GenreCon Part 1: Friday

I feel like I'm repeating myself whenever I talk about my experiences at Fandom conventions. I always say that I had enormous fun, felt like I belonged, and was sad to leave at the end. That would be because it's always true. GenreCon was yet another fulfilling experience for me, and I learned a lot of great stuff in the bargain.

For example, did you know that iron is probably the worst metal you could use to construct giant robots with? Pacific Rim got that wrong! And the current level of human technology does not have the ability to detect gravitron waves that may be increasing the mass of our planet. Tsk, tsk, Man of Steel! I also learned valuable information about publishing and selling ebooks, invaluable knowledge given my current writing career plans.

Friday was slow, an evening of settling in. I had no trouble getting to Guelph; I even got the driver to let me off a stop early at the university, practically next door to the Delta Guelph Hotel and Conference Centre! Lots of time and a taxi fare saved there! I checked in, registered, and dumped my stuff in my room, then set out to find my friends. And a cup of tea. I didn't worry about supper; I brought a couple of sandwiches to further cut down on my expenses.

My first panel was about the recent Superman movie, Man of Steel. My fellow panelist was Ryan Consell, a splendid chap with a mind for science who looks almost identical to the 10th Doctor. We had only two people in attendance, a bit disappointing considering how prepared I was. Nevertheless we had a good chat about the Superman films in general and the science mistakes in Man of Steel in particular, and generally had a good time.

I got the timing wrong for my next panel, the one on Geek Cliques. I showed up an hour early, and ended up participating in the panel on Canadian content in genre fiction with Jennifer Bickley and my friend and fellow author Elizabeth Mary Ann Hirst. We got some heated debates going, which is what you always hope for in a panel. Attendance was better, too - at least six people - and most of them stuck around for Geek Cliques afterward. Strong emotions were incurred as fellow panelists Corrina McGill, Michael Scott and I discussed the exclusion of unpopular fandoms, fandom hierarchies, and the concept of the 'fake geek girl'. In the end we came to two very noble conclusions: 1. all forms of prejudice or perceived superiority have no place in fandom; and 2. Twilight fans suck. ;)

Next I attended a reading by my good friend and cover artist for The Five Demons You Meet In Hell, Sarah Water Raven. Only a couple of people turned up; Friday nights, it would seem, really aren't very good for programming. Nevertheless we made the most of it; Sarah read from her novel Detective Docherty and the Demon's Tears, and I remember a lively discussion about killing characters in creative ways. Sarah and I went for a drink afterward, as this photo blurrily depicts.

I slept well, and treated myself to room service breakfast Saturday morning. It was expensive, but I could not resist the allure of bacon and homefries! And, I didn't know where to go to get anything cheaper. The morning was mine to do with as I pleased, but the afternoon had me booked solid from two o'clock until eight. I wandered about, checked out the dealer's room, and made a few new friends. Then I woofed down the last of my provisions and prepared myself for action...

GenreCon Part 2: Saturday is Coming Soon!

GenreCon Next Weekend!

Next Friday, October 4th, I will travel to Guelph for my third out-of-Toronto convention! This will be another fantastic opportunity for me to promote myself to a new city's worth of sci-fi/fantasy fans.

I'm signed up for eight panels, something of a record for me. I will also be doing a reading and a signing on Saturday. Woo! That's a lot of work from me. And you all know how I feel about the 'W' word! Of course, this will be fun work. I love cons so very much.

My GenreCon Panels are as follows:

Superman: The Man of Steel - Friday, 6 PM, Terrace
Geek Cliques - Friday, 9 PM, Aberfoyle

Fifty Years of Doctor Who - Saturday, 2 PM in Terrace
My reading (Saturday, 3 PM in Elora)
The Basics of Writing Genre - Saturday, 4 PM in Terrace
My signing (Saturday, 5 PM in Dealers Room).
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Benedict Cumberbatch - Saturday 7 PM in Terrace

Fanfiction: More Than Just Bad Porn - Sunday, 12 AM (Midnight) Aberfoyle
Self-Publishing in the Age of the Internet - 10 AM (room TBA)
Pacific Rim: Robots vs. Aliens - Sunday 2 PM in Elora

Three of those panels are about recent movies, three are about writing and publishing, and one is about trends in fandom itself. The recent Star Trek and Superman movies have caused quite a bit of fandom controversy, so I'd better be prepared for some hostility (in the form of aggressive arguing). I'm always delighted to talk about writing, and the self-publishing panel will be particularly relevant for me. Pacific Rim was an awesome movie that I look forward to discussing, but I'm really excited for the Doctor Who panel (the 50th Anniversary special episode is less than two months away!). The Geek Cliques panel will bring up many tender subjects, such as the ridiculous notion of the 'fake geek girl'. Honestly, why would anybody in fandom want to exclude anybody?

