Over the last year, one silver lining to the lockdowns has been the ability to attend science fiction conventions on-line via Zoom or YouTube. I know, the social aspect has been cut back to chatting on line, and the joy of meeting new people and having room parties is not there. But if you want to learn new stuff and hear favourite writers and artists you can still do that, and I have to say I have learned a lot from experts in various subjects. Plus I can leave if the panel isn’t what I had in mind, without offending anyone.
I’ve attended, on line, Worldcon, World Fantasy Con, NASFIC, and others. I couldn’t have done that face to face, due to family commitments. And some were free. Those that weren’t gave attendees lots of books to enjoy and vote on. I’ve joined this year’s Worldcon, even though I can’t go and it’s face to face, because the Hugo Award packet alone is worth the price of membership and I can vote.
This weekend I have been attending yet another virtual con, Balticon, which is free.
I have only seen a couple of panels so far, but nearly everything is being recorded and put up on YouTube, so not hard to catch up. Just type “Balticon” into YouTube to find it, and as a bonus you will find panels from other years, which is nice, because the recorded panels of most of the virtual cons we have been enjoying over the last year have been up for about a month on average. This year’s Balticon is #55. You don’t have to join, just wander over to the website to see what is on, or go straight to YouTube, probably best as the con will be over now. The Guest of Honour is Seanan McGuire, author of the October Daye urban fantasy series and many others. Seanan was here in Melbourne for a convention a few years ago. She has cats, which get mentioned on her Twitter account.
The panel on which I saw her over the weekend, was about bad movie adaptations. It was interesting to hear what the panellists thought were bad(nobody mentioned The Dark Is Rising, a British classic which was completely ruined by being Americanised). But one question which stuck in my mind was “Would you agree to having your books turned into films?” All of the panellists said hell, yeah! Seanan argued that even a film that gets a lot of bad reviews and drops out of sight can make the author of the original book much more money than normal income. I do remember her, at the Melbourne event, saying that even as a full time writer she was not well off and couldn’t afford to pay health insurance, something necessary in the US, where there is no universal health cover.
I’m off to watch some more panels. See you on YouTube!
12 comments:
TV/movies are where the money are, no doubt about it.
Indeed! One of the panellists remarked that a well known author of a classic that was messed up was asked, “Look what they’ve done to your book! How do you feel?” The reply was “They’ve done nothing to my book. You can still read it.”
I just registered for a free online US conference - best chance I have of getting to one!
I love that quote you mention above in the comments. That's clever.
What kind of conference? As for the other thing, all I can say is that some classics like The Dark Is Rising are still in print and selling well despite dreadful film adaptations! Not sure how Susan Cooper felt, though!
California Crime Writers Conference (it's free this year as it's shorter and virtual!!)
Thanks! I’ve joined. Even if it is in the middle of the night our time I should get in a panel or two. Ironically Continuum, the Melbourne con, which was on the same day, has been postponed again because of the Melbourne lockdown
You're welcome! I haven't looked at timings because I figured the same as you did :)
The Melbourne situation doesn't look good (and now we're worried about the case that travelled up here - because we had a long weekend and everyone goes down the south coast).
I just emailed the con committee and got a reply immediately! The answer is yes, they’re recording.
Yeah, the lockdown looks like it might be continuing. I’m seriously considering taking my shopping trolley to the supermarket and stocking up, just in case it gets worse. We have had months of almost-normal and now one infected guy comes back from SA and it’s back to 2020! And yes, we did hear about the NSW traveller. Oh, well, nothing to be done. I’m sure you will manage without the south coast. At least you can still go to the pool and travel around the ACT. 🙂
Oh, that's great! Thanks for checking on that with the committee, it never occurred to me they might do that.
I don't care about going to the coast (been there once in 8 years) but getting an outbreak in the ACT, cause watching you guys... this one is looking bad.
Indeed! We had months of lockdown last year, and quite honestly, I was watching enviously while ppl in Canberra were posting photos of their trips. I was even jealous of one guy who cheerfully told us about his mornings at the pool! I really didn’t think it would happen here again. 😢
Wow, I've read science fiction in the past. But I love book events. I hope to make it to Worldcon. Thanks for the heads up.
Hi Ann! I hope you gave a great time at Worldcon. I just woke up to the good news that not only is there a virtual stream, but I can still get my books and my Hugo vote! Which is great news for me, since I can’t go face to face.
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