My husband and I just got back from spending the weekend in Portland, OR at Orycon 30, a Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. We ended up there because we had these fabulous steampunk costumes that we had worn for Halloween that were itching for an outing again and as we went online to seek out our kind (more on that in another post) we found this upcoming convention which seemed like a good way to go. We got to visit Portland…one of our favorite towns…get all dressed up, and celebrate our anniversary. Woo Hoo! Off we went. Although we had big plans to get out of Dodge early on Friday it was after midnight when we finally arrived at The Mark Spencer, Portland’s “hotel to the arts.” We staggered exhausted into our room and looked up the Con to see when things got started on Saturday. I had been so focused on just getting us there that I hadn’t really explored the website fully (and let’s face it…even a Miss Webby Geekpants like me couldn’t find an effective way to maneuver around this site.) So…it was only then that we discovered that it was in fact a *literary* convention with all kinds of panels for both readers and writers. Now…had I known this I might actually have prepared just a little instead of focusing on how cool my raygun looked.
Just a couple of weeks ago I had the chance to attend a writer’s workshop at Richard Hugo House with one of my idols, Connie Willis, as part of their Fantastic Fiction Series. It was in reading up on this series that I first encountered the term “urban fantasy” and realized that my novel, State of Grace,(the first couple of chapters of which were just put up on my website) actually had a genre to call its own. And lo and behold here was a panel discussion entitled “The unique challenges of urban fantasy.” All the panelists were good and there was lively discussion (and the usual few out of left field questions…it was a Con after all) but I was most impressed with the panel moderator, Mark Ferrari, who it turns out is now living in Seattle. We ended up chatting for a bit and I bought his book, The Book of Joby. I’m hooked! Here’s what Booklist had to say when they named it in the Top 10 for Fantasy/Science Fiction for 2008 – “When Lucifer again proposes that God put someone virtuous to the test, with a remade Creation sans free will as the prize should the champion fail, God chooses nine-year-old Joby, and the Arthurian legend is replayed to mesmerizing effect.” Run, don’t walk people, and pick this one up today! I know I’m already practicing my I knew him when story.
