We arrived a little later than yesterday since Mrs. Elbeno does a long run on Sunday mornings – 12.5 miles today. But we parked in almost exactly the same spot. I hurried to get to a panel entitled “Science Fiction: The Road From Here to There” featuring Cory Doctorow (author, blogger, civil rights advocate), John Scalzi (author of nothing I’ve heard of – but maybe I should read Old Man’s War), Kage Baker (again, SF/Fantasy author of nothing I know), and Harry Turtledove (heard of him, but not read any of his work) moderating.
The discussion was an interesting one, mostly because of Cory and John, with Harry weighing in on several points. Kage did not add very much to the panel. As an experience it opened my eyes to the fact that I’ve not really read a lot of SF since high school – Asimov, Heinlein, Philip K Dick, William Gibson and a bit of Neal Stephenson pretty much defines my experience. That said, I do continue to read short story anthologies. I should try to pick up more on what’s going on in modern SF. Cory’s works would be a good start – and they’re available under Creative Commons licenses.
Today was a much more relaxed day than yesterday for us – we spent the time meandering and visiting what we missed yesterday. Mini-Elbeno got a t-shirt and a couple more books, including a signed copy of Dear Fish by Chris Gall – illustrator turned writer-illustrator, and poster artist for the festival. Mrs. Elbeno saw a panel (featuring Chris Gall among others) about illustration of children’s books. We headed home around 5 as everything was wrapping up.
The 2-day experience has fired us up about books again. Who knows, perhaps I’ll write that book I’ve always said I would…