Sasquan: An Addendum

Yep, the minute I posted about Sasquan, I remembered a zillion other people I wanted to mention having seen there, and I did actually go back to add some in, but I've since remembered even more folks, including Martha Wells, Shanna Swendson, John Husisian, Pablo Vazquez, Bill Ledbetter.... It's no coincidence that these are all Texas folks; there's something slightly surreal in seeing the same people you know from local cons at Worldcon. It makes you wonder where you are.

(ETA: Ack! Scott, Denise, and Silven -- another "group" in that they're all former Houstonians now transplanted to the Pacific Northwest. What is wrong with me?!)

It was really weird when we saw one of Paul's NASA colleagues there. Her name is Jenny and she was there representing the astronaut guest who had to "phone it in" (in the good way, i.e. pre-recorded messages) because he was on orbit. Best excuse for canceling an appearance ever. (He even presented one of the Hugo Awards!) But anyway, I saw Jenny and just completely blanked on who she was because she was completely out of context for me.

Anyway, the other reason for this addendum is that I forgot to mention when I was at the brewery for "Drinks with Authors" that I met a civilian. He was in town for business, and had wandered in, and it was an open event so he thought it would be fun to hang around. We chatted while we waited in the (very long) line to get drinks, and he said he thought this was the coolest thing ever. He asked me what made me want to write, and I said I specifically wanted to write science fiction and fantasy because I wanted to be part of the conversation.

People write books and stories. Other people are influenced and inspired by them, or don't like them and write something different in response. Other folks write reviews and can discuss the fine points of a fictional universe from dusk until dawn. It's all a conversation, a special one, and I wanted and want to contribute to it. Admittedly, this year's conversation has been more tempestuous than usual, but it's still worth the effort.