So, I’m back from Wiscon 37!
What is Wiscon? It’s the World’s Leading Feminist Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention, for one thing. It’s also the place where writers and scholars and SF/F fans get to talk about ideas and books that they love. Every time I go to Wiscon, I come home with a huge list of books to read and an excess of optimism and hope.
I was on three panels this year. The first one, “The Power of Play,” took place on Friday night, shortly after I arrived in Madison. It was an exuberant panel, moderated by Rosemary AKA Sophy. We discussed serious aspects of play, such as the need to get free of inhibition and perfectionism, but we also had fun improvising a short story together, blowing soap bubbles, and making origami airplanes. Since the power of play often involves dressing up, I wore a dress with origami cranes printed all over it, and I put feathers in my hair.
I spent all of Saturday attending panels and parties. Wiscon features academic papers, poetry readings, and programming on feminism, writing, fan culture, and more. My friend Sandra Lindow was on an excellent panel about representations of older women in SF/F novels, titled “Aging While Female.” The moderator distributed an annotated bibliography of SF/F works featuring older women. I love a good bibliography.
One of the Saturday panels was derailed by a moderator-with-a-monologue, which was unfortunate, especially since one of my dearest friends was on the panel, held captive by the man who wouldn’t share the microphone. But this sort of thing really doesn’t happen terribly often at Wiscon. The next panel I attended was on publishing, and it was excellent. Wesley Chu was there to talk about how he’s promoting The Lives of Tao, his new book from Angry Robot Books.
After the panels, there were parties. I went to the Tor Books Party and ran into a number of old friends, including Sean Murphy, who promised to help me with my bow tie for the Genderfloomp party the next day. But in the end, we didn’t find each other, and I actually had to make do with my own bow-tying skills. It turned out fine.
Sunday morning, it was time for my panel on “Old Age in Sci-Fi and Fantasy Films.” I talked about Inception, Bubba Ho-Tep, and Howl’s Moving Castle. The audience discussion was fantastic. So that was all good.
More programming after that, and then the Genderfloomp party with DJ (and io9 writer) Charlie Jane Anders. I danced until my bow tie fell apart.
I forgot to mention my third panel: “Awesome Hobbies.” There was a lot of knitting going on during that panel, and discussions of Imposter Syndrome, Work-vs-Hobby Distinctions, and more.
Here’s the key point that I made at the Hobby panel: if you write fiction and take it seriously, then writing is not your hobby. Doesn’t matter how much money you make. Doesn’t even matter (except to the IRS) if you expect to make money. What matters is your identity as an artist, your work ethic, and your creative goals.
For the record: writing is my job, and knitting is my hobby.
On Monday, I went to the Sign-out. I got a copy of Will Alexander’s Goblin Secrets, which is a flood narrative. With orphans. So it’s like Oliver Twist-meets-Gilgamesh.
I also scored a signed copy of Mary Robinette Kowal’s Without a Summer, which is Jane Austen plus magic! So it’s basically wonderful, like everything at Wiscon.
