I watched a Google Hangout with this author last year and was interested in picking up a book of his but I think it got lost in my GR TBR shelf. A novella is probably a better place to start to get a feel for an author and I enjoy drug culture type books so the heroine thing probably won't rub me the wrong way... added this to my shelf. :)
I love this book! I'm not sure how much it'll fit in with the typical drug culture book, but as someone who isn't that crazy about it... well, even I adored it.
This author was so nice last year! I didn't get to speak all that much with him, but he was just sweet to me, and I was so excited to get a mention in his Readercon recap blog. The talk he was talking about - writing in fantoms - was absolutely fantastic, especially with John Shirley there.
I'm going to try to take pictures with authors and post them from Readercon next year :D
*a bit OT but I'm curious* A reader convention sounds interesting, I've only ever been to comic/anime conventions... meeting the creators and listening to panels is fascinating. Do readers dress up as their fav characters at these reader cons or is that more of a comic/anime thing? :o
Not at Readercon in particular. Readercon is the name of that particular convention, and there are some authors who don't find 'dressing up' conventions to be respectable. They've said they won't go to 'Cons because of that, but will go to Readercon because it's not a dress up place, and it's just very serious. It's all panels, really, and no big stars like at comic con.
So, no, no one dressed up at Readercon. It's also a small convention compared to other cons - like the anime ones in Boston - and it's about the biggest crowd I can stand. I get nervous in huge, huge crowds, so Readercon is perfect for me!
The authors hang out in the con suite - well, some of them, like Terrence Taylor who is a sweetheart and talked to me for over an hour last year. Loves him, too. I actually have had nothing but pleasant experiences with authors there. They are approachable in the hallways between panels. Most of them will sign if you approach them before/after a panel. I bought a book from Mike Allen - another lovely, lovely author, because, seriously they all are amazing there - in the hallway after he mentioned it at a panel the day before. He took the time to sign and personalize it right there.
I also embarrassed Nathan Ballingrud - sorry, Nathan! - because he was a sweetie and shared his reading time with another author so she could see the Shirley Jackson awards. She was praising his short story collection, and saying how gorgeous both the writing and cover was, and was moaning that she didn't have her copy with her. From the back, I go, 'I have it!' I ran up and she held it up for everyone there. (Nathan blushed a little. But I was told that Nathan, while a lovely man and amazing writer, doesn't like talking about himself that much. He's from the South, very much a gentleman, and it's true - he does get embarrassed when talking about his own writing. I do hear he lights up when he talks about his child, though!) I really was trying to help, but the catch-22 is that Nathan would rather just be writing. It's tough when it's hard to talk yourself up, though, but it's just not in his nature! (Ugh. I hope none of this is coming off as condescending as it sounds in my head. I cannot emphasize how pleasant it is to have a simple small chat talk with Nathan; he's so kind! I struggle with marketing myself, and the same issues - wanting to talk about my art, and being shy of doing it too much, etc, so I really do feel awkward about making him go all blush, but it's one of my Readercon stories.)
Caitlìn R. Kiernan and I have spoken out in the hallway about graveyards, and how she loved them in New Orleans, and how I took pictures of some of the angel statues. Nalo Hopkinson and I have talked about emotional scars and how much damage they can do out in the hallway. These last two before panels. I gave Laird Barron and Steve Berman - who called me a mensch, and bought me a coffee for tweeting that he was a mean, mean man - art books that I made. Laird, one of my favorite writers *ever* said he was putting his on his writing desk, and made me sign it for him. It sticks out as one of the highlights of my life, actually. (Also, I had to give blood before I could get the guts to give it to him, and he let Ellen Datlow, sitting next to him, look at it. They both said they liked it, and then she tried to hand it back to me, and Laird was like, 'no, it's mine!' I told him I had to give blood and get woozy before I had the courage to even show him, as I'd been carrying it for a day and scared!) I also wasn't able to approach Terrence Taylor until I gave blood, because he was a general guest, not an active participant in panels, and I was afraid it wasn't him, and he laughed about that when I said, 'if I'm wrong, it's the bloodless!' (That was when he talked to me for an hour in the con-suite.) I told Wesley Chu I recognized his book name - he was also not an active author, but a general guest - and that I had to go buy his book that day at the Barnes and Noble down the street and track him down to get him to sign it. He did later, and I thrilled him a bit by saying I'd started it and loved it.
Yeah, Readercon is amazing. Those are just some of the stories I have, but I really, really, really love Readercon.
Great stories and it sounds like something I would love to experience some day. And no, you didn't sound condescending at all. ;)
I think I'm sort of the opposite when it comes to crowds as long as the people around me are similar and I have someone with me that makes me feel safe (husband or sister in my case) but sometimes I get even more super nervous in a more traditional/professional setting which might be why cons with cosplay seem safer to me because it's easier to get lost in a crowd like that.
