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Hugo award, Huge Reception, Anticipation, Worl...Image by gruntzooki via Flickr

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Worldcon 2009, Anticipation in Montreal, Canada was a blast. I saw lots of old friends and made some new ones, ate and drank my way through fabulous restaurants, and had a splendid time.

The con started for me with a glitch in my scheduled programming. Turned out I wasn't on the planned "Anatomy for Writers" program item, and as I learned that weekend there were lots of other writers/panelists in the same boat. The confusion over the program, however, did not detract from my enjoying myself. I did have two wonderful panels, "Ebooks from draft to finished product" and "Researching your world". Both were well attended and featured lively panelists from a variety of backgrounds. I took notes for myself, and enjoyed the give-and-take between the audience and the panelists.

I was also glad I wasn't on more panels, because I was working on my Voice of Ghod script on Friday and Sunday. Being the Voice of Ghod means doing the voiceovers and safety announcements during the Hugo Award Ceremonies at Worldcon. Last year at Denver I was honored to be tapped as the first female Voice of Ghod, and I was even more thrilled this year to be asked for an encore appearance. I thought the Hugos went well, and we had a balance of French and English spoken to make it a truly bilingual event. We also saw the new Hugo logo unveiled for the first time.

I met some of my Canadian fans and got to sign books for them, passed out my bookmarks, and promised to look people up if they make it to Australia for Aussiecon 4, Worldcon 2010. I even got out of our hotel to walk through Old Montreal. It reminded me a bit of St. Augustine, but had even more of that old-world flavor. And speaking of flavor, Montreal was a foodies delight. Great restaurants, and not only could I get fabulous food, but I could also get excellent cider, somewhat of a rarity in the States.

I'm home now and back at work on Castaway Dreams. I hope to have a major announcement soon about upcoming releases, so stay tuned to this blog!
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