So, WFC (among other things):
-Managed to look rather odd at the EPIC launch–when asked “what was the first epic fantasy book you read?”, my go-to answer ended up being “The Iliad and assorted (Asian) myths” (everyone else went for actual Western fantasy; I felt myself going scarlet)
-Hung out at parties and had great fun, though soon wished for less noise and less population density
-Got together with Amal El-Mohtar, Tempest Bradford, Julia Rios, Katie, Bek, and Jeannine for GymCon, aka learning all about gyms, squats, planks and weight-lifting. I can’t say I’ve come back determined to join my nearest gym as soon as possible, but I no longer feel as daunted by the prospect of going to the gym, and it’s certainly made me want to try some exercise
-Gatecrashed Jeff Vandermeer’s “Lost in Translation” panel with a decided lack of preparation (Agnes Cadieux, the missing panelist, had an emergency and couldn’t make it), but managed to make it through the hour
-Had a conversation with Ted Chiang at the massive autograph session and tried not to appear too fangirl/shy (I fear I failed at both)
-Had great Chinese food (and cháo/congee for breakfast!), including awesome dim sum (I have to say this makes me even more determined to get to Hong Kong or Singapore and find the best places there), and a hot pot/Chinese fondue at 3am
-Am possibly one of the few people who went to Toronto and brought back a pair of cooking chopsticks and 10 pairs of wooden eating ones (the H and I have tourist-quality chopsticks bought in Hà Nội, obviously not meant for daily eating, and the only ones I can find in Paris’ 13th District are short low-quality bamboo ones). Kind of regret I didn’t have time to look a bit deeper and that most stuff was closed on Sunday. (have no fear, I also brought back a huge pot of maple syrup and a big bag of maple sugar–had to get back typical souvenirs after all!).

All in all, it was a great con. I got to hang out with many great people, to meet old friends and make new ones (and sign books–Obsidian and Blood sold out within the dealers’ room, much to my delight). Can’t wait for Brighton to come around!

Just a quick post to say that I am back, having had a great WFC–more later, but major congratulations to friends Lavie Tidhar and Ken Liu for their World Fantasy Award wins (thrilled for Ken, who has done the hat trick of winning the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Award in the same year with his “Paper Menagerie”, though for my money I still think “The Man Who Ended History: a Documentary” was a stronger and more thought-provoking tale).

That’s it for tonight; I shall get myself to bed…

-The tireless Charles Tan puts together a links roundup for WFC, which includes several recordings of panels as well as reports. Really annoyed I missed it this year, especially as it didn’t conflict with Utopiales (which I end up missing for another reason entirely, mind you). Ah well, maybe next year. Toronto sounds nice.

-Several people, including Kate Elliott, Juliet McKenna, Sherwood Smith, report on the WFC “The Glass Ceiling” panel about women vs men in the field. Nothing very new, sadly, but I find the concept of male vs. female gaze fascinating (even though the dynamics that are used here are, I suspect, mostly US or UK. It’s occurred to me recently that French and Vietnamese culture probably don’t have quite the same sexual dynamics or problems, though I’d be hard pressed to pinpoint the bits that are different. Bit hard when you’re submerged in the culture to analyse it) . Also, see an older postby N.K. Jemisin, which raises some interesting questions on the same topic, especially RE sex scenes. (I tend to avoid sex scenes in my writing because reading them bores me, but I can totally understand why other people would want them in their books)