The Monday after a weekend event always feels a little weird to me. When I have a book signing for a couple of hours, or even a whole day devoted to book stuff, I ease right back in to my day to day life and work. After a convention, though, I have to work a little harder at re-entry. First off, I’m tired. Three full days on my feet, chatting with strangers, participating in programs, and sleeping in a different bed takes a toll. But also, at a conference or convention, I’m totally immersed in a different space for days. It’s a little surreal.
Despite my exhaustion and transition challenges after the fact, I really do love these events. I always leave with little gems of wisdom, a truly special encounter with someone new, an engaging conversation to reflect on, and sometimes really good book sales.
Boskone is the oldest annual science fiction convention in New England. Smaller and a little younger than World Con, it is nonetheless a revered event, rich with history and attended by fans, legends in the field, and up and coming writers. It’s a special event to take part in for sure.
Some highlights from my weekend include sitting next to a science fiction historian in the dealer’s room. My delightful table neighbor heard I wrote space opera and proceeded to buy me one of the earliest space opera’s in the genre, published in the 1950’s. He then shared that this conference, Boskone, was named for the enemy empire featured in those stories. Before the end of the weekend, he’d purchased my space opera series. I felt a moment of pride and relevance that my work, in its own small way, has become part of a long, creative tradition in storytelling.
I always learn something new from the panels on which I participate, even when I’m the moderator who planned the program! At the World Building program, one of the panelists compared the opening scene of our novels to the on ramp of a highway. If we make the entry too daunting and steep, our readers may not be wiling or able to follow us on the journey. I thought that was a great metaphor to consider as I edit my latest manuscript for the seemingly hundredth time.
I had the pleasure of eating dinner with an author who is about to publish his thirtieth novel. Granted he started writing in his twenties, but still, what an achievement. I left that meal with extra motivation!
Sometimes writing is a labor of love, emphasis on labor. But when I hear that a reader loved my work, there really is no better feeling. This weekend, I sold the first book in the HORIZON series to a young man on Friday, and by Sunday he’d read it and was back to enthusiastically purchase the rest of the series. That kind of praise and feedback is priceless to an author. We sometimes feel we are toiling away in isolation, sending our words out into the void.
Anyway, I’m off to do some laundry and maybe take a nap, but by tomorrow, I’ll be ready to resume normal activities!
