Florida -- Banquets and Alligators

On my last day at ICFA, I went to hear a reading by (readings are arranged here by threes) Rick Wilber, my roommate Ellen Klages, and Dell Young Adult Writer Contest winner Rebecca Baldridge. All were good, and Ellen's story, "Goodnight, Moons," was one I wish I'd written myself. It concerns a child born on Mars -- hence the plural "moons."

Next came a period of sloth by the pool. Sloth was shared by (left to right) Tor editor Liz Gorinsky, Mike Swirsky, Rachel Swirsky, Ellen Klages, Nalo Hopkinson, Delia Sherman. From this session I learned that "dork" actually means "whale penis." It may not have been one of the academic conference sessions, but intellectual stimulation was still available. Mike Swirsky helpfully went on-line to translate this into many languages. It sounds best in Italian.

Here (not in the pool) is the resident ICFA alligator, who remained completely unperturbed as people craned and crowded and leaned over the railing to take his picture:We humans had our picture taken, as well -- 400 people jammed together poolside. I was standing on the ledge of a decorative flower bed filled with bushes and have the imprints of twigs on my backside to prove it. To ease this, and to taste authentic Florida key lime pie, I had lunch with Sheila Williams and Kathy Goonan.

Evening brought the ICFA pre-banquet reception and reception. This included several awards, among them the Crawford Award for best first fantasy novel. The young winner, Genevieve Valentine, beams happily:
There was an after-party at the pool, but it was after 11:00 p.m. and I have a 5:00 a.m. airport shuttle. So -- until next year.