For some reason I find it impossible to post a con report anywhere within a week of returning from one. Odd.

Anyways, this was my first time to WisCon. I’d heard SO MANY GOOD THINGS about this convention I figured I had to go. The fact that so many friends and super cool people were going had nothing to do with me attending. Seriously. Ha.

And wow, what a fantastic time this convention turned out to be. Besides the fact that I was on 5–yes, 5!–panels, which kept me moving and shaking for 2 of the 5 days, the entire long weekend was a blur. The panels I was on ran the gamut from The Craft of Writing YA (which was fun except for the rather large amount of topic drift) to Your Writing Process is Ridiculous (which was, in fact, a rather ridiculous panel).

My favourite panel was Lets Build a World, which I got to play as a god with Benjamin Rosenbaum, Yoon Ha Lee, and David Levine. We created the Planet of Lolcats! Yes, it really is that silly, which was presented in the form of a musical called I Can Haz Musical, The Musical! This panel was a seriously crazy amount of fun and I hope I get to play in that sandbox again in a subsequent year. You can check out details on the Planet of Lolcats over here: Wiscon Panel Notes: Build a World.

Besides the panels, it was great to see old friends as always…as well as meet some new people I’ve only known via the interwebs. Now, according to the pics I posted (and others), it looks like there was a lot of drinking going on. Well, we’re writers. There was. I cannot tell a lie. But there were also a lot of super fun parties and dinner outings as well–including one fun night at a cool little Tibetan restaurant. That’s one thing that impressed me about Madison. The restaurants! They were good, tasty, and cheap. I mean cheap unless you order $100 of sushi like Sara McClung and I did–between THE TWO OF US. Yeah, nothing quite like getting a sushi boat for two. Remember this kids: don’t drink on an empty stomach and then order food. Things can get crazy!

See, now things got a little silly during one of the parties. It seems that Sara and Amber van Dyk think I do this thing called “The Chin” in photos. Where I tilt my head down slightly at an angle and vogue or pose or whatever. In fact, they think it’s so funny they started mimicking me throughout the evening (ha ha ha!). I’m sure alcohol did not influence them into this obviously futile pursuit. But did they tire of it? Did they stop? No. Not until they passed out. Oh yes, it was a marvelous evening of them doing “The Chin” and me denying it.

Here’s Sara, thinking she’s all that–doing “The Chin”.

Pretty funny, eh? Yeah, I think so. Especially since I don’t do that. (Okay, maybe a little, but that’s it!)

I shot a quick little video at one of the parties to illustrate that I do not, in fact, do “The Chin.” Sara and Amber do their very best to try–key word being try–and make fun of me and my “posing”.

So… take a look.

Do I really do “The Chin” or did they consume way too much alcohol and raw, mercury-laced fish over the weekend?

I have to say, WisCon was a total blast and I will definitely be keeping this con on my radar for next year. In fact, maybe I will go register now…

…this post is just to say that after a numerous delays, cancelled flights, and a quick jaunt to Milwaukee, I’m back. Was very busy with day jobbery yesterday, will be today and for the rest of the week, but the post will be coming. I promise.

With pics. Including The Chin™.

But wow, what an amazing time. Missing everyone like mad already.

Wow. May disappeared in a blink, and now I find myself departing for WisCon34 bright and early tomorrow morning.

So I guess I better post my schedule. There are some great panels this year and I’ve been lucky to find myself on some of them.

Here is where I’m scheduled to be. Other than the below, I will be here (bar), there (bar), and everywhere (bar).

The Craft of Writing YA

6 Feet Long With Spikes: What Makes a Good Writer’s Group?

Treatment of Aging in Science Fiction and Fantasy Redux

Let’s Build a World

Your Writing Process Is Ridiculous!

Where is the time going? I can’t believe we’re already exactly 1-month away from WisCon34.

Which means, it’s also roll call time!

