World Fantasy Con Report Report

What does a reasonable, responsible person do the weekend before they’re going on an international vacation for three weeks?  I have no idea.  I went to Canada to hang out with book nerds.

A few things to note:

1) I checked Verizon’s website before going, to see what my international data charges would be.  They listed none for Canada, while listing very hefty rates for places like Argentina.  I took this to mean there were none.  This was an error.

2) I did all my logistical prep on the assumption that my phone would have an internet connection all weekend.

Getting to my hotel was a smidge more adventurous than it strictly needed to be.  But I did get there.  I cashed in frequent flier miles for the plane ticket and hotel points for the hotel, so overall it was like being at the con as an invited guest.  An invited guest nobody liked very much, since they put me across the street and around the corner.  Did you know that jaywalking in suburban Toronto is just as fun/safe/exciting as it is everywhere else I jaywalk?

I arrived much too late to register on Thursday, but that didn’t stop me from crashing the con suite, which was full of fantastic Chinese food and booze I was willing to drink.  The latter is extremely, extremely rare, even this close to an election.

The easy highlight of the con was the next morning when I finally managed to register.  I got my name badge, my program guide, my schedule, and a bag full of these.

If you’re looking at that and saying, “Wow, that looks like somebody’s WorldCon accident in the dealer’s room,” then you read my blog too much.  But you’re nearly right.  I walked away with more books by volume, four less by count, than what I picked up at WorldCon.  Except these books were free.  There was some very undignified petting and squeeing involved. I don’t think anybody noticed.

The rest of the con was largely hanging out with people and going to readings.  Tina Connolly paid me for the audio rights to Your Cities by buying me a drink.  She made the mistake of ordering the same thing I did, except she actually likes booze so she wasn’t nearly as fond of my pseudo-smoothie as I was.  I stalked Julia Rios, again, but it was way less creepy this time, I’m sure.  (Skip to the end for why)  And I got to hang out with Amal El-Mohtar which was pretty sweet since I’ve been fangirling her a bit since And Their Lips Rang with the Sun.  Also, other people, some of whom decided to call me Anaconda.  I am down with that for a nick-name.

My reading continued my unbroken trend of not being empty.  That’s all I ask, really.

Got home Sunday night without having encountered a single transit problem not of my own making.  This has me terrified for the flights to Argentina this weekend.

And then, Monday morning, what’s waiting for me in my inbox?  Confirmation that I’ve successfully invented a new job for myself.  For the link-click averse among you, I get to be the shiny new Podcast Editor for Strange Horizons’s shiny new podcast.  Don’t let the maniacal laughter distress you; I don’t have another mode for expressing joy.

In summary: Good Con.