked like you were having a great time and congratulations on the Hugo!
We were totally wiped out after very full days that we didn’t make it to the parties. The disadvantage of living in the host city and not staying at the hotel. Congratulations to all the winners!
Thanks to your efforts I got to read all of the Hugo best novel nominees and was able to let others have that opportunity as well. I also found some great new authors and re-discovered some old classics. Several of your ‘Big Idea’ posts lead to books I got signed and discussed briefly with their creators. Awesome fun!
Thanks for all you do for SciFi fans everywhere!
Great recap, especially from the con-flanned!
Thanks for the peek.
Congrats on your award and general awesomeness! You personify all that is good with humanity.
Welcome back and congratulations on your win!
5. My Denvention Highlight: As it happens, I had two of them, and both of them involved Mary Robinette Kowal.
Cue the “John Scalzi and Mary Robinette Kowal having an affair” rumors in three . . . two . . .
John, you’re a class act. Denvention was better for you having been there.
Marcos:
Nah, I don’t need an affair with Mary. We’re close enough as it is.
CV Rick:
Well, thank you. Mind you, it was excellent even without me. But thank you.
Your lobby story made me misty – rock on, you!
And I have to second Nicole’s love of Paul Cornell – he was absolutely everywhere at Gallifrey this past February, and his impassioned defense of fangirls during the “What’s With All the Squee?” panel warmed this fangirl’s heart.
Also, he’s a big proponent of never letting your pro status preclude you from being a fan. That’s a charming quality you both have in common, I think.
Yes, Yanni looked stunning in the dress.
I had a good time at the con and will probably write about it at my LJ accoutn later, when I had time. There was only one co-panelist I wanted to throttle, and a few audience members (one of whom was related to the panelist, but I would have had to stand in line for that one).
Congrats again on the Hugo! :D
So, did they actually let you carry the Big Golden Rocket around with you everywhere and all the time, for the rest of the convention? Like the Stanley Cup? :D
You might want to consider having someone announce your arrival from now on whenever you enter any lobby. Applause is good on regular days too.
Being one of the people who ran to catch you guys in the lobby, so I could hug Mary–I have to say it was definitely very cool from the perspective of the non-winner’s end as well. =)
Although good lord, you people were moving fast, and I don’t know how I got over there that fast… I think it was mostly because Ben Rosenbaum noticed that oh dear god, there they were, and he and I just sort of flew across the lobby from the bar.
You might want to consider having someone announce your arrival from now on whenever you enter any lobby
I suggest that you hire an old fashioned herald, who would bellow in deep Sean Connery attention getting tones: “Announcing SIR JOHN SCALZI, boy of destiny…” and then bow deeply as you stroll regally past.
This would be especially impressive in the grocery store and such like.
:)
Congrats on the Hugo, you deserve it.
I have nothing in particular to say, except that ‘Unicorn Bukkake’ would be an excellent band name.
The funniest part about all the cheering in the Hyatt lobby was the civilians who were madly clapping away with no idea why…
It was awesome being there to cheer you and Mary through the lobby. We’d just gotten done toasting to Bear’s Hugo as well, so the timing was amazing. I captioned the moment as “The King and Queen of giving back to the sf community” It was a great procession.
Even more amazing was being tucked in the corner at the Hyatt bar as luminaries filled the space. Heady stuff even without the altitude disorientation.
First of all, congratulations. I’ve been offline for half a week and so I’m late to congratulations rush. 9 votes behind the mighty Chabon is no shame at all.
Second my wife is wondering why the hell I was laughing out loud and now I have to explain what Unicorn Bukkake is. And that’s going to get me the “What the hell is wrong with you” look.
Congratulations on your win, John. It confirms what your fans know, too…you can’t spell quality without “S-C-A-L-Z-!.”
No, really, it works, I swear to God.
Damnit, Nathan and Jim took my joke.
Congrats again, John. If history is any precedent, that Novel Hugo will be yours next year.
No offense to you, Mr. Scalzi or the always lovely Mrs. Kowal, but I’d really like to see a picture of Ms. Yanni! ;-)
(Having met her at Wiscon, I’m sure she could rock just about any dress.)
Congrats on the Hugo.
Chris Gerrib, What? You want a riot on your hands?
If I may say so, she could rock a potato sack by wearing it.
John –
This is why you won the Hugo award. What a wonderful wrap-up of the convention, a show that we all would like to have attended. Instead, we have your outstanding version of it, which was just fantastic. Thanks so much!
Jay
@ Marcos – # 8 –
I take it you’ve not met MRK’s husband? Hotter than John (sorry, John).
Steve @ 24 – Yeah, I’m sure she could. Still wanna see the dress.
Josh @ 26: I totally agree. Rob Kowal is a very nice looking man.
No offense to you, John, but you just can’t rock a boater hat like Rob can. =)
I don’t even have a boater hat, so I can’t say I disagree.
Oh, I’m sure you’d do fine in a boater, but Rob… mmm.
I think you hit two of my favorite highlights too. I’m so glad you suggested walking through the lobby. It was like being rock stars. I love puppetry, but the fans got nothing on the SF crowd.
Of course, most of our fans are in elementary school…
“her Campbell win was basically confirmation of what some of us already knew: Here is a star, people. We’re glad the rest of you are in on the secret now.”
