Gloria

Wendy and I took our time in the morning then went on downtown to the convention center.  Reminded me of Dallas, at least on the parking.  None to be had anywhere unless you were willing to pay a premium for it.  At least it is supposedly free in some places after 6, so there should not be a problem going to the Writer's Workshop party tonight.

The set up for getting your badges for pre-registered members and others was nice, but it seems they had a major glitch somewhere along the way and a lot of people who signed up through email did not get a con badge made up.  So though I bought Wendy's and mine at the same time, hers was the only one they had.  Unfortunately for me, they weren't set up to print badges, something about USB port problems and what not.  So we looked at Wendy's pack for a while then checked back in.  The printer was on the way--would be another half hour.  So since we were starving, we went off to eat.  Wendy took me to a place called Mucho's, which had rotisserie chicken tacos, burritos, etc.  Not bad, but it was a long walk to get there. 

Made it back and the line to the solutions booth was long!  I had a half hour before the Fantastic Reading panel was going to start and I really wanted to make that one.  (Thinking of the future and whatnot.)  Anyway, the line moved slowly along as the minutes ticked by.  Did get a treat as while I was standing in line Tad Williams walked up to get his badge from the pre-reg isle.  He looks just like the pictures in his covers.  Which is a little scary because with the earrings and semi manic look, he definitely has the look of someone you wouldn't want to meet inn a dark alley. :-)  I snuck a picture, and luckily he didn't see me.  (Yes, I am shy!)

Got my badge just in time to run (and I mean run) to the 2:30pm panel. 

2:30pm  How to do a Fantastic Reading

Guest:  Craig English (Written Fantasy, short stories, letters, essays, web content and advertising.  Twenty years of professional acting and coaching.  Certified fight choreographer.)

The purpose of this panel was to help authors learn the do's and don't of a reading.  Here are the main tips:

1.  Always try to do relaxing exercises before a reading, both facial exercises, and if possible, body ones as well.  (Examples would be opening your mouth wide, then puckering.  Humming.  Massaging the jaw to loosen the muscles.)

2.  Think of who the reading is for.  Is it an open setting?  Intimate?  Use the info to pick appropriate material for the read.

3.  Know your time limit.  Read your material out loud several times and time it.  Always hedge the time for a little more.  Make sure the reading will end 5 minutes before the appointed time.

4.  Practice -- this will help with pacing and buildup.  Figure which phrases are difficult and underline them so you can slow down just a little to get through them.  Pencil in places to breathe.  Make marks where necessary to get you to react or slow down.

5.  Bring water with you -- to help prevent your mouth from drying out.

6.  Bring clean copies of the work, in big print, double spaced.

7.  Bring more than just the planned material in case things change and you end up with more of less time than expected.

8.  Construct your environment into a comfortable one. Ask for what you need or arrange it to what suits you.  If you prefer the door to be closed, close it.  Prefer a podium? Ask for it. Whatever it takes to make you more comfortable.

9.  Plan what you are going to say to the audience before the reading.  Give a little info on yourself, but be brief. 

10.  Make sure to be loud enough so the people in the back can hear you.

11.  When you are reading, take a deep breath before you begin and make sure to take breaths between sentences.

12.  Slow down -- this is for anyone feeling nervous. The tendency is to speed up to finish.  This will make it harder for the listeners to understand, so slow down.

13.  Remember that the audience is on your side.  Otherwise they wouldn't have come in the first place.

14.  Don't hide your face behind the manuscript.  You can lay the paper flat or hold it partially up, but never use it as a shield.

15.  Eye contact with the audience is not essential.  Do it if you are comfortable with it, but if it makes you more nervous, avoid it.

16.  Use your finger to keep track of your place on the paper, especially if doing eye contact. 

17.  Don't worry about how the audience is listening.  Some people do it different ways.  They are there to listen to you, so don't worry about it.

18.  Enjoy yourself!  If you have a good time, so will your audience.

19.  You don't have to assume the characters, just vary the rhythm or tone enough to help differentiate them from he narrative and other characters.

20.  Savor the words.  If you like the words, enjoy them.  Take a little more time to say the good words.

21.  Deal with any mistakes you make in a calm, confident manner.  If you stay calm, the audience will take it the same way.

22.  When you finish, have a plan for what you are going to say after.  If the work is published an available, make sure to let them know how they can get it.

23.  Be gracious with your audience.  You're all in it together.

4:00PM  How do you know when you're dead?

Guests: Connie Willis (Winner of 8 Hugo awards.  Has won both Hugo and Nebula awards in all four categories), Cordelia Willis, Laurie Mann (Co ran WorldCon last year. Technical typesetter and technical writer), Larry Niven (Prolific Science Fiction Writer. Winner of numerous awards), Eric M Van

Wendy picked this one hoping to get some tips on the answer to the question, but in truth this was more of a discussion on what movies and books have had dead people in them as characters.  They talked about the mystery of death, and our fascination with it.  That ghosts must have a reason for being around or they don't seem right.  How most dead people are looking back at the memories of their lives. 

There were some good jokes from the panel and a lot of praising of works from those there and others.  A couple of suggestions on good stories with dead people or having something to do with death were Snow by John Crowley, Engine Summer by John Crowley, All Hollows Eve by Charles Williams, Passage by Laurie Mann, and the anthology Vintage Book of Amnesia.  There were others, but being way in the back made for difficult hearing. :-)

That was it for the afternoon, as Wendy is taking care of a sick kitten and we had to go back.  But, the party for the Writer's Shop would be later and we're going to that.

Writer's Shop Party

Going back to downtown San Jose, we parked the car in the garage a few blocks from the hotel and hoofed it over there.  Lines covered all the elevators as the hotel didn't seem able to handle the number of people hanging about.

Eventually we made it up to the 1508 for the party.  The place was packed!  They looked me up on the party list and gave Wendy and I each a sticker.  I also got a ribbon put on my con badge showing I was in the workshop.  They had two sets of suites and we wiggled to the first one.  Sheila Finch was using her granddaughter to scout for the victims of the writer's workshop she would be in.  She found me just before Sheila bailed.  Very nice lady! 

After that Wendy and I grabbed some sweets then ate as she bugged me and I bugged her about meeting people.  (This is in no way my forte--meeting people that is.)  Did run into my fellow victim and we talked for a minute.  Then we moved to the other suite.  That one felt even more crowded!  Did spot Piccacio, a neat, up and coming artist and though I teased Wendy mercilessly about trying to talk to him, she didn't.  She did however get into an interesting conversation with the bartender who happened to be one of the two guys doing the workshops on the Klingon language.  I spoke to another couple of wall flowers and a few words with an agent, and that was with me pushing myself.  After an hour or so, we took our leave.