Meeting new people at WorldCon

It is after 2 AM local time. This probably won't be posted until tomorrow as I have no wi-fi access. Forgive the strangeness of the entry, but hey, you wanted NoreasonCon Live, you'll get me live.

I've been up since 4 AM California time. While I dozed slightly on the plane (does anyone actually manage to sleep in those things?) it wasn't restful at all. Thankfully there were no problems en route and my husband and I were able to safely arrive in Boston and then use the public transit I outlined in my last entry to arrive at the Convention Center.

There was an adventure in getting the room. Not really important, other than to mention instead of a double double (for four people) we have a king sized bed w/ a suite including couch bed. Not quite what we asked for nor what we wanted. My husband and I are staying with a friend I met at the Strange Horizons workshop and another writer friend of hers.

Side note: I've heard one of the best ways to get ahead in the SF/F world is to room with people you don't know. More authors have told me that their first sale was due to a friend of a friend of a roommate from a Worldcon. Here's hoping. If nothing else, I've now met another really cool person. Not only that, but my roommates introduced me to EVEN MORE new people over dinner.

There were ten of us who headed out to Thai food this evening [mm… Thai food]. I didn't quite catch everyone's name and ended up sitting across the way from a guy named John who Diana had brought along. John's roommate was next to him and then Diana and my other roommate. John and struck up a conversation and I mentioned I did Chemistry so we chatted about that and the writing thing. I asked him what he did.

"Oh, I work as an editorial assistant," he said.

"Really? For what magazine?"

"F&SF," he said.

I nearly choked. I believe I managed to get out: "John what?"

"John Joseph Adams," he said. That's right, I was in the presence of a deity. The Slushgod himself.

I admit it, I lost my cool. I blushed, ducked my head, and tried not to completely fangirl out. And that is exactly what WorldCon is about. Bringing the fans face to face with the movers and shakers, editors and writers, agents and publishers of the speculative fiction industry. I've seen Ellen Datlow walking around and I successfully managed to get into her KaffeKlatch tomorrow. We've seen Terry Pratchet walk by, which makes sense as he's a Guest of Honor.

I managed to have a perfectly normal conversation with John for the rest of dinner. The five of us trooped to a room and spent the next couple of hours just talking and geeking out. It was a lot of fun. I may have missed First Night and a few panels, but I had fun. And relaxed.

And met the SlushGod. Who, contrary to popular belief spread by rejection notices, is really a nice guy. When I ducked my head, he asked if he had rejected me recently. I nodded and he apologized. It made me smile. He didn't need to, I know it isn't personal. But it was nice.

And that too is WorldCon. People are nice here.