Today begins Shore Leave, a science-fiction convention I attend every July just north of Baltimore.
And so, I am on the road, from Raleigh to Baltimore. It’s a long, lonely road, enlivened by the craziness of the Washington mixing bowl, the hecticness of the traffic on I-95 from Fredericksburg north. Fun, fun times.
Tonight’s programming at the convention is somewhat light. The Pocket Books upfronts is the main draw where the editors lay out their upcoming releases for roughly the next year. Special emphasis will probably be given to the 40th-anniversary Star Trek books coming out over the next six months (of which I can claim to be a part, with a story in Constellations, the 40th-anniversary anthology), and next year’s Next Generation 20th-anniversary. The other draw of the night will be the Meet-the-Pros party, essentially a giant autographing session where fans can hob-nob with the many authors in attendance. This year I’m looking forward to having some oddball books signed–I want Margaret Wander Bonanno to autograph my hardcover edition of Strangers From the Sky, which was, in paperback, one of the first Trek books I bought way back in the day.
Beyond that, there’s not much to do on the schedule that I’d find of interest. There’s a panel, right at six, that sounds possibly intriguing–“Antitranshumanist Themes in Star Trek.” Does Star Trek reject the ideas of people like Hans Moravec, that humanity will reach a singularity point where we become consciousnesses that transcend our physical limitations? At least, that’s what I presume the panel will be about, and I’m curious enough I may take a look.
But until then, I travel a long and lonely road.
I think I’ll need a nap when I get there.