Loscon 2010

This afternoon, we wrapped up our three-day attendance at Loscon, the annual science fiction convention of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, the oldest science fiction club in the world. Although we've attended many Loscons in the past, the 37th one was marked by Amy's local debut as a dealer in the dealer's room. She ran a table for her embroidery company, Heart of the Star. She set up one of her computerized embroidery sewing machines at the table, along with a laptop and monitor so folks could see the designs take shape on the screen. She also sold patches and pieces of lace. Most important, she gave out business cards inviting people to give her commissions. And a lot of people showed interest in the prospect.

Naturally, I helped set up and break down the table, and worked the table along with her. Working a convention as a dealer solo pretty much guarantees you won't be able to see any of the convention's daytime events, so a partner is invaluable. You must still pick and choose the events you will attend, since only one of you can attend at a time. That meant about one panel per day for each of us.

The success of a convention depends largely on the caliber of the guests. This con had excellent luck in that department. The themes for this year's Loscon were steampunk, urban fantasy, and SF Noir. Writer Guest of Honor Emma Bull covered the urban fantasy ("War for the Oaks") and SF Noir ("Bone Dance") categories, while art guest of honor Phil Foglio ("Girl Genius") handled the honors for steampunk. Ms. Bull's services as a GOH came with a bonus, since her husband, writer Will Shetterly, came too and appeared on several panels. Further, the programmers did not repeat the mistakes of past Loscons, which did not know what to do with their art guests. Aided by Foglio's talent as a writer and entertainer along with his artistic skill, the programmers put him on multiple panels.

The convention themes were also well-chosen. Due in part to LASFS's venerable status, the convention attendees tend to skew older. (A telling comment from one participant to another during a first-day panel: "Will I be as bitter as you when I get old?") But since steampunk is au currant with younger fans, the theme brought in some fresh blood as folks who never attend Loscons descended on a dealer's room stuffed with top hats, goggles, pocket watches and gears.

The conventions I enjoy most are those at which I can talk to people. At this con, I had the chance to hobnob with folks that span the multiple decades I've spent attending California conventions. That's particularly nice when spending a lot of the convention behind a dealer's table.

We've reserved a table for next year, so we'll be doing it again in 2011.

Loscon 35

After a pleasant Thanksgiving at home with just the two of us, Amy and I spent three wonderful days at Loscon, LA's most prominent annual science fiction convention. I've discovered that the key to truly having a good time at a con is to know people there. Several folks who hadn't been to Loscon in years showed up at this one, including our friends Doe and Janine and writers extraordinaire Will Shetterly and Emma Bull. There was also writer GOH John Scalzi (who is a very nice guy) and regular writer guests such as Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, Jane Espenson, J. Michael Straczynski and others. The various combinations of the above folks on panels made for fascinating discussions on storytelling in its many forms. At the end of each day I could feel my grey cells tingling from stimulation.

I had a chance to talk with Straczynski about his screenplay for "Changeling," and how he managed to feature a broadcast evangelist and a lawyer as heroes. "Yeah, I'm probably going to hell for that," he replied.

Loscon does have its share of crackpots and annoying folks (none of the people listed above fall into those categories), but this one definitely delivered in the entertainment department.

Tales from the Loscon

From Friday through today, we attended Loscon 34, an LA-area science fiction convention. Every convention has its own personality. Loscon's is of a well-read, highly-educated and extremely vocal party guest who knows more than you do about any subject you bring up. Perhaps because the organization that puts it on, LASFS, is close to JPL, the con is suffused with experts on history, science, and even cruise ship lore. (When we were in line for the masquerade, one line-member's comments about the Titanic were met with a torrent of corrections from another, who worked for a cruise line.) This often leads to disagreements between those who believe they know more than the experts at their sides. One panel on pulp fiction featured contradictory comments from pulp historians on whether the paper used to print pulp magazines was the same grade as or lower grade than the paper on which comic books were printed.

Loscon is also well-known for its Saturday-night room parties. One of the more unusual ones we visited last night was thrown by an author to promote her small-press fantasy novel. The author herself dressed up in a Xena-type warrior-woman outfit to plug the book.



As we were leaving this costume-filled milieu early Sunday morning, we shared an elevator ride down with two young women wearing costumes of a different type -- i.e., short skirts and low-cut tops that could barely contain their surgically-bestowed assets. One dropped a hotel key card as the elevator descended; but she waited until we left the elevator before bending down to retrieve it -- for obvious reasons.

Plainly, these women were not fans; they were "pros."