Boskone, and why I’m not doing a reading.

Rosemary

It’s Boskone time again!

In case you don’t know, Boskone is one of my favorite conventions, and I’ll be attending again this year.

It takes place in Boston, at the Westin Hotel, February 18-20th. See their web page for more info.

Here’s my schedule of panels and events:

Friday 6pm Big Canvas, Little Strokes: Creating an Epic Fantasy Series
Participants:
Peter V. Brett
David Anthony Durham (Moderator)
Elaine Isaak
Rosemary Kirstein
Jo Walton
Building a world in fractal detail, animating a vast cast of
characters, finding and holding an audience: let’s talk about the
challenges of writing in a format with perhaps the broadest scope in
the business.

Saturday 2PM — Kaffeklatch. (This is where you just get to hang out with me, while drinking coffee and tea, and eating the treats I’ll probably buy at the Tiptree Bake sale.

Sunday 10am Music for Writers and Readers
Alan F. Beck
Rosemary Kirstein
Resa Nelson
Faye Ringel (M)
What music do you listen to when in a creative mood? Writers will
bring examples to soothe the audience’s savage breasts. The audience
may respond with their own favorite tunes to read great SF/F/H by.

Sunday 2PM Autographing. I’ll sign your books, memorabilia, etc. I draw the line at body parts, however. I might have a handful of books you can buy and then have me autograph, but I do encourage you to buy from the bookdealers in the Dealer’s Room if you can. We have to support them!

Now, as to why I’m not doing a reading.

As you may have noticed, it’s taking a while to complete the next volume of the Steerswoman Series.

I’ve read a lot of sections from that work-in-progress across the years. And as of now, I’ve read far too much of it. It’s no longer possible to read more of what I have without a) MAJOR plot spoilers, and/or b) reading something far to raw and recent, or c) reading something that will just be WRONG and need editing out later.

The other thing I’m writing is my Seekrit Project. Which, of course cannot be read from. As it is Seekrit. Until it’s done.

Thus, nothing to read, unless I read from old already-published works. Which, I just don’t care to.

Anyway, the Kaffeklatsch is instead of the reading. So, come and BE with me! We can talk. I’m nice, really. Many people have told me so.

Other writers I like who will be there: Jo Walton, David Anthony Durham, Jane Yolen, Michael Swanwick, Walter Hunt, and oh, plenty more. Plus: artists! Scientists! Filkers!

Do come.


7 Responses to “Boskone, and why I’m not doing a reading.”

  • Sean Fagan Says:

    I won’t be able to make it. However… Charlie Stross should be there, and I recently recommended him to you. So if you run into him, remind him 8-).

    The attendee list does make me regret not being able to go. sigh.

  • Kalessin Says:

    “Writers will bring examples to soothe the audience’s savage breasts.”
    Really? Is this supposed to say breasts and I lack some knowledge of the englisch language I need to understand this? Or am I right in laughing hard because it’s a hilarious typo? Anyway: thank’s for the laugh!

    Boskon sounds like a lot of fun! Wish I could attend, but I won’t cross an ocean for a con (even if I could afford it).
    I wish you a lot of fun, though! 🙂 Have a few nice days, meeting interesting poeple!

    • Rosemary Says:

      Kalessin —

      When I imagined looking at that sentence through your eyes, I laughed, too!

      It can be easy to forget that English has changed and evolved over time — and that native English speakers will quote famous lines, and twist them around to fit different occasions, so that you might not realize what they’re quoting.

      The sentence being quoted here is “Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast.”

      It’s from play by William Congreve, called “The Mourning Bride”, written in — let me look it up –1697! Over four hundred years ago.

      The word “breast” did not always mean just a woman’s bosom (for that matter, “bosom” did not always mean just a woman’s breasts). “Breast” used to also mean the upper part of anyone’s chest, man or woman. Also, metaphorically, a person’s heart. And from “heart”, also, metaphorically, a person’s spirit or emotional state.

      When you’re feeling wild and savage, music can calm you down.

      Sometimes people misquote the saying as “Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast.” But the correct quote is “breast.”

      It’s singular, not plural. Each person has one breast of this kind. It’s the difference between “my breast” and “my breasts”.

      And that’s where the panel description was practically asking to be misunderstood! Because, since the audience is more than one person, you have to use the plural.

      I must warn you that “breast” used in this way is not useful in everyday conversation. You’ll be misunderstood by most people, unless it’s clear that you’re speaking poetically, or quoting an old tale or song.

  • Kalessin Says:

    Ah, so it’s a culture-problem, not a language-problem.
    Actually, the german word ‘Brust’ is the same as the english ‘breast’ – it’s also used for the upper part of the body in singular and only means the female breasts in plural. And I knew the word in its singular-meaning, too. I just didn’t know the quote, so I couldn’t recognise it.
    (Guess that’s always the problem with reading in a foreign language: you can learn all the words, but you’ll never know all the things someone who grew up there knows.)

    Anyway, thank you for the explanation!

  • Brian Says:

    Seekrit project? You gotta seekrit project? So tell me about it. What is it? A book? A short story? Is it part of the Steerwoman series?

    Oh, wait. You want to know what part of seekrit I don’t understand.

  • Melissa Kirkland Says:

    I so wish I could come hang out and eat treats and drink coffee with you, but it is a long way from Eugene, Oregon, to Boston. I would love to get to meet you and talk about why your Steerswoman is so awesome. And then you could whisper in my ear what is your seekrit, because I can keep a seekrit pretty well. As long as no one tickles me, cuz then I’ll holler. Or if they offer me chocolate in trade. So maybe you don’t want to tell me the seekrit after all . . maybe.

    • Rosemary Says:

      Melissa —

      Hm, that would be a haul, all the way from Oregon.

      Someday, I’d like to see more of the Left Coast than just bits of California… I can see California on TV. I fact, it’s hard not to see California when you turn on your TV!

      One thing I like about the TV show Fringe: Boston locales!

      I miss Boston…