SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

The reason I ask is that I'll be at one this weekend in the Twin Cities.

Yep, but as it's in Wellington, New Zealand, that's not really of any interest to you.

That would be quite a drive.

But there's plenty of parking...

Lol.

I go New York Comic Con. It's been a lot of fun so far, and the panels cover a bit of everything. Last year the author discussions centered mostly around UF, but the various publishing houses were in attendance and gave away free books. I came home with 20, at least! Lots of sneak peeks of movies and TV shows, too.

I have attended several conventions in the past--three Worldcons; several small local cons.

It is nice to talk to face to face with those who share your interests.

I am attending Dragon Con in Atlanta. It is a 4 day festival in September. The guest list this year is incredible!

I went to the Worldcon in Denver a couple years ago. Good time . . . I really enjoyed a panel with Connie Willis, Joe Haldeman, and Mike Resnick.

My first con was a Lunacon back in the early seventies. I used to attend Lunacons, Empiricons and Disclaves on a regular basis when I was on the East Coast. Now that I'm on the West Coast I rarely go to cons though I did attend Worldcon in San Francisco. I used to be more active in fandom than I am now.

I have been to three Worldcons. One in Baltimore, One in Philadelphia and one in Boston. Loved them all. I have been to philcon in philadelphia several times, lunacon in New York and New Jersey, Boskone and Readercon. I like the conventions that are more book orientated but masquarades and seeing your favorite author and meeting other people who read a lot is a fun experience

In the 80s and 90s, I would attend two or three a year. Then my kids approached middle school and high school and I had no time outside of their activities to read or attend conventions or even take a vacation! :)

So, for the first time in well over a decade, I attended two SF conventions this spring, one in Nebraska and one in Iowa. And if my daughter hadn't been shipping off to Germany on Memorial Day weekend, I would have attended my hometown (Kansas City) convention as well.

I go as a dealer, not as a novelist. I have all my books, and every book my publisher produces. You'd be surprised how many people will pick up autobiographies and Westerns at a SF convention.

I do pretty often. The one I'm most interested in attending is DragonCon. I hear so many good things!

I don’t know if it’s proper etiquette to resurrect this thread… I’m thinking of going to Boskone this year (I’m near Boston) and just curious if others are planning on attending. Tamsyn Muir is supposed to be there and I’d like to meet her, but I’m still weighing the pros and cons.

Daniel wrote: "I don’t know if it’s proper etiquette to resurrect this thread…"

Ah, a fellow necromancer.

yes, we love resurrections! That sounds really fun. is Boskone live this year?

Allison wrote: "yes, we love resurrections! That sounds really fun. is Boskone live this year?"

Boskone is hybrid, but yes, there is an in-person con! Westin Waterfront in Boston. I will be there and I'm hoping lots of folks show up in person. The schedule is posted on the web at boskone.org (those sessions that are virtual are flagged).

Glad you resurrected this threat. I hope the conventions start back up this year. I don't enjoy the virtual stuff very much.

Anyone recommend a good convention in Texas for new authors?

MidSouthCon in Memphis will be live this year in March -- check it out at https://midsouthcon.org/

I will be there, am hosting a couple of panels for writers.

I've attended ComicCon for decades and WonderCon for about five years before 2020. I look forward to it all year long. I buy more books in those five days than the rest of the year combined.

I think it's such a heady feeling to be surrounded by people that like what you like. It's easier to talk to strangers, share and play games in lines or waiting, and just be your complete self with no concern of judgement.

@John - that's awesome that you're doing panels! So cool!

@Kandice - that's great that you're so comfortable at conventions. It sounds like it's deeply validating.

For me, I don't travel well, so I'll stick to Boston for now. Boskone feels like a big decision - I just realized it's this month and I'm not sure how weirded out I'll be in a huge crowd for the first time in a while - and with everyone wearing masks (a good thing, but still weird to me - I like faces).

I just found out that it's not possible to push CC tickets for this year off to next year. I am a little worried about attending in person, but don't want to lose my tickets, either.

I've been to a couple of very small local cons, one because my best friend loves cons and took me to one and one because Seanan McGuire was there. They were both a lot of fun. I'm mostly a homebody, but I miss going to events. (I think I would be very weirded out to be in a big crowd now though, even with good mask etiquette.)

Amy (Other Amy) wrote: "I've been to a couple of very small local cons, one because my best friend loves cons and took me to one and one because Seanan McGuire was there. They were both a lot of fun. I'm mostly a homebody..."

I wasn't a homebody before Covid, but I feel like one now. As much as I really, really miss theater, concerts, cons, etc., I feel nervous even thinking about brushing against all those people I don't know.

I went to World Fantasy in Montreal back in November. The in-person part of the meeting was quite small, certainly in comparison to World Fantasy in the past. I think some of that was due to the complexities of travel to Canada at the time. The convention ran really well; the organizers did a fabulous job. Everybody was masked, except speakers at the table and in eating areas while eating, and that all went fine as well. They arranged for a nurse to come to the hotel and do COVID tests before the end of the con for people who needed to fly. I drove so I can't speak to how that came out, but I felt it was thoughtful for them to set it up. Risk does exist, especially since this surge is not over. You do need to think about that and decide if that is something you can be comfortable with.

I've been to Continuum and Swancon here in Australia, and then Natcon when it was held in Brisbane. I had planned to go to ConZealand in Wellington, and did still attend...virtually. I was also a volunteer at ConZealand and NatCon.

I look forward to one day going to another one. I'd love to go to a WorldCon, due to missing ConZealand in person, just to be there. Sadly, most are held in the northern hemisphere, which makes it much more complicated when you live in Australia.

I haven't been to a convention since I was a kid, actually. I haven't encouraged myself as a Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror fan as an adult - I'm working on fixing that! I've been to a few Zoom gatherings for other stuff, and it found it better than I expected, and the lack of travel a bonus. Being in person is still the gold standard for me. Being able to participate at a distance is pretty cool, though. As Colin mentioned, Boskone is hybrid online/in-person. Any other online gatherings worth looking into?

Kandice wrote: "I wasn't a homebody before Covid, but I feel like one now. As much as I really, really miss theater, concerts, cons, etc., I feel nervous even thinking about brushing against all those people I don't know."

Oh definitely. It will be interesting to see how culture shifts over time to accomodate that.

Daniel wrote: "Being able to participate at a distance is pretty cool, though."

I have to agree with that. It's opened up a lot of things that were out of reach before. There was a thread of online conventions someone was keeping up here on Goodreads, I thought. I have no memory of where it was now, but I'll see if I can find it.

Thanks for checking Amy! I think I’ll leave attendance at Boskone up to fate: specifically if I (or, more realistically, my wife) can figure out where I put my covid vax card in time. If it turns up, I’ll take that as a sign…

Just before COVID-19 hit, I attended ConFusion Detroit from January 16, 2020, to January 19, 2020. It was the last in-person con I attended until recently at ConFusion Detroit from January 21, 2022, to January 23, 2022. It was a great con, I’m glad I attended. confusionsf.org
The next in-person con I plan to attend is Ice & Fire Con in Mount Sterling, Ohio from April 21, 2022, to April 24, 2022. The focus of this con is the Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin. I had tickets for the con that was scheduled to occur in 2020 before it was canceled. I am looking forward to attending this year. Iceandfirecon.com