QUOTED FOR TRUTH.
John, you are now officially one of my favoritest people in the Whole Wide Solar System Including Pluto. Just so you know.
Scalzi would look best in a sinister bowler hat.
DAMN! if only I had photoshoppery skills.
I was delighted to finally meet you in person, John. Thank you for devaluing our books with personalization of the autographs they came with. Because, of course, they are much more valuable TO US, now.
I also enjoyed Mary’s and your reading. It was a lot of fun, and then some tears when she read from The Sagan Diary. I MUST have that audio version now!
I turned to my man as Mary was walking to the stage to get the Campbell, and I said, “John Scalzi is going to be over the moon happy that she won!” :) Congrats to Mary!
Congratulations on your own win, too!
-Salome
unicorn bukkake!!! waaahahahahahahaha! this definitely made my day! naaah, my week! you’re definitely nuts, but that’s why i love you!
“My Signing: I did my signature over and over and over. Without getting too much into it, I still think it’s wacky that people stand in a line to get me to sign something. I hope I never get over it.”
They you’ll probably think I’m even wackier when I give you books that you’ve already signed to sign again. The books in question were purchased from booksellers at conferences I attended but at which you weren’t an attendee, at least to my knowledge.
It was a pleasure to meet you (briefly) and I really enjoyed the duo reading.
MRK absolutely NAILED your story to the wall.
It was a lovely little WorldCon.
Whoa! I know Diana Rowland through our community theatre, and we were so proud when we found out she was having a book published. How extraordinarily freaky cool to suddenly see her name on Whatever!
And congratulations as well!
Congrats!
Freakadelic time for me: I looked up Mary on Amazon, turns out she’s written several episodes of “Lazytown” which is one of my little girl’s favorite television shows!
But for the fact I didn’t get to the con til Friday, I would like to have heard the “Bleeding Heart Liberals and Military Science Fiction” panel. I’m sure you must have posts here on Whatever that address that topic in respect to your own career, so I will hie me to the search engine.
John, it was a pleasure and an honor to be your date at the Hugos. I was so proud of you (and Mary and eBear) when you won your Hugo! I am equally blessed to have you as my friend.
Actually, I’m a puppeteer on “Lazytown,” not a writer.
“Basically, through a series of hilarious miscommunications, I ended up on the panel, discussing alternate history with John Hemry, Eric Flint, and Dr. Who scribe Paul Cornell.”
Ah, that explains why you were there. I was surprised to see you walk up to the table, and actually rechecked my program to see if I had not noticed you were going to be on that panel. In my opinion, it was one of the better panels I attended, and you held your own with the other panelists, who I thought were excellent.
” As consolation, my awesome friend Yanni came as my Hugo date, and aside from wearing the sort of dress that makes most men and some women walk into walls (and being able to rock that dress)…”
Most? Any male who did not walk into a wall must have had a major hormonal deficiency!
All joking aside, you are blessed to have friends (MRK & Yanni) who are not only gorgeous, but seem to have personalities that make them just plain enjoyable to be around, judging from what I saw on a couple of occasions.
With best wishes,
– Tom –
I second Dru’s (#19) comment. Everyone was so thrilled for the two of you.
It was a spectacular moment – and I’m glad I was there!
Congratulations! :-)
~PJ~
I like you too, John (duh, like I get buttons for people I don’t like). And may I say it’s always nice when the person who writes the books you enjoy is a great guy/woman/other, like you and Connie and Lois and [insert name of writer in transition before posting]
and entirely unlike Ors. Patrick’s saying he wanted it on a t-shirt was part of the impetus for making the button, and he has a copy too.-et- 44: I am a man who would (I think) not walk into a wall at the site of Yanni regardless of what dress she was, was not, or was only arguably wearing. I have no hormonal deficiency. I am, however, gay, which you may be surprised to learn is neither a hormonal deficiency nor a disqualification for being a man (just ask any sesbian lepratist).
(Please note: I am amused, not angry at -et- or anyone else. At the moment. Past performance is no indicator of future results. Void where prohibited. Contents may have settled in shipping.)
If someone had not read anyting by Mary Robinette Kowal were would be the best place to find some of her work?
It really sounds like you had a wonderful time, John! Denver is one of my favorite places to visit during summer–snow one day and 80 degrees the next, yeeha!–and I wish you had had some time to check out the area. But then, who needs looking at pretty scenery when one can walk through a hotel lobby being cheered and mobbed?
;-) Congratulations again. The Hugo was truly well-deserved.
I have nothing in particular to say, except that ‘Unicorn Bukkake’ would be an excellent band name.
I believe the long form of that anecdote involved “Some Guy Named Brad”. Or “Brent.” I forget. Anyway, that should be the band name. “Unicorn Bukkake” should be the debut album name.
I didn’t see you again after the Hugo awards, so I’ll just say Congrats on your win.
Belated congrats! The whole Hugo Ceremony is kind of a blur just now. I can’t wait to see the DVD of it… ‘->
I had just been given some of your books by my sister, soon to be published in Analog, and it was a treat to meet you at the Con. I am a bleeding heart liberal and enjoy Space Opera. That panel was a highlight and srt the con off on a great start for me.
Congrats on the Hugo!