Aside from all the new faces awaiting me, I will also see several good friends from cons past. For example, Sarah Water Raven, my fellow panelist at SFContario last year, will be doing a reading at 10PM in Elora Friday night and the Self-Publishing panel with me on Sunday morning. I draw specific attention to her because she is the artist who created the cover for (Big Announcement Soon!), as well as a promotional flyer. I'll display those and make the Big Announcement in another post very soon.

I still have plenty of copies of Epoch, Evil and Section K to bring. If I'm lucky, I might make back my travel and/or accommodation costs. I'm out of Cupid War copies, however; I plan to encourage fans to seek out their copies from Chapters/Indigo and Amazon.

Next weekend is going to be busy but fun. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Reality vs Superman... and Me

Tomorrow I will take myself to see the new Superman movie, Man of Steel. I expect it will be well made, and probably a lot of fun. I also expect to see a number of attempts made by director Zach Snyder and writers David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan to "modernize" Superman, to "make him relevant to today's audiences." Fine, I say. Whatever. As long as the main character is still Superman.

It doesn't take much to amuse the little kid in me. Add Superman to a movie, or a giant transforming robot (or both!), and you're 90% of the way to making me happy.

Other people, I've noticed, are much harder to satisfy. They want their inner (and outer) adult catered to, with childish things put away (or left to cartoons). They want their movies to have Reality, to feature characters and stories you would expect to see in the Real World. Fantastic stories have their place (again, cartoons), but if you want Grown-Ups to like it, you must make the fantasy Believable. Relatable. It must Say Something About the Human Condition. And Gritty. Don't forget Gritty.

Grit is fine, in and of itself. I'm a big fan of many Gritty, Relatable films and stories (like Batman Begins, Michael Bay's Transformers, Iron Man, etc). I do not, however, think that every story of the fantastic needs to be that way, especially if the concept behind it doesn't lend itself all that well to those elements.

Take Superman. He can fly. He can see through walls. He can lift continents, and his fists could shatter the Moon. And, he's a pretty decent guy. Hooray, say kids! Nonsense, say Grown-Ups. A character like that can't possibly be interesting. How can you Relate to him? He isn't tortured! He doesn't like to kill people! He's NICE, dammit! Such a man can't possibly be REAL.

No, he can't. Superman isn't Real. He isn't supposed to be.

But... Superman is something the child in us wishes was real. He's an amalgamation of everything that's good in humanity (so it's only natural that he's an alien!). He comes from above us, lives among us, and protects us from the worst in ourselves (and Solomon Grundy). Fine, say Grown-Ups, but he needs a Believable Reason for doing so. Is he trying to avenge the death of his parents? Is he making up for a mistake that cost his uncle's life? Is he fighting to prove his kind aren't evil whilst fighting the evil members of his kind? For God's sake, is the man Being Paid?

No. And that's Superman's crime against Reality - he protects us from evil because he can, and because he believes it is the right thing to do. That's it. No burning rage, no agonizing guilt, no paycheque. He's just a really nice guy with super powers.

That, of course, isn't Believable. That's not a Well-Rounded Character. Nice isn't Reality! Grown-Ups hate Nice. It's naive... childish. Real people aren't like that.

Nice guys finish last, no one will go out on a date with them, and they always get picked last in gym class. Nice guys are NOT supposed to be able to save the world from asteroids, alien invaders, criminal masterminds and kitten-capturing trees. They are supposed to get kicked to the dirt while the Real Heroes - the ones with guns and knives and attitude - embrace their dark natures and show ya how we get things done!

But Superman doesn't get kicked to the dirt. Because he's Superman. Try it, and he could punt you into the dirt... on Mars! Except he won't. Because he's Superman. Instead, he'll tell you not to kick him because you'll break your own damn foot. Then he'll fly off to put a stop to Lex Luthor's insane schemes, pausing just long enough to rescue a little kid's balloon.

That's not Interesting! People can't Relate To That! It's not REAL!

Why not?

Because nobody's actually like that!

I know. It's a fantasy. For children, or the young at heart. Or the naive. Or anyone who still believes that people can be good.

So I'm going to see Man of Steel tomorrow. And I hope that, despite attempts to 'make him relevant', he'll still be the nice guy in the red and blue suit with the super powers.

There'll be plenty of Reality waiting for me afterward.