Sasquan, the World Science Fiction convention of 2015, was held a couple of weeks ago — August 19 to 23 — in Spokane, Washington. Other than the Nebula awards weekend last year, this was the first SF convention I attended since the 1990s, and it was a lot of fun!

The convention ran Thursday through Sunday, though all of my scheduled events were on Thursday and Friday. I sat on two self-publishing panels, and had much to say on both. I was also on the military science fiction panel where I had less to say, as the focus was firmly on the past, with lots of discussion on early works in the field.

Then there was the Ditch Diggers Live Podcast! I was invited to participate in this only a couple of days before the convention, and I’m very happy I agreed to it, because it was a lot of fun. Mur Lafferty and Matt Wallace officiated, with Kate Elliott, Aliette de Bodard, Fonda Lee, and myself on the panel. We discussed ways to deal with some difficult and demoralizing situations that writers can face, involving publishers, payments, and such…but we did it in a role-playing-game format. I have no idea who, if anyone, heard the podcast, but people in the audience seemed to be having a good time.

Another highlight was meeting in person many people I’d known before only online. I just wish I’d been able to connect with a few more.

As you’ve probably heard, there were and are extensive wild fires burning in the northwest, which has endured terrible drought this summer. Before the convention, Ron and I spent a few days in Canada, where we saw some of the fires. A pall of smoke was not far behind us when we reached Spokane on Wednesday. Thursday cleared up a bit, but Friday was apocalyptic. I didn’t take many photos on this trip, but I did take a few of the smoke:

The convention center is situated beside the Spokane River. We crossed a footbridge from our hotel to reach it. On Wednesday afternoon, the smoke was thick enough to create a red sun (color not captured by my phone camera).

On Friday there was talk of the Apocalypse.

And on Saturday, the sky turned a lovely blue. Unfortunately, the smoke wasn’t really gone…

We encountered the vast smoke cloud once again as we headed back to Seattle on Sunday. Here’s a view of Interstate 90.

And one last look at the smoke surrounding the interstate.

Despite the smoke — and despite all the dissension around the Hugo awards — the convention atmosphere was upbeat and very enjoyable. My thanks to all the Sasquan folk who worked so hard to create a terrific weekend. I don’t know yet if I’ll be attending next year’s Worldcon, which will be held in Kansas City, but if I don’t make it? I’m sure I’ll wish that I was there.

Posted on: Tuesday, September 1st, 2015 at 1:09 pm
Categories: Travel.
Tags: Sasquan, science fiction conventions