Now, most of the people I know who are going, well, I know that they’re going already–but that doesn’t mean they (you!) don’t have to chime in! Drop a comment and let me know what you’re looking forward to at WisCon (and yes, drinking with me is a viable answer–haha ). And if I don’t know you already and somehow you’ve stumbled onto this entry and are going to WisCon34, then please leave a comment and say hello.

Schedule and panels are still being finalized, but it looks like there are going to be some amazing panels this year. I will post my schedule as soon as it’s concrete.

Looking forward to the con–and hopefully seeing some or all of you there.

I’ll be at the bar.

Ad Astra is running this weekend, from Friday through to Sunday, but due to my crazy schedule I’m only going to be able to attend Saturday–today.

Should arrive mid-afternoon. And then I will be hunting for friends and getting ready for our annual teppanyaki extravaganza.

You can follow along on twitter at @derekmolata, where I will be live-tweeting from readings and well, the bar–and hopefully throw in a few photos as well.

With the Canadian dollar doing so well against the USD right now, I thought what a great time to purchase my WisCon 34 membership. The only thing I need to take care of is flights, as my hotel rooming situation is already taken care of.

Really looking forward to this convention as it’ll be my first time attending–and I’ve heard so many great things.

I hope to see some of you there in May.

I’m not sure if it’s the wintry weather and the slow death of autumn or the recent passing of WFC2009 (which I did not attend, regrettably), but I’ve been missing my friends from abroad lately. Well, more than usual anyway. I’ve countered this somewhat by confirming I will be at Wiscon 24 in May–which I’m very excited about since I’ve never been able to make it before.

I’ve also countered this sudden malaise by uploading a quick little video I shot while out in old town Montreal during Worldcon 2009. We were needing a break from the chaos of the con and decided to go cupcakery hunting and sightseeing.

We found cupcakes:

We found a place to eat them:

And we found a place to make a quick video:

Also, we were actually quick sober during the making of this film–unless you count being high on sugary cupcake goodness.

It wasn’t until later that we hit the tequila.

Bonjour hi!

Ah, over the course of the weekend, that phrase quickly became synonymous with the Montreal Worldcon. Being a fully bilingual city, everyone greeted us with a hash of English and French, and everyone throughout the four days were amazingly friendly and courteous. Even if the wait staff were slow at the myriad restaurants, they were charming, and when the food eventually arrived–my gods–was it fantastic.

Actually, my favourite dish of the weekend was on the Thursday night at a small bistro just off the beaten path. Lamb sausage and deer risotto. To. Die. For. Best risotto ever.

But the one thing better than the risotto that night–and for the entire weekend–was the company. After arriving around lunchtime and finding my way to the hotel, which wasn’t quite ready, I rang up Karin Lowachee to find out where “the gang was at”. After dropping off my bags, I met up with Karin, Amber van Dyk, and Kate Bachus. After registration, which was quite fast and simple, my roommate Holly McDowell landed at the airport and was subsequently making her way to the hotel. (And what an awesome roomie!)

For the rest of Thursday night we all caught up, drank, ate, and had a wonderful time. Other than that, the evening itself was rather quiet around the conference as people slowly trickled into Montreal. Friday was when things really picked up.

Friday consisted of panels and Noobox (yummy, yummy Noobox) and running into old friends and making new acquaintances. After a busy day, we retired to the hotel to relax for a bit and get ready for dinner. As we headed out, we bumped into Tobias Buckell wandering around the Palais des Congrès de Montréal (the main convention centre), and invited him with us. And I must say, Friday night’s dinner was probably one of my favourite of the weekend. Good food, good friends. And the conversation was fantastic too.

And burning fountains! Let’s not forget that.

After dinner, Toby went back to this hotel for a bit, and the rest of us headed off to the parties, which were primarily held in the “offiicial con hotel”, the Delta Centre-Ville. Unfortunately the hotels were kind of spread out, so walking–unless full of energy–took some time. Taxis were our friends. The first party we hit was the Angry Robot Books launch party, which, after being moved to a party floor (it had originally been booked on a “non”-party floor, which meant security and confusion), got rockin’, and also included, well, an angry robot. And lots of booze.