I haven't been to comic-con since 2006ish mostly because of the big star/actors thing, that sort of ruined it. There is one thing with having stars like Lou Ferrigno show up... but actors from Twilight? I never understood how that happened just because there was some comic spin-off. :/ I digress... what I was saying is that the conversations you could have with the creators back before was a little more intimate and it sounds like that's the way Readercon is like. I'll have to hunt down a local one that's similar which probably won't be too hard since I live in a major city. Yay for something to look forward to. :D
readercon is the only con I'll go to. My genres, small, and honestly I'd be fine with costumes. I'm fine without the costumes, too. Size is more important to me. Even with family, I've never done well in big crowds!
Isn't it? I want to dress up Dean as Bee now. (Dean is my sister's new kitty. And apparently kinda crazy, so no, I won't be dressing him up. But I wanna!)
If you ever get the kitty to dress up as Loki, I request that you go for Bee next. Or, y'know, Ultra Magnus.
This author was so nice last year! I didn't get to speak all that much with him, but he was just sweet to me, and I was so excited to get a mention in his Readercon recap blog. The talk he was talking about - writing in fantoms - was absolutely fantastic, especially with John Shirley there.
I'm going to try to take pictures with authors and post them from Readercon next year :D
So, no, no one dressed up at Readercon. It's also a small convention compared to other cons - like the anime ones in Boston - and it's about the biggest crowd I can stand. I get nervous in huge, huge crowds, so Readercon is perfect for me!
The authors hang out in the con suite - well, some of them, like Terrence Taylor who is a sweetheart and talked to me for over an hour last year. Loves him, too. I actually have had nothing but pleasant experiences with authors there. They are approachable in the hallways between panels. Most of them will sign if you approach them before/after a panel. I bought a book from Mike Allen - another lovely, lovely author, because, seriously they all are amazing there - in the hallway after he mentioned it at a panel the day before. He took the time to sign and personalize it right there.
I also embarrassed Nathan Ballingrud - sorry, Nathan! - because he was a sweetie and shared his reading time with another author so she could see the Shirley Jackson awards. She was praising his short story collection, and saying how gorgeous both the writing and cover was, and was moaning that she didn't have her copy with her. From the back, I go, 'I have it!' I ran up and she held it up for everyone there. (Nathan blushed a little. But I was told that Nathan, while a lovely man and amazing writer, doesn't like talking about himself that much. He's from the South, very much a gentleman, and it's true - he does get embarrassed when talking about his own writing. I do hear he lights up when he talks about his child, though!) I really was trying to help, but the catch-22 is that Nathan would rather just be writing. It's tough when it's hard to talk yourself up, though, but it's just not in his nature! (Ugh. I hope none of this is coming off as condescending as it sounds in my head. I cannot emphasize how pleasant it is to have a simple small chat talk with Nathan; he's so kind! I struggle with marketing myself, and the same issues - wanting to talk about my art, and being shy of doing it too much, etc, so I really do feel awkward about making him go all blush, but it's one of my Readercon stories.)
Caitlìn R. Kiernan and I have spoken out in the hallway about graveyards, and how she loved them in New Orleans, and how I took pictures of some of the angel statues. Nalo Hopkinson and I have talked about emotional scars and how much damage they can do out in the hallway. These last two before panels. I gave Laird Barron and Steve Berman - who called me a mensch, and bought me a coffee for tweeting that he was a mean, mean man - art books that I made. Laird, one of my favorite writers *ever* said he was putting his on his writing desk, and made me sign it for him. It sticks out as one of the highlights of my life, actually. (Also, I had to give blood before I could get the guts to give it to him, and he let Ellen Datlow, sitting next to him, look at it. They both said they liked it, and then she tried to hand it back to me, and Laird was like, 'no, it's mine!' I told him I had to give blood and get woozy before I had the courage to even show him, as I'd been carrying it for a day and scared!) I also wasn't able to approach Terrence Taylor until I gave blood, because he was a general guest, not an active participant in panels, and I was afraid it wasn't him, and he laughed about that when I said, 'if I'm wrong, it's the bloodless!' (That was when he talked to me for an hour in the con-suite.) I told Wesley Chu I recognized his book name - he was also not an active author, but a general guest - and that I had to go buy his book that day at the Barnes and Noble down the street and track him down to get him to sign it. He did later, and I thrilled him a bit by saying I'd started it and loved it.
Yeah, Readercon is amazing. Those are just some of the stories I have, but I really, really, really love Readercon.
I think I'm sort of the opposite when it comes to crowds as long as the people around me are similar and I have someone with me that makes me feel safe (husband or sister in my case) but sometimes I get even more super nervous in a more traditional/professional setting which might be why cons with cosplay seem safer to me because it's easier to get lost in a crowd like that.
I haven't been to comic-con since 2006ish mostly because of the big star/actors thing, that sort of ruined it. There is one thing with having stars like Lou Ferrigno show up... but actors from Twilight? I never understood how that happened just because there was some comic spin-off. :/ I digress... what I was saying is that the conversations you could have with the creators back before was a little more intimate and it sounds like that's the way Readercon is like. I'll have to hunt down a local one that's similar which probably won't be too hard since I live in a major city. Yay for something to look forward to. :D
If you ever get the kitty to dress up as Loki, I request that you go for Bee next. Or, y'know, Ultra Magnus.