[Board] Re: SF Author GOH?

[john guest]

I'm not opposed to this.  If he's coming from Toronto, the worst case
scenario is a train ticket.  I think we should have the budget for
this.

Now, my view point is that a good author is a storyteller first, and
it doesn't matter if he or she is writing science fiction, fantasy or
an obituary.  If that person can convey their vision in a way that
makes you not want to stop reading, then they have done their job.
For instance, Heinlein wrote some great fantasy ("Glory Road", "The
Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag", "Job, A Comedy of Justice")
as well as all the hard science he's primarily known for.  Andre
Norton wrote some fairly good SF as well as the fantasy for which she
was more famous.  Kate Wilhelm has written some great hard SF, some
intriguing fantasy, and some really kick-ass crime/courtroom drama.
In all these cases, as the characters and story were engaging, it
really didn't matter what genre the author wrote in.   In fact,
knowing the author led me to read genres I wouldn't typically have
read.

So rather than a pure "hard science" author, or a pure fantasy author,
I'd like an author who crosses genres on a fairly regular basis, and
in the grand tradition of Penguicon, makes sure that they get their
chocolate firmly and thoroughly mixed with their peanut butter.

--John

On 7/5/06, Matt Arnold <matt.mattarn at gmail.com> wrote:
> By the way, I have RCW's direct e-mail contact info, which is on this page.
> http://www.geocities.com/canadian_sf/wilson/
> -Matt
>
> On 7/5/06, Matt Arnold <matt.mattarn at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Last year we had seven GoHs, the year before that, six. Can we afford
> > six GoHs again this year? Sorry, I've really got my heart set on
> > having a science fiction author GoH. We've had Fantasy GoHs three out
> > of four years and are sending out another invite to one this year, and
> > fantasy fans still feel overlooked. But we only ever had one SF author
> > GoH. I understand if we can't, but I would dearly love to have a Hugo
> > finalist. They are Scazi, Charlie Stross, Ken MacLeod, and Robert
> > Charles Wilson.
> >
> > There is also George R.R. Martin but he's a fantasy author and we're
> > already inviting Tamora Pierce.
> >
> > Scalzi, Charlie Stross, and Robert Charles Wilson decided to create an
> > ebook package of their novels which are competing for the Hugo award
> > this year, and made it available for free to Hugo voters. I think
> > that's a very Penguicon-like thing to do. Scalzi's already coming to
> > Penguicon, of course. I understand why you had to decline the idea of
> > Charlie Stross (the ultimate Penguicon GoH) because of his
> > business-class trans-atlantic airfare. Of course I guess the same
> > would apply to the other Hugo finalist, Ken MacLeod.
> >
> > Robert Charles Wilson lives just north of Toronto (affordable for
> > travel!), and his novels are mind-boggling hard SF. Scalzi says he's
> > an excellent choice, great at conventions, a multiple Hugo nominee and
> > all-around nice guy. Two finalists for the 2006 attending Penguicon
> > would be fantastic. I suggest RCW!
> >
> > -Matt
> >
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