Once I got beers into my hands and started getting my sweat on for the night, I bumped into Peter Watts and Cailin Sweet (Caitlin! Drinks. Sushi. Soon!), where they posed candidly for a quick photo. And then it was all about chatting and drinking and chatting some more with friends. A good start to the night (and a great party Angry Robot Books!).

The second party we hit was the Tor Books party, which is always a good time, complete with lots of alcohol, compressed, sweaty bodies, and a who’s who of the SFF world. Finally had a chance to talk with Joshua Palmatier, as the last time we were at a con together was WFC2007 in Saratoga, NY, I believe, and we’d only chatted in passing.  After sweating and drinking about on the main floor of the suite, I headed upstairs with Holly where I finally got to meet Jenny Rappaport and John Joseph Adams in person (after having only chatted via the interwebs for ages), while getting crushed by a horde of people hovering around Neil Gaiman.

After the party we ended up at the InterContinental hotel bar, where we wound down the night with a few more drinks and much more conversation.

Saturday was an awesome, awesome day and night. Slept in, and then headed to the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MOMA) after breakfast with Karin, Amber, Holly, and Kate, where we saw a breathtaking Robert Polidori exhibit, along with an exhibit featuring Betty Goodwin. Afterwards we grabbed a quick lunch and then headed into old Montréal, which is full of charm and character and lovely architecture. And, cupcake shops!

After traversing the tight streets, Jenny met up with us, along with two new friends, Amy Sundberg and Yonatan Zunger, for dinner. Since most of the main restaurants were already slammed with Saturday night crowds, we ended up at a small “natural foods” restaurant, which, although extremely slow and the single waiter overworked, turned out to be rather lovely. After eating, we all scurried back to our respective hotels to get ready for another night of parties and, yes, drinking.

Before heading over to the party hotel, Holly, Amber, Kate and me had a few drinks at our hotel’s bar, where I introduced prairie fire shots to Kate (tequila and tobasco). Kate was unsure, especially after hitting the shot and wondering why her stomach was suddenly inside out, but she’s a stellar trooper and marched onward. (And, secretly, I think she likes them.)

Rumour on the street was the place to be Saturday night was the Night Shade Books release party for Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl. And it was, once we found out what suite it was located in. Once inside, Holly and I met Lee Harris, editor for Angry Robot Books and all-around nice guy, as well as writer Colin Harvey, where we all immediately hit it off and launched into one of my favourite chats of the con–a game of “who has given the world more – the UK or the North American continent?”. Lee summarizes this event much better than I could over here at his blog. Also had numerous other lengthy conversations with too many great people to list. Suffice it to say, the entire evening was made of awesome, and I doubt I’ll forget it anytime soon.

Sunday was primarily made of getting up early, nursing a hangover, saying goodbyes (oh noes, so sad!), and flying home.

Montréal, you were très magnifique!

I must say, it will be hard pressed to top this convention. So many wonderful memories were made, so many good times with the best friends ever, and new friends made. Not to mention my awesome roomie, Holly, who made the entire weekend a joy. Holly, you can be my roomie again any day.

And so I close out my Worldcon post with two pictures; one I took of Holly behind a lamp, which according to her is actually her brain (ha!), and the other just of the two of us, but I think it sums up our weekend perfectly.

Au revoir, friends, until we get to do it all over again.

Got back late last night from one of the best conventions ever, Worldon09 in Montreal. I will explain why I say “best con ever” in my “Con Report”, which will be forthcoming once I go through the photos and get things in order.

Got to reunite with and meet a ton of awesome people, and eat a ton of amazing food.

But right now I feel like I’m the star of a stop-motion video as everything whips past me, my brain all filled with vertigo. I think the sleepless, party-crazy nights have caught up with me.

Early to bed tonight, methinks.

Tomorrow morning I’m off to Worldcon09 (Anticipation) in wonderful Montreal. I’ve been looking forward to this since Montreal won the bid.

I’m pretty much packed and need to get to bed, but thought I’d do a quick blog post and double-check flight info etc.

Hope to see some of you there!