Oooh, ouch!

   Checked out of the Fox Connaught this morning and discovered that the route given me by Nigel Furlong was perfect.  I had a round trip ticket from Heathrow to Paddington Station.  Nige gave me the tube lines to take which resulted in a far of ￡4.70 instead of ￡65.   WONDERFUL!

     What was not so wonderful was that I did not read my calendar carefully.  My flight to Dublin is tomorrow.  I checked into the Heathrow Sofitel for the night.  The choice was easy.  To change my flight cost 💲400,00;  The hotel is ￡160.  Easy peasy.  There is a huge difference between the Sofitel and the Fox.  My room here is spacious; the Fox was cramped.  The bed is larger and more comfortable at the Sofitel.  The most important differences are the bath witch is large and has room to move around and the fact that the breakfast is complimentary and contains all the things in an English breakfast and other countries, sushi, curry, and selected Chinese dishes.

We had people, not just children playing on the Fan Village green.  I thought it amusing that these three had gathered to game electronically together.









Someone brought a haul of bubble wrap.  There was a sudden noise like a fireworks stand on fire and it was a feeding frenzy of fans stomping on the stuff.  I managed to get my camera going to catch the very last of it.  Not just kids, everyone!










It was not just sedentary games being played on the green.  There were hula hoops available.  The quoits set had been broken by Monday.  But there was enthusiastic soccer with foam balls, bubble blowing and chasing and the like.










I found that I could actually see out of the Excel when I had time between crowd control and fan emergencies.
 This view almost show the Thames.  The glass circular building is the hotel attached to the Excel.  It was completely booked by the time I got around to making reservations.  Loncon 3 had over 11,000 paid memberships.  Happily for Ops, not everyone showed up at the same time.

There were huge crowds for people like George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis and others.  All of them gave panels, autographs and readings.  For the most part they made themselves available to fans who wanted to chat.  That is one of the things I like about cons.  Most of the famous want to mingle.





At the end of the con, all consumables are consumed.  Many are left from private parties that publishers throw or the mysterious SFWA suite.  SFWA stands for Science Fiction Writers Association.  I'm not sure what goes on in the suite, but they do hand out good booze at the end of the con if it hasn't all been drunk.

What you are seeing is a part of the dead dog party.  I'm not sure why it is called that, but I think it is that fans love to party so they stay until all the beer is gone and the last dog dies.



     Next post will be from Dublin.  Eurocon, the European Science Fiction Convention starts there next weekend.   I'm looking forward to seeing a bit of the lovely city before and visiting Belfast the days after.

A bientôt.

W estercon

Every so often, science fiction fans get together to socialize, meet authors and artists, discuss things like science, art, acting, films and the like. These get togethers are called "cons" by the fen (fannish plural of fan). Westercon is one of these cons, an annual event held in the American west and moving from town to town depending on which local sf club is willing to organize a con.
Meeting favorite authors and artists is the big reason I started attending cons. But after a few years, I had made good friends that I only saw at one or another con. Published writers began taking me under their wing and making suggestions for improving my writing and/or getting my fiction published. There were always new, interesting people coming over my horizon.
For example, on the first day of Westercon, I met Stan Schmidt, an author and the editor of Analog, a magazine of science fiction fact. Michael Stackpole, another author, was there and they talked. during the time I was able to listen, I learned more about what publishers want from authors and how to present my work.
There are multiple activities at cons. These consist of panels which cover various aspects of writing, art, even of being a fan. Authors do readings of their work. Costumers discuss the making of hall and masquerade costumes. New and old types of science fiction and fantasy are discussed. Various experts give workshops. Woman hungry men search for women and vice versa.
At many cons, these activities stop (except for the searching) around dark and big events like the masquerade are held. But even when there is no big event, there are parties. The parties are hosted by sf clubs who are "selling" their city for a future con, by clubs wanting to thank fen for voting or working for them and by people who like parties. If they're not too noisy, the parties are great places for one on one conversations with people usually busy or surrounded by a group.
My ambition is still to get one of my stories published and to see my novel in print when I get around to finishing it. These parties usually give me the opportunity to put my name in front of a publisher or editor. They have resulted in invitations to submit work for consideration.
I'm running out of time before I go to speak on a panel of my own. I'll finish with a brag. Diana Gabaldon attended a caffe klatch and gave a reading yesterday. I attended both. If you don't know who Diana is, just look for her name in the fiction of the nearest book store. You are in for a delightful read.
There are a few pictures that I have of authors and artists. I'll post these when I return to Little Rock.