Review of a local science fiction convention by JM Strasser
I have just returned from my local science fiction convention and decided it might be interesting if I told you about it. What are these cons, what happens at them, how do you choose which to go to (what is worth it), and generally whether they are worth the trip?
I have attended many of the Tuscons since I arrived in Tucson 19 years ago. At that time, I was unaware of the cons and hadn’t started writing. Tuscon is a Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror convention for writers and fans. It has been going since 1974. This year, they celebrated the 50th convention, which is quite an achievement. Unfortunately, two significant people in charge of running this show chose this con to announce their retirement. Since this con is run by volunteers (typical to this type of operation), we don’t know if the Tuscon will continue.
Cons are usually long weekends; this one is generally around Veteran’s Day. People get together at a Tucson hotel to visit, party, and see fabulous writers, artists, agents, and publishers. Tuscon has had some great guests, even if you are not tuned into the successful professional of this ilk. I am really into the founding writers in Science Fiction but have come to know others in horror and fantasy writers, illustrators, and poets and am better for it.
Tuscon has had Theodore Sturgeon who wrote Sturgeon’s law in 1951: “Ninety percent of [science fiction] is crud, but then, ninety percent of everything is crud.” , twice with George R.R. Martin (Game of Thrones author), twice with David Brin, John Ringo, Diana Gabaldon (Outlander), and Jim Butcher. I mention these names as they are pretty well known, but many have come that are very successful.
For example, Weston Oche, a Bram Stoker award winner, caught my attention when he had a panel to show us what it means to win this kind of reward– collectors want very special hardbacks. Weston’s showed us a case of harback books with gold edges. It was fun to see. Weston also had a book out on military scifi, which I bought that con. The Roc Dwayne Johnson was trying to get rights and funding to make it into a movie for Dwayne to star in. How cool is that? Of course, David Brin had Kevin Costner play the lead in his book The Postman, which wasn’t so great (in my opinion and evidently, at least partially, David’s).
Another author I thoroughly enjoyed was Mira Grant. Mira is a pen name for Seanan McGuire, a famous fantasy writer. I encountered her when I went to a World Con in Denver in 2008. I decided to read all the books up for the Hugo Awards and fell in love with Ms. Grant’s Feed. It is a zombie story, which I never thought I would read, but she told it in a very scifi way. Of course, I don’t know if the other zombie stories are this way. Anyway, she came to our little con, and the “Hour with the Guest of Honor” was the best I have ever been to. We got to hear how Seanan had started her writing career. How she got a few books under her belt to launch the career and the crazy stuff to do to get noticed. I loved it! I have been to other sessions of “Meet” that were a mess and not very informative due to the authors themselves.
At a con, you spend much time changing rooms (kinda like high school) to see a group of these guests on a panel. It doesn’t get contentious (we are so well-mannered), but it sometimes excites everyone to add their two cents worth. Sometimes, that works out very well, and you learn a lot. This 50th convention produced a marvelous panel (for me) where I got to ask many questions about entering the book-writing world. The group was tiny (sometimes you luck out), and the few in the audience answered some of my questions but generally didn’t have much to say. Everyone was kind, the panel and attendees and pointed out the immense resources that come to the con and how a fledgling like me can tap into that. They seemed to enjoy that aspect of helping others.
It is perfect for me to stay at the hotel the cons are in; getting around and going first thing Saturday and Sunday morning is more manageable. Unfortunately, for the hotels and attendees, the fortunes of hotels are not stable. Economies and plagues get in the way. We hear about other hotels in New York and London that have been around forever, but I believe that is an exception to the rule. We have traveled to five different hotels since I started going. Now, after the pandemic, hotels don’t want to have events like ours because of labor. Since the pandemic, hotels, restaurants, and, I imagine, retail stores have struggled to keep enough staff to “do the work” of waiting on people or just plain helping people. Our last hotel added a zero to the cost from last year for our con (something we could never do), so we moved again. I liked this new one. It’s been around a long time and is quite beautiful. They weren’t quite ready for a con because the elevators worked only for hotel guests, not just congoers. It worked out, but it surprised me. It was nice having the restaurant available, but it didn’t open until 4pm on Friday (I realize this has to do with the volume of customers for the restaurant), but I don’t leave the hotel once I’m there. Ah, the perils of accommodations.
As I mentioned, I went to a WorldCon because 1) it was accessible to me, and 2) it was much larger than my local con. There, I had a Coffee Klatch with Boris Vallejo (remember the covers of _Conan the Barbarian_?) and learned much about what it is like to be an artist for authors. I also met Kim Stanley Robinson, who wrote the Mars trilogy (_Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars_). I thought he was Asian, and I had a bit of a disconnect when I saw him (don’t ask me why; my sister’s name is Kim, so I should know it is a common name). It follows that be wary to meet your heroes, they will not be what you imagine because how could they live up to your imagination and wonder. Those books had lots of hard science and were very FUN. The next WorldCon is in Glasgow, and I would really like to go. How different would that be? We shall see how the world and our economy go next year.
I recommend going to your local con (or as close to local as you can get) if you are an aspiring writer, primarily. Local help is convenient, and rubbing elbows with successful people provides much-needed support, especially if they are open to it. Fans can enjoy this since, as I’ve said, they get successful people you may know and swoon over. Larger cons are excellent, too, and you will find a group that shows up to each so that they can take on some of the local flavor of small-town cons. Of course, the more prominent stars will be there and can be a hoot.
©JM Strasser November 14, 2023 All Rights Reserved
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