First day of Worldcon - Dublin trip day 3

Thursday August 15 was the first day of Worldcon.
We took the car to the convention center, but it took us just as long as if we'd have walked, because traffic was slow and there were lots of traffic lights. At the convention center we parked the car and made our way to registration to get our badge.


The convention center was next to the Liffey.
The view was gorgeous!


After registration we had some time before the start of our first panel so we visited the dealer room. I took this picture at the Harper Voyager stand for Sarah, and I signed up for their newsletter to get a cool tote bag. I also entered their daily raffle.


Next we ran into a lovely dragon and her owner. I was glad to see I wasn't the only animal to attend Worldcon.


The DeLorean from Back to the Future!
It was tempting to try it out, but we weren't allowed to time travel during the convention.


Then it was time for our first panel!
There were three we were interested in all at the same time, but we settled on:

Writing from non-western cultures

The number of non-western novels and stories in SFF has increased over the last 20 years, as has visibility of existing fiction. Our panel looks at some of these novels, discussing favourites and sharing recommendations. We’ll take a look at how the novels are written, as well as the differences in story patterns, characters, and narrative styles. Let’s celebrate these novels and look at ways to further expand the publishing of non-western cultures within SFF literature.
Yasser Bahjatt (M), Tasha Suri, Vida Cruz

I didn't take a picture of the panel, but we did take notes of course. Here are the highlights:

Vida Cruz told that Filipino history has mostly been erased so it's difficult to investigate pre-colonial history and write about it. It's also very hard to find international readers, because the stories have no familiar patterns for them.

Yasser Bahjatt said he was very aware he comes from a mixed background, so he always takes care what he's writing, so he doesn't mix in American themes in his Arab stories and vice versa for example.

Tasha Suri said it was a challenge to decide what to translate and what not to. What is the original name of certain clothing or food, and should it be used or trnslated to something that sounds more familiar? And how do you translate the small nuances and meanings?
Vida Cruz remarked she hoped that in such cases people would just Google words they don't understand, like she did when reading Western books like Harry Potter.
Yasser Bahjatt often tries to decide if an explanation should be in the story or in a footnote.

On the question:
Are you trying to explain your culture in your writing?

Vida: I'm still struggling with what our culture is anyway, so explaining it to others is a side concern. I'm trying to address people like me. I want a gateway to rediscover our culture.

Tasha: I write for people living in diaspora. I want it to appeal to as many people as possible.
She added that maybe people in diaspora have it easier when writing, because they live in a western culture.

Yasser: Some diaspora people build on stereotypes and get away with it while a white author could not. He tries to be mindful he doesn't do that.

All in all it was an interesting discussion that showed some of the problems authors from non-western cultures face.



After the panel I managed to speak to Tasha Suri for a moment and to get her to sign my copy of Empire of Sand. She also posed with me for this picture!

The next panel was in the same roon, so after talking with Tasha we returned to our seats for:

Writing robot and nonhuman intelligence
Robots talk in a metallic voice, speak in a staccato rhythm, and walk in awkward movements. Right? That may have been true in the 1950s, but robots have evolved. So what does it mean today to be a robot? How have they changed over the years and how might they change still? How do we write one in a convincing way, and can we apply these same ideas to writing other nonhuman intelligences?
Martha Wells (M), Charles Stross, Christopher Husberg, Mika Koverola

Again I didn't take a picture of the panel, but here are the highlights of the discussion:

There was talk about the ethics of working with robots and nonhuman intelligence. Charles Stross mentioned: Read Asimov with an ethnic minority in mind. It changes everything and shows how dodgy his stories are.

They thought it was possible to do unethical things to artificial intelligence: say you create a line of A.I's that keep evolving with each generation, and you kill off each previous version until you reach the version that is as intelligent as humans: wouldn't that be genocide?

We also often throw our fears in writing "The Other". It's a stereotypical and harmful narrative if we do that. If you write robots or A.I. it's important to diversify them. Writing them as evil is too simple. No one sees themselves as evil.

Yet another interesting discussion with food for thought.


After the panel I had my picture taken with Charles Stross, who has a great sense of humor in my opinion. I will have to try some of his books I think.


I also had my picture taken with Martha Wells.
She is the author of The Murderbot Diaries. I read the second book for the Hugo's and it is really cool!

Next we got something to eat and drink and visited the dealer room.


I bought a book from Maquel A. Jacob: Blood Doctrine.
She signed it for me as well. It sounds really good, so I will read it soon.

Then it was time for another panel. I tried to find the line for the panel and it was chaos! At one point I was standing in a line where nobody exactly knew if it was the right line. It turned out to be a line for three different panels. The rooms for these panels were really small, so not everyone could fit. Luckily I managed to get into my panel.

