Private Mars Rocket II

Like the label on the tin says, updates on various topics.

1) I attended Windycon this past weekend. My schedule was light - two panels and a writer's workshop session - but I had fun and got to chat with a bunch of people. I'm glad they have a new hotel for next year - the Doubletree is sad and tired. I also note that Windycon will be a month earlier - October 9th-11th 2026.

2) It snowed heavily last night, but at least in Darien we only got 2 to 3 inches, it quit in the early AM, and it's rapidly melting.

3) I took today (Monday) off - after working a literal month of Saturdays I figured I earned it. Among other tasks, I went shooting. My dad gave had a Taurus 1911 in .45. He no longer has the grip to rack the slide, so he gave it to me. I fired a box of bullets through it. I also at the spur of the moment shot my Ruger LCR, a very lightweight .38 special. The range only had personal defense ammo for .38, so I shot that. Due to the extreme light weight of the gun, it's literally painful to shoot.

As previously announced, I am in Seattle for Worldcon. I flew in on Tuesday - the last day of a heat wave for them (temps in the low 90s) and today Seattle is back to being Seattle - cool and rainy. More detailed thoughts:

1) The flight here on Southwest was irritating. They have implemented the checked bag fee, which I hate. The flight was an hour late getting out of Midway. First, they "needed to call headquarters but the phones wren't working." Then, 20 minutes later, "we have a weight and balance problem that Dallas is working in." Another 20 minutes later, "we need 4 people to get off of the plane." (They did offer significant compensation for this.) Finally, we left. The person in the aisle seat across from me was extremely nervous to the point of being unable to function - not sure if it was claustrophobia, fear of flying or some other malady.

2) Because I changed my travel plans, I had to spend a night not in the convention hotel. Since I just needed a bed, I picked the La Quinta Seatac. It was the shittiest La Quinta I've stayed at. Their airport shuttle sucked (you go to the La Quinta on a Hampton Inns shuttle), the wifi didn't work and the front desk guy was generally clueless.

3) The first bit of good news was when I got to the Grand Sheraton, which is the convention hotel. Since I arrived at ~9:30 AM, I assumed I'd have to store my bag with the bellhop. Instead, I got lucky and my room was ready.

Since then, panels have been attended, books signed and sold, booze drank, and friends met. More updates as events warrant.

Herewith is my schedule for the Seattle in 2025 World Science Fiction Convention, to be held in famously sunny downtown Seattle August 13 - 17. I don't have room assignments here - visit the link to get that.

Wed 12:00pm-1:00pm
Table Talks 4
basically a meet-and-greet

Sat 9:00am-10:00am
War - From Star Trek to the Expanse
We'll be presenting and discussing many of the great science fiction literature and movie franchises to explore how and why space warfare has evolved and where it is going. We'll look at key advancements and challenges. Especially, what needs to come next. Finally, we'll discuss how to keep stories fresh and contemporary without compromising innovation.

Sat 4:30pm-5:30pm
Writing to Trend or Writing the Book of Your Heart
You may have heard the advice to write to market if you want to be successful. But does that mean you have to ignore the book of your heart? Why not both? We'll talk pros and cons of writing to market vs writing whatever you want, and how to fuse your love of writing with marketability to create a unique work of art that also sells well.

Sun 1:30pm-2:30pm
Man Versus Extraterrestrial Nature
Not every novel needs a villain because the universe is filled with inhospitable environments. From Sands of Mars to Missions of Gravity, planetary environments have provided challenges to science fiction protagonists for decades. How difficult is it to write a believable alien environment? What are some of the best-imagined dangerous worlds?

Herewith is my semi-final schedule for Capricon 45 to be held in downtown Chicago February 6-9. I say semi-final because the scheduling email that just hit my inbox had a panel on Friday that was looking for a few good bloviators panelists and I nominated myself.

Chicago-SF Book Club
Lincoln • Literature • Discussion Group • Sat 2:30 PM–3:30 PM
Join with Chicago-SF for a discussion of Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. All are welcome!

Reading: Clumpner, Flynt, and Gerrib
Bridgeport • Reading • Reading • Sat 5:30 PM–6:30 PM
Greg Clumpner, Clif Flynt, and Chris Gerrib read from their works. I will have both One of My Spaceships is Missing and Strawberry Gold to read from and will put it to a vote (if we have any attendees).

Pirates! Pirates! Pirates! ARGGGG
Gold Coast • Fan Interest • Panel • Sat 8:30 PM–9:30 PM
The age of piracy lasted for 70 years during which about 5,000 historical pirates roamed the seas. Which, in the grand scheme of things, really isn't that many. Why do the legends of pirates and piracy still loom so large in our imagination? What purposes does it serve, and how has the legend been revised to tell new stories through time?

I have received a tentative schedule for Windycon 50 to be held November 8-10 at the Doubletree hotel in Oak Brook. It's still in a state of flux - I have asked to drop a panel because I have too much stuff going on that day - but when it's firmed up I'll share it. I will be doing a reading at the con and sitting as a pro on one section of the Writer's Workshop.

I have just been informed via email that I will not be on any programming for the 2024 Worldcon. Based on a quick review of my records, this will be the first convention since Loncon 3 in 2014 I've attended that I've not been on programming. Wow!

To be clear, I'm not in the least disappointed. Although it's nice to be on panels, being on panels requires one to be "on" - to be on time, to have done some research, and to, well, sing for one's supper. Having a chance to just sit in the audience and enjoy the show will be a nice change of pace. Also, my publisher will be there and hopefully on a panel or two, so I'll be able to spell him at his dealer's table.

As many people already know, the Hugo nomination statistics for the 2023 event have been released. There are a number of glaring anomalies and the relevant committee members are providing vague and uninformative answers. Unfortunately, unless somebody has access to a working TARDIS, fixing the 2023 event is simply impossible. What we need to do is figure out how to prevent this from happening again.

I believe this year’s problem results from a fundamental flaw of the unincorporated literary society which administers the award, the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS). Simply put, the organization was designed for an era in which everybody who cared about the Hugos could fit into a large hotel ballroom. As both Sad Puppies and this current incident prove, those days are long gone.

Some in fandom have said that this year’s problem was because the con was held in China, a country that is quick to censor people it disagrees with. This is probably true, but hard to fix. Simply put, any organization with membership open to the public is vulnerable to being diverted by a sudden influx in new members. There is no easy way to ensure that future Worldcons will only happen in “friendly” countries.

I believe, therefore, that the solution to fixing the Hugos is to, as much as possible, to decouple the Hugo process from the administering of the seated convention. I propose:

1) Creating a standing committee of people to administer the Hugos. I propose five people, each elected for a two-year term with those terms staggered such that the WSFS membership is voting for at least two seats each year.

2) This committee’s primary function would be to hire and direct a third-party firm to administer the election. This firm would:
a. count the votes for both nomination and finalists and administer the website for voting.
b. Make recommendations to the committee for eligibility, leaving the committee to make the final decisions.
c. run EPH.
d. report results including nomination statistics.
e. Administer the committee election. (I assume that the initial committee would be appointed by WSFS at a Business Meeting.)

3) The committee, once created, would develop their own internal rules which would be reported to and approved by WSFS at a Business Meeting. Thereafter, the committee would make an annual report to WSFS at the Business Meeting which would also fill any unanticipated vacancies.

4) The seated convention would still handle all the logistics of the award ceremony and provide to the committee a list of eligible voters.

To be clear, this would require a significant and ongoing financial commitment. My personal guess would be around $20,000 USD for year-one startup costs and somewhat less for ongoing operations. This is just a guess – our committee would have to get firm numbers. I do, however, feel there will be a number of benefits. Specifically:

1) The committee can select which country they are based in and therefore which local laws apply. There will be less concern (at least with regards to the Hugos) where the con is held and the local fans can say to their government “all we do is hand out the awards to the people we’ve been told to.” Any censorship (denying of visas, etc.) will have to be explicit.

2) The actual administration of the award will be easier. Currently, each sitting con has to create their own voting system. With a standing committee, this work would be done once.

3) Reporting will also be easier as we don’t have to rely on the availability of somebody who’s also running a con and has a day job. We can also define specifically what information we want in the report (for example, author names with their nominated work).

4) Currently, the Hugo Administrator has significant power to determine eligibility and the larger fan base has no visibility into these decisions. Having a committee alleviates these concerns. Part of the actual rules for the committee can include requiring more specific explanations with regards to eligibility decisions.

In summary, this recommendation splits the functions of the WSFS into two buckets – administering an award and running a convention. The convention-running portion remains the same while a new apparatus is created for award administration. This is clearly a radical change to the way WSFS does business. But a ruleset written when Hugo results were typed up and mimeographed to the membership may not be the best ruleset for the second decade of the 21st century.

I meant to post earlier in the week but Life happened. Per my trip odometer, I am 157 miles from my home in Darien, working remotely in the basement of my parents' house. I'll be down here until after Christmas. I've been to the local American Legion post once so far (Queen of Hearts drawing - I did not win) and will be going tonight for a fish fry. Below, other News of Note.

1) Barbie: Before heading to The Home Soil, I watched the Barbie movie. It was a bit silly in parts (not surprising, since it was based on a doll) but overall very entertaining.

2) Joe Pickett: My parents are very heavy TV watchers, although they do have a habit of watching whatever is on CBS. The past few days CBS's prime-time fare has been game shows and specials. In the interest of something different, we're trying the neo-Western Joe Pickett. It's also pretty good albeit a bit grim and gritty.

3) Capricon: I have seen a draft schedule for Capricon, to be held in the River North area of Chicago February 1-4. Since it's still in flux, I'm not sharing it, but it is moving forward. I also note that this year the programming will be on floors 3 and 4 of the hotel, which are much more accessible to wheel-based fans.

Herewith is my schedule for Windycon, to be held Friday November 10 thru Sunday November 12 at the DoubleTree in Oakbrook.

The Obligatory Star Trek Panel - Going Back Before the Future - Saturday, 11-11-2023 - 10:00 am to 11:00 am - Kent
Paramount+ series. What has worked and what hasn't worked?


Reading Sat 12p - Saturday, 11-11-2023 - 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm - Ogden


Steampunk for Beginners - Saturday, 11-11-2023 - 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm - Windsor
Did Jules Verne found this movement or were there others?

Sex. Why Did it Have to Have Sex? - Saturday, 11-11-2023 - 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Hunt
When a story's good lore is thrown away for some trashy sex scenes.


Writer's Workshop Session 3 - Sunday, 11-12-2023 - 9:00 am to 12:00 pm - Butterfield/Camden
must be preregistered

Herewith is my schedule for Pemmi-Con AKA the 15th North American Science Fiction Convention, to be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Friday 21 July, 2023
Kaffeklatsche: Chris Gerrib
Where: Delta Hotels Winnipeg - Fort Garry
10:00 AM, Friday 21 Jul 2023 CDT - 1 hour 15 minutes


The Science Discovery Thunderdome
Where: Delta Hotels Winnipeg - Charleswood B
8:30 PM, Friday 21 Jul 2023 CDT - 1 hour 15 minutes
Moderator


Sunday 23 July, 2023
Fully formed humans
Where: Delta Hotels Winnipeg - Charleswood B
10:00 AM, Sunday 23 Jul 2023 CDT - 1 hour 15 minutes
Panelist