I’m up in Redmond, WA at Foolscap and having a delightful time. After the hugeness of Dragon*Con it’s nice to be at a small convention that focuses on books. The conversations have been interesting and pretty far-ranging. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of intelligent and well-read people here.
Programming has me scheduled heavily, which I actually enjoy as it gives me a chance to engage with people that I wouldn’t normally get a chance to. Yesterday I got to talk to Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Judy Johnson, Tom Whitmore, Kyra Freestar, Bob Kruger, Angel McCoy, Tamara Sellman, Mark Teppo, Keffy Kherli, and… well, pretty much everyone here is awesome.
Last night the social event to attend was Janna Silverstein’s soiree. In the middle of it, while geeking out about period costumes with folks like Kat Richardson and Emma Bull, I mentioned that I had the Regency dress in my suitcase. They basically pushed me out the door with orders not to come back until I was wearing it. Not that I need much of an excuse.
Hal O’Brien caught a picture of me that I quite like. Admittedly, I wish the dress weren’t wrinkled, but I don’t travel with maid servants.
So far the only thing that is disconcerting about this convention is that I drove here. I normally take the train up but the last train back to Portland is a 5:30 and I didn’t think I could get to it. Since Rob is out of town, I didn’t want to leave the cats alone for more than one night.Weird driving.
indeed, a nice photo. I quite like the shawl with the dress… accurate?
It is accurate although the shawl frequently had embroidery as well.
Minor Correction: It’s Hal O’Brien, not Brien. Many things I may be; Brien Boru is not among them. Although I can see the confusion, given a twitter nick of hbobrien.
I’m glad the photo pleases you.
It was a pleasure meeting you, Mary, and I LOVED your reading and the accompanying puppet show. What a treat!
Best regards,
Angel…
So glad you came to Foolscap! Hope to see you at more of these (and more puppeting!) events.
Oh, I’ll definitely be there next year. I can’t promise puppets though.
Thank you for dropping by the table at dinner last night – I don’t usually get a chance to talk at length with the panelists I’ve conversed with via email during the convention, so it was great fun to finally talk a bit with you.
I hope your drive home was uneventful! I’m going to be trolling through the new King County Library website today and ordering your book – that blurb on the fan was very interesting…
Thank you for attending!
It was a pleasure talking to you. The convention was such fun and I look forward to coming back next year.
It was lovely seeing you at Foolscap. I read Shades of Milk and Honey yesterday, as my post-con reward, and enjoyed it. I was interested by the different emphasis from both Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. In Austen’s books, I see an underlying awareness of the gritty realities of a bad marriage or impoverished spinsterhood. Heyer is in a sense fluffier and more focussed on happiness through a good marriage. Your book focussed on how necessary creativity and choice were to a woman’s happiness. I see the generational differences of choice implicit in all these books. You see the same period with very different eyes than both Austen and Heyer.
And as one of the concom, we’re glad you had a great time, and look forward to seeing you next year!
This is a fascinating and probably accurate take on the different lenses with which one views the Regency. I have to confess though that I haven’t read Heyer yet. I know, I know. I’m sure I will love her and have no explanation for why it has taken me this long.