Markus met us at the airport. He's from Switzerland, and his favorite SF novel is Fear.
Susan Fry (Clarion West 1998, former editor of Speculations) and Jae Brim (Clarion East 1997) in the van from the airport.
Carl Fredrick, my randomly-assigned "twin". Theoretical physicist, Artificial Intelligence software engineer, bagpiper.
Tim Myers, one of last year's winners, but he couldn't attend then.
Nnedi Okorafor (Clarion East 2001), a Ph.D. candidate from Chicago. When she was a kid she wanted to be a veterinarian.
The Big Donut. A form without function, which does nothing more than take up space and serve as a gigantic, perpetual advertisement for itself. A perfect symbol of L.A.
Rachel, contest administrator and our "hotel mom." She took great care of all of us.
The grand prize in the contest on the back of my Grape-Nuts box the first morning was a trip to L.A., fancy hotel, stretch limo.... Got that!
Ari Goelman (Clarion West 2001, from Cambridge MA), Joel Best (from upstate New York), and Tom Brennan (from Liverpool) in the Hubbard Library.
The Hubbard Library collection consists of one copy each of every one of L. Ron Hubbard's works in every known language.
L. Ron's eyes seem to follow you around the room.
The men's bathroom at Author Services...
...the women's, I am told, was not similarly decorated.
It was really a very nice space for the class. Good thing too, since we spent about 8 hours a day there.
Grauman's Chinese Theatre was just a few blocks down the street. It was always crowded with tourists, plus the occasional superhero or Jedi.
Nnedi, Woody Carsky-Wilson (Alexandria, VA), and Susan, at the mall at Hollywood and Highland. I think the elephant is just an elephant, but some folks thought it was Ganesh.
The courtyard at the mall is designed to look like a set left over from some silent Biblical epic.
Serena Powers (wife of instructor Tim Powers) and Woody.
The view from our room at the Sofitel. Note Ralph's (a pretty good grocery) and the Taco Bell in the distance.
Kate and I went square dancing with the Tinseltown Squares' C-1 class on Monday night.
That's Michael Kellogg calling. A good teacher, with a very crisp calling voice.
The inspirational object for my 24-hour story was this leather desk set.
It opens up.
In the compartment at the top of it were two silver pens.
A close-up of the pens.
The Author Services building on Hollywood Boulevard, where the classes and the awards ceremony were held.
This reassuring sign in the elevator at Author Services just tickled my fancy for some reason.
We had a minor traffic accident on the way back from the Glendale Public Library. No one was hurt, though a few people had tacos for lunch.
Here I am working on my 24-hour story. I don't know if all the rooms had the same wallpaper, but it seems terribly apropos.
Rey Rosario (Grand Rapids, MI), the Illustrators of the Future winner who illustrated my story. I'm very pleased with the illustration; the characters don't look anything like the way I pictured them, but they look like themselves.
Waiting in the hall for rehearsals to be over...
Still waiting in the hall for rehearsals to be over...
They gave us a very nice dinner before the awards ceremony. Pat Rothfuss (Stevens Point, WI), Nnedi, Susan, Charles Brown (Locus).
Jae. Sigh.
Kate says she wants that dress.
In the stretch limo on the way to the awards ceremony. Why is it that some guys, when you dress them up in a tux and put them in a limo, turn into frat boys?
On the way, I had a nice talk with Hal Clement about space propulsion systems.
We arrive to the full Red Carpet Treatment. Getting out of a stretch limo is harder than it looks.
Composure regained.
These pictures don't do Kate's dress justice. It shimmered.
Tom Brennan, a very sweet and kind man.
Joel, the Best man. (Sorry Joel, I couldn't pass up the pun.)
Carl ("a physicist should never wear a tux unless accepting the Nobel prize!") and Tim.
Some folks said that with the tail coat and the hair down I reminded them of something out of Jules Verne.
Tim Powers was one of Jae's instructors at Clarion.
I love L.A.! (Me with Julie Michaels, actress and stunt woman, who presented me with my award. Not Bjork.)
That's instructor Kevin J. Anderson on the right.
Jerry Pournelle and Susan. Jerry was Julie Michaels' co-presenter, and he gloated that he finally got to share the stage with an actress instead of Larry Niven.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman, one of the judges and a winner of the very first WotF contest.
Lee Battersby (the life of the WotF 2002 party, from Perth, Australia), Nnedi, and Kate's nose.
Lee, Nnedi, and Kate.
Master of Ceremonies Jim Meskimen.
Pat and Seppo Kurki (from Finland, though he just recently moved to Japan).
Wolf Woman and a couple of Pissants.
Memo to self: do not cross this woman!
Tim Powers, who most generously shared with us his most important writing secrets.
Before departing L.A. we took in a movie at Grauman's Chinese.
The hand and footprints of Sean Connery. Sigh.
Kate's foot fits neatly into the sole of Sean Connery's footprint.
You've seen the photos, now buy the book!