It
was raining from a blue sky when I drove up to Baltimore last Thursday. The
Japanese call a sunshower “Yokai Wedding.” It seemed a really appropriate way
to arrive at Balticon. The con lived up to the name in more ways than one.
It
was a great party. I got to hang and panel with so many of my con friends.
I
ran into Laurie Toby Edison, John L. French, and Sally Kobee, who were setting
up in the Dealers Room. Shortly thereafter, I connected with Amy Kaplan and
Jennifer Povey. We immediately made plans to attend the Wine Village at the
Inner Harbor the following night. There was music. There was wine. There was
bacon—and a lot of giggling to be heard. :D I’d hoped we could add J.D.
Blackrose to the party. This was her first Balticon, but we didn’t connect
until later. Next year, J.D. Next year!
Next
year, I may finally get to the Death Metal festival down the street or the arts
festival near the museum. But I keep getting distracted by the food. This year’s
discovery was Costiera in Little Italy. Between there and Mo’s, I ate very well
indeed. One word of warning, though. Do NOT eat the broccoli. It’s the worst
crime against vegetable-com since my mom last opened a can—and she was the
unquestioned, unchallenged Worst Cook East of the Mississippi. Stick to the seafood,
pasta, and salads—with or without seafood. You can’t go wrong.
The
panels were great. Carl Cipra should win a prize for the best intros ever. He
also did a great job of guiding Randee Dawn, David Boop, and me through “Is it
Horror or Dark Fantasy?” We didn’t come to any conclusion, but it was fun not
getting there.
Randee
also hosted a launch party for her new book, The Only Song Worth Singing,
from Shahid Mahmud’s Arc Manor Press, in the Con Suite Saturday evening. I was
all set to celebrate with her in the con suite and help demolish a thoroughly
amazing cake on my way to moderating “Humorous Fantasy Is a Serious Business.”
But I got distracted in the best possible way.
I
stumbled onto the handfasting ceremony of Suzanne A. Buck and Charlotte, whose
full name I unfortunately never caught. (I told you that sunshower was the
perfect omen.) It turned out I’d met Suzanne years ago, when she was a
teenager. Now she’s a zoologist, a writer, and as if that isn’t enough, a
consultant on Star Trek. How cool is that?
I
did manage to make it to the door of the con suite, where I finally ran into J.D.
We were soon joined by others, including Elektra Hammond and Diana Peterfreund,
who had some fabulous NFP news to share. (Big congrats, Diana!) We were all so
giddy, I completely forgot that I was supposed to connect with Morgan Hazelwood
about everything I was looking forward to about the con. (Many apologies,
Morgan. I’ll try to make it up to you next year.)
When
I could finally tear myself away, I was already about to be late. Then I
discovered I didn’t know where to find the room. Fortunately, Programming Chair
Extraordinaire Yakira Heistand pointed me in the right direction. Yeah, I was
late. To “Humorous Fantasy is a Serious Business,” the panel I was moderating.
The shame! Really. I hate being late, but Alex Shvartsman and Doc Coleman kept
things going until I arrived. The fourth participant, Martin Berman-Gorvine,
wasn’t able to make it. But he did join us for “The Eye of Argon”
reading/performance Sunday night.
I
planned to head directly to the Masquerade. But one of the pleasures of a con
is you never move in a straight line. I had a wonderful hall chat with Carolyn
Ives Gilman that only broke up when she had to dash to a panel of her own.
Sunday
was my busy day, starting off with “Juggling POV.” Alan Smale did an amazing
job of wrangling Catherine Asaro, Ken Altabef, and me. It turned into one of
the best craft panels ever.
Next
up was one of my personal highlights—sharing an hour’s reading time with 2025
Heinlein Award winner and living SFF legend Sharon Lee. Her reading was
wonderful—a story within a story. But the audience seemed to enjoy my snippets,
especially “Burning Down the House” and the opening of “Brigid and the Snakes,”
one of the stories in Intergalactic Rejects, coming from Calendar of
Fools June 20. (Another good omen, don’t you think, Zach Be?)
High
as that was, my next panel, “Orpheus, Again?” chaired by Rosemary Claire Smith,
featuring Tom Doyle, Sherri Woolsey, and me. It was a satisfyingly deep dive
into the Orpheus mythos, old and new.
Then,
the fitting cap to my con, “The Eye of Argon.” Ian Randal Strock was the
unenviable task of herding cats—I mean leading Amy Kaplan, Mary G. Thompson,
and me through our paces as readers and performers of the beloved “Worst SF
Story of All Time.” (Honestly, it really isn’t that bad.) I don’t think he was
expecting the enthusiasm with which Amy, Mary, and I—ably assisted by Sarah
Avery and the rest of our studio audience—approached our roles. And it is
ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE that the undulating tavern wenches and belly-fluttering
prince had anything to do with Ian calling time and personally reading the last
three paragraphs of Chapter three-and-a-half. Untrue, I say!
The
only thing that could cap that was a debrief in the hotel bar with Amy and her
husband Bruce. My French 75 was surprisingly great. The other folks’
cocktails…Hey, it was the company that mattered.
My
only regret is I should have taken more pictures, especially of the Masquerade.
The costumes were spectacular. But so was the con. Big thanks are due to
everyone involved, directors, staff, volunteers, participants, and attendees.
And apologies to anyone whose name I forgot, because you know you always forget
someone.
Can’t
wait to do it all over again next year! Without the forgetting part, that is. 😉