Disasters and apocalyptic world changes
Climate change, asteroid strikes, grey goo, pandemics… Our panellists will examine these and other disasters from the scientific viewpoint and discuss why and how they are often used as themes within SF.
Anna Gryaznova LL.M. (M), Faith Hunter, Juliana Rew, Dr Tad Daley

Once again no picture, but here are my highlights:

Some of the possible apocalypses waiting for us are: Climate change (We can already call the state of the world now an environmental emergency), Uncertain consequences of technological progress, The Bug Apocalypse, Bio Terrorism, Medical Conditions that change due to mutation of bacteria & molds, Water sources melting faster than expected.

Mass migration will happen because of those water sources melting and change things even more.

And lastly: the nuclear issue which can lead to a nuclear apocalypse either through miscommunication, a crisis, or war.

When writing Apocalyptic novels do your research on how to survive.

Faith Hunter: We make it too easy on ourselves while writing. It's not going to be just one thing! It will be clustered.

Dr Tad Daley: In a lot of SF the human race is united. We should work towards it. Like in H.G. Wells' book The World Set Free, where humans finally get their act together and create a World State.

Cooperation among nations is important to stave off an apocalypse. Nationalism should be feared.

Anna Gryaznova: There are not enough stories where the apocalypse is saved/solved. Give power to scientists and stop the science bias.

Dr Tad: We need supranational decision making to tackle climate change and other big world changes.

Faith Hunter: Sees corporations getting in charge of things. In the past it was those with the most land who were in charge, money is the present equivalence. We must figure out what happens with the money before we can form a world leadership.

And a last thought: Post apocalyptic stories are positive: We can survive even if we do stupid things.

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After this panel I needed to relax a bit. I decided to go in search of the building where there would be a panel I wanted to see that had Jeffe on it. The building should be in walking distance. To be sure I could find it I went over there long before I needed to be at the panel.

The building was a 15! minute walk from the main building. Also: it turned out to not be just one building, but a square with several buildings that had convention stuff going on. I was glad I tried to find it early. I finally found the right building: a hotel.


And the hotel had a bar!
So I spent the rest of my time before the next panel enjoying a cider.


And then it was time for the last panel I would attend that day. And I even took pictures!

What is SFWA and what can it do for you?
Join SFWA board members and staff to learn about the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, touching on some of the many programs and services it offers to traditional, hybrid, and indie writers.
Kate Baker (M), Mary Robinette Kowal, Jeffe Kennedy, Kelly Robson

Here are the highlights of this panel.

There are three levels of memberships:
Active - You need to have sold 3 or more stories to become an active member
Associate - At least 1 short story sale.
Affiliate - You need to have a professional association with the writing world

SFWA does accept Indie authors

Even if you're not American SFWA can help you/be useful.

You get discounted access to Netgalley as a member for example.
SFWA has emergency funds for its members
You will be added to new release newsletters
There are also many online features including forums you can join.
There are also mentorship programs

SFWA has a Write Beware which warns of scammers and people acting bad.

Outreach & Advocacy
SFWA gives grants and does donations to charity

There's a Grievance Comity
They can provide hired guns who go after people who treat you badly

If you plan to publish in the US SFWA can help understand the market in the US.

Another reason to join SFWA is to support the organisation of your chosen profession. The more you put into it the more you will get out of it as well,

Together we can work on better deals and better conditions.

When asked if there were any negative points to SFWA the answer was: Of course there can be negative points, but give us feedback so we can change! SFWA is still growing and shedding its straight white guy legacy.

There are barriers for joining. Why?
Some are arbitrary, because we had to set a bottom limit somewhere. People will otherwise game the system. Still it is maybe worth to revisit those barriers. Other barriers can't so easily be changed. Poetry for example doesn't count as a sale. When trying to get this changed it was denied by referendum, so the board can't change it without having a new referendum.


This panel was very enlightening and I think it's well worth considering to become a SFWA member once you qualify.


There was a reception right after the panel for members of SFWA and for the people who attended the panel. So you bet we hung around for a bit.

I talked with some lovely people, including Annie Bellet, an American author who now lives in the Netherlands. It was a really fun reception with cool people, drinks, and yummy snacks.


After the reception we had a quick visit to the coast to pick up David, who went fishing there, but ran into grumpy taxi drivers who didn't want to make a trip to Dublin.


Once back in Dublin the pubs had stopped serving food, so we ordered pizza. I didn't trust the sausage on this pizza, but luckily they gave us chips with the pizza.

All in all it was a really awesome first day of the convention.


Next: Worldcon continues.