Unsung Heroes
Sorry I haven’t been around here much lately. It’s getting down to the wire for this damn York address and I’ve gotta shave half an hour off of it. (It’s tough — I mean, you try argueing that pedophiles and suicide bombers will be the ones setting the ground rules for any post-singularity society. In less than 30 minutes. You gotta take it in small steps.) Also, I’m trying to find an agent, and I gotta do it quick; I’ve only got street cred as long as I’m a “finalist” for these awards. The moment they go to someone else, I’m just an also-ran. (And in the course of that search, might I just point out that Deanna Hoak is absurdly gracious, classy, and helpful to people she barely even knows. A few more like her would make a complete hash of the rules of Darwinian natural selection.)
Oh, and while I’m in hat-tipping mode: I usually e-mail thankyous to those who’ve contributed to the Niblet Memorial Kibble Fund, but sometimes I can’t get through. So if John Packer from Australia, and/or Terry Doyle from the UK happen by, thank you both for your generosity. And your e-mail addresses are broken. For months.
Is there a way to attend your address without attending the rest of the conference? Time is short for me that day, but I don’t want to miss it..
I’m not sure, but I don’t think it should be a problem. The tentative schedule is here; I seem to be up first, and gone by 11am. There’s also a contact link on that page, leading to Allan Weiss’s e-mail; you could contact him about slipping in and out.
Come to think of think of it, I don’t even know what this costs…
That was an excellent, excellent keynote speech. I’m so glad Allan got you, and thanks very much for doing it.
I realized only later where I knew your name from: you wrote the editorial for “my” issue of OnSpec, in which you took issue with Margaret Atwood’s genre anxieties. I ended up citing that in an essay last year; it was absolutely delightful work, and a pleasure to put a face to the name.
Thank you, Anon (may I call you Anon?) It did seem to go over pretty well (well, except with Allan Weiss — don’t know if you caught the passive-aggressive bit about blue octopi in his closing remarks. I swear, I don’t know why that guy keeps asking me to give talks…)
You can call me Anon, or you can call me Cat. I’m not fussy about that sort of thing–nor entirely sure how to make full use of the reply thingee.
I interpreted Allan’s comments as a joking attempt to tie it all together, that kind of fell flat. Certainly he speaks very well of you–with good reason!
Cat it is. Good name.
Glad you liked my Atwood piece. And it’s nice to hear that Allan speaks well of me; I don’t mean to diss the man. I’m pretty sure he has problems with my whole take on the Atwood/skiffy issue, though.