Timewaster's Guide Archive
General => Rants and Stuff => Topic started by: EUOL on February 07, 2004, 05:26:01 AM
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So, I told the LTUE (BYU's SF con) that I was willing to be on a couple of panels this year. I just got the email, and they put me on EIGHT. If you don't know what that means, it means I'll be up there talking for eight hours.
Man. How desperate must they be for panelists if they're that keen on using the guy whose book won't even come out for over a year?
Another note of interest--I'm on a panel with Scott Parkin. He's the guy whose job I kind of filched at BYU, teaching the creative writing class. (I was a grad student, he was not. I had a book deal, he did not. I applied for the job he'd been teaching, and they hired me instead.)
I don't even know if Scott was interested in teaching the class again (he'd done it for two years, I think.) However, I hope he's not sore. I heard rumblings that they didn't like having someone without an advanced degree teaching classes, and so I stepped in and applied to teach the class for fear that they would just cancel it.
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Well, I'd rather they had you than that woman who wrote erotica that was at the last one I was at. That was pretty odd, having her at a BYU-sponsored function. If it were sponsored by any other institution, I wouldn't have thought twice about it, but as it is...
I'm curious if the LTUE staff have ever considered talking to children's SF/F authors. I don't remember ever having seen one at it, though granted I've only been to one and paid attention to a few others. If they're scraping the bottom, they might find they can bring in new life with a couple of children's authors like Karen Farmer or M.T. Anderson or Francine Prose or Lois Lowry. You guys would LOVE M.T. Anderson, who wrote Feed, which just won a bunch of awards last year. He's a hilarious speaker. He lives in Boston, though.
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They have the budget to fly people around, I think. I seriously doubt some of the authors they've come out were here on their own.
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and hey, I've presented and been on a panel. How cool am I? Scraping the bottom of the barrel indeed. :D
anyway, yeah, they do sometimes have some pretty lame stuff for an academic symposium
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They had Patricia C. Wrede here last year--which was really cool. She's one of my favorites from when I was younger. She writes the "Dealing with Dragons" books.
I read "Feed" for my YA lit creative writing class last year. I thought it was an interesting book, and a pretty good read, but not spectacular.
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Since I was in Scott's class, I'm not sure if he wanted to teach it again. We got yelled at twice for not talking enough in class, and I got the impression that it wasn't the most fulfilling thing he'd ever done.
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And by the by, when is LTUE this year?
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They had Patricia C. Wrede here last year--which was really cool. She's one of my favorites from when I was younger. She writes the "Dealing with Dragons" books.
I read "Feed" for my YA lit creative writing class last year. I thought it was an interesting book, and a pretty good read, but not spectacular.
That's cool about Patricia C. Wrede. I've been listening to the 2nd and 3rd books in that series on tape.
I didn't really like Feed, because it rehashes a lot of the same issues YA lit is always dealing with, but M.T. Anderson is a pretty good writer (I've read some of his picture books, too) and like I said, he's a hilarious speaker. His acceptance speech for the Boston Globe/Horn Book award this year was laugh-out-loud funny. It was this strange diatribe about how humans will die out and will be replaced by giant cockroaches, mandibles clacking and their little feet clacking on the marble halls of our libraries, centuries from now--but in such a funny way, if that makes any sense. I wish I could find a copy of it, but since he didn't win the award (he had an honor book) it won't be printed in the Horn Book, I don't think.
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Your college has a con!?!?!
I wish mine had. Well, we had one my first year there that was put on by the Gaming Club (which later became the anime club...grumble), but it was nothing more than a chance to have the people of the club run you through their favorite games. Great for dabbling in other systems, but little else.
Wish we'd had cool panels and speakers...
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LTUE is from February 19- February 21
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it's supposed to be an academic symposium: an opportunity to present papers and discuss academic subjects. BYU wouldn't allow a con. However, it has sort of a weak con feeling most of the time.
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Heh. Recently it's been far more of a con than a symposium. In fact, looking over the program, I'm having difficulty distinguishing it from World Fantasy (except, of course, in the quality of the guests and panelists.)
That's not a bad thing, I suppose--World Fantasy is rather professional/academic style con, but it's still a con. There are panels instead of papers.
Fuzzy: That's nice to know about Scott. Makes me feel a bit less guilty. But, how could he not enjoy teaching the class? It's awesome.
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well they did have Sara meshell Geller (you know Buffy) offer to come to the con that one year, and they turned her down. True LTUE was going on during the olymipcs when it was out here and her old request was that they get her a hotel. But comeone, haveing her there would have solidifed LTUE as a nerd bastion they've been trying to get for years. They even have cosplay there (true is all shakspearain).
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All the girls dressed up with fairy wings last year, and the one dressed as Leia were REALLY Shakespearean.
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not all the cosplay is shakespearian. I've seen some elves and Jedi before. Unless shakespeare wrote a play I haven't read that featured Legolas Skywalker taking on Darth Sauron.
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Well, he DID write a bunch of fanfics. (You know, like Romeo and Juliet, which were based on other people's stories.)
Come to think of it, Midsummer Night's Dream does have a distinct 'furry' element....
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I've only been to LTUE twice, last time was 3 years ago, and both time is was all shakespearian. But if it's got even worse them I'm glad I don't go, dressing up is stupid and is one of the many reasons I hate Cons.
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It just irked a few of us because it's *supposed* to be academic. We want people like Patricia C. Wrede to be impressed and return in future years, and then they go running around pretending to be fairies.
I will admit that it's partly jealousy on my part; I like dressing up. Why do *I* have to be the one who realizes that it's not socially acceptable to dress up like a sci-fi character at an academic lecture?
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Sprig: Thank you for the lovely flame.
Fuzzy: Supposedly (according to Linda, so take it how you will) LTUE has 'new blood' this year. I don't know if that will change the feel or not. Of course, there's always E3's infamous statement, "If I ever come to BYU to teach, symposium will return to the academic conference it was always meant to be."
All of this reminds me--Brenna, if you see this post, will you email me at my "ccg ala timewastersguide.com" address? I want to talk to you about something regarding my students going to TLE. Thanks.
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Well, so far so good. It's very different being on the 'other side' of the panels. I am a verbose person anyway, so I enjoy getting up and pontificating before a crowd.
It's still going to take some getting used to. So far I've been on two panels, and on each one I've probably been the most 'successful' fiction writer in the group(assuming you look only at dollar signs.)
Anyway, I enjoy paneling. I was on a very interesting one today with Scott Parkin and Bob Defendi--two very eloquent men who seem to have very good storytelling instincts. I was happy to meet Scott, though he did seem a little bit sad that I had *ahem* stolen his job. Very nice guy, however.
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Yeah, despite the fact that i was on a panel on illustration (i do not, nor ever have, nor ever will, have any illustration talent), i have to say it was neat to be the focus of attention and to be able to answer questions.
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Scott's the kind of guy I always wanted to have for an uncle. Nice fellow who comes to dinner and tells fun stories.