An early start for Kalypso_V and self, with the taxi waiting at 8:25 to take us to the station for the 09:16 train to Glasgow, where we found the train crowded enough to make us grateful we had reserved seats. Just about managed to find space for all our luggage, even if we were at Oxford Road Station before I managed to sit down.
A mostly pleasant and uneventful ride through to Carlisle and up to Glasgow Central, although the flickering of the trackside trees made me a little queasy, and grateful for the short walk through the station to find the local connection to the Exhibition Centre. Alas, as a result I did not get as much work done on the train as intended, although I did do a short review of the book I’d finished the night before, and just over 300 words to start off a new short story I have in mind for a Dreamspinner anthology call.
We’d barely walked through the door of the Crowne Plaza before Stevie Carroll waved at us from behind registration. One quick badge pick up later, we were on our way to the hotel check-in — and while we were waiting there for our room to be sorted out, SteveK and KatW came past. So we were already doing pretty well for random encounters of friends.
We went up to our room for a much needed nice cup of tea and a sit-down, and in my case lunch, Kalypso-V having already tackled hers on the train. This took long enough that by the time we started looking at the programme, we’d already missed the opening ceremony…
Kalypso-V went in the directions of ops, and I went in the direction of panels. Sort of. I ran into Pol and Kira in the hotel lobby, but they were on their way out, so had only a brief chat before continuing on my way. Then I spotted DougS in the real ale bar, and had a quick chat about sunday service. And then I met Lexin and stevie Carroll in the bar, and sat down for a chat, not brief this time.
Having chatted for long enough to miss most of the panel I’d originally headed barwards for, I got up and headed back towards the main hotel area, intending to go back to our room. On the way, I found the Redemption table, because SteveR was sitting behind it. I talked to Steve for a bit, during which Lesley arrived. Lesley had a new costume, for yet another show I haven’t seen but which sounds good.
I *was* about to keep going roomwards, then saw DC was at the next table, and talked to him for a while. Finally I continued on way back to room, and ran into David McIntee in Fan Alley in the atrium…
Eventually got back to the room for another nice sit down and cup of tea, after which I headed back down to the panel on writers’ groups. I was interested in it for its own sake, but also because I thought it was my best chance of finding ElaineG and Jacey Bedford, as they were on the panel. I then also found that AnnaFDD was a late addition. :-) It was an excellent panel, and I took a lot of notes on my iPad, which I hope will appear later in properly written up form.
I grabbed Elaine after the panel as I hadn’t seen her since Glasgow Worldcon. She was going to the NewCon Press/PS Publishing book launch, as one of her friends had a book at the launch. I’d been considering going to the launch anyway, so I tagged along, and I’m glad I did. There were a couple of good speeches, and Ian Watson was most entertaining. There were some very interesting books at the launch, and I had to remind myself that I did not have carrying capacity for the homeward trip at the end of the con. I need to keep an eye on their ebook editions.
Kalypso-V and I then went to the panel on “A renaissance of The Renaissance?” as we knew 4 of 5 panellists. This discussed the fad for historical fantasy on tv. And leather trousers. :-) The panel was both entertaining and useful, and again I have notes which may or may not make an appearance in edited form at some point.
After the panel we met up with Lexin and Stevie Carroll for dinner, but they wanted the full meal from the restaurant, and we were feeling more interested in bar snacks. So the party split up at that point, which was probably a good thing, as we barely managed the bar snacks and I doubt we’d have managed the three course meal. My beef and ale pie was more than large enough, Kalypso-V’s pizza was enormous, and both were excellent. Not cheap, but good and generously proportioned.
I then intended to go and catch the last ten minutes of the art show, but came across KatW and Paul finishing a cup of tea, and joined them instead. We compared gadgets for a while (my Kobo Mini made an impression), before Kat and I decided that we were going to be sensible and go back to our rooms to rest even if the night was still young. This time I actually made it to where I was going without running into any friends. I still didn’t go to bed quite as early as I’d intended, but nevertheless went earlier than I did on the following two nights. Good thing too, as it turned out the next morning.
Jules Jones 