Any report I make of OryCon (in Portland OR, on or near
Veterans Day weekend) must be seen in highly personal context. For me, it’s
never been just another convention, but part of other aspects of my life. I
used to attend OryCon regularly. I’d gone to college and then graduate school
in Portland and retained a fondness for the city. My best friend from college
still lived there, and I’d stayed in close touch with her. So attending OryCon also
meant a visit, usually after the con when decompression with long-time
friendship, and maybe a long trail ride, were especially welcome. These visits
became even more important when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. I made a
number of trips to Portland to help her and her family through the rounds of chemo
that led to a series of remissions. In the nearly five years that followed, our
OryCon visits became even more precious. In fall 2013, she entered hospice, and
again I was present to do whatever was necessary to support her and her family
in that transition. She died in October, when the weather had already turned
chill and overcast with the approach of winter. That year, attending OryCon was
out of the question, nor could I bring myself to consider returning to Portland
for some time. This year, however, I ventured north with my older daughter to a
reunion at our alma mater, Reed College. That shifted my thinking enough so
that when I received an invitation to be a guest panelist at OryCon, I happily accepted.
Of course, the first thing to arrange was a visit with my friend’s surviving
family. Two visits, actually; one before and one after the con. A family
dinner, complete with home made lasagna (vegetarian and vegan versions) marked
an auspicious welcome back to Portland.
I won’t go into a recitation of all things travel and hotel.
Needless to say, my usual disorientation upon encountering a new venue kicked
into high gear, fueled by the vertical arrangement of the hotel (events were on
4 different floors, or was it 5 plus the green room on the 16th floor?)
The OryConOps folks were as warm and welcoming as ever. I had a splendid roomie
in Irene Radford, although we were both a bit too old to stay up all night
talking.
My panels began Saturday morning with the topic “Fantasy vs.
Science Fiction,” in which panelists and audience attempted to discern why
anyone would think one better than the other when we all love them both. Conventional
wisdom suggests that in science fiction, the laws of physics must be observed
(with the notable exceptions of psi powers and faster-than-light travel);
whereas in fantasy, magic introduces a fundamentally different system. The
level of technology of the setting tends to put low-tech, medieval worlds into the
fantasy camp and modern, futuristic, or space settings into science fiction. I
threw out the idea that readers expect different experiences (fantasy –
emotional, science fiction – intellectual, idea-driven) from the two genres,
hoping it would provoke a juicy discussion. We all agreed that with the
popularity of cross-overs, none of these distinctions holds true any longer.
Then, after running across the street for Chinese food with
a friend, came Finding Diverse Voices and Characters in SF/F. The sad thing was
that we had only one person of color on the panel, but we did our best to talk
about how to write respectfully about people who are unlike us, and where to go
to find stories by diverse authors.
From there, I careened over to Reaching Writers Who Don’t
Know You Yet. Although the topic description mentioned strategies for SEO
(Search Engine Optimization) – that is, making yourself visible to folks who
Google you or are looking for the kind of fiction you write – most of the
emphasis was on offering free ebooks (as through InstaFreebie) and other ways
of building up mailing lists. That is, the focus was indie or self-published
writers who must do all their own promotion. I am not convinced of the value of
these strategies, but I defer to the romance writers who write 6 books a year,
use these methods, and earn a good income. Since this is my blog and I get to
hold forth however I want, I present Deborah’s Strategy for Acquiring Readers:
1. Write great stuff.
2. Say interesting things on panels and on your blog.
3. Be kind to fans.
Dinner that night was a sort of mini-bar-con, since someone
who clearly does not appreciate the rapacious appetites of fans declared the
restaurant closed until 7:15 pm. I thought of snooping through evening panels
or parties, but old age got the better
of me, like Bilbo, and I oozed off to bed instead.
Sunday morning is usually SFWA meeting time, but I neglected
to inform Programming of my unavailability, so I had a panel on Endings:
Cuddling with the Reader. I love the idea of leaving chocolate on the pillow
for my devoted fans, although sometimes a jolt to the solar plexus is just what
the story needs. Although not all the panelists agreed with me, my takeaway is
that the ending should fulfill the promise the author makes at the beginning of
the book. A steamy romance calls for a very different emotional tone in the
wrap-up than does a detective thriller or a fluffy fantasy or a gritty dystopic
novel. I believe an ending does not have to be “happy” to be satisfying, but
satisfying is what’s needed. At the end of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is wounded in ways that can never heal while
he remains in Middle Earth; hence “The Scouring of the Shire” sequence in the
books (not the films) allow us to mend what we can and grieve what has been
lost.
My last two events were a reading (most of “Sage Mountain”
from Sword and Sorceress 31) and
autographing. Much fun was had by all at both events. Then a wonderful,
generous fan gave me a ride to Powell’s Beaverton for their Authorfest. This
year, the event took place in a much smaller space with only 20 of us, but it
had the feel of a mini-convention, with authors, fans, and people who just
wandered in to see what all the fuss was about, all mingling and having a great
time.
OryCon will return to Jantzen Beach next year (no more verticality);
I have no doubt it will remain the warm, welcoming environment in which to
share enthusiasm for books (and graphic novels and films and so forth). If you
live nearby and have never been to a convention before, check it out. See you
there!
No comments:
Post a Comment