WisCon

Wis Con

WisCon 32 was held May 23-26, 2008 at the Madison Concourse Hotel, just a couple of blocks from the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin.

This was my fourth con and I was disappointed, mostly because it was largely a political gathering of anyone with an ax to grind on almost any topic and held under the auspices of science fiction and fantasy.

I attended one panel in which the members were unforgiving of (name of an author) for their political views and attitudes, not for their fiction. I had thought the panel would be discussing what is permissible and acceptable in terms of science, social nature, and so on. It turned out to be a political gripe session.

I can understand their point of view, but to make it a big issue is, in my opinion, ludicrous. It is "A Much Ado About Nothing."

I have considered taking my stories into the “young adult” arena, but after attending a session covering young adult fiction (in which both authors and editors felt that anything was permissible), the main reason I can’t take my stories there is because they lack “young adults” in central roles of the stories.

While I did gain some good stuff from the convention, it was not fun for either myself or my wife. We will likely not attend one in the future, unless word trickles down that the political nature of the convention has given way to the larger fun of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.

We did get some excellent Wisconsin cheese on our way home, so not all was lost.

Page created May 26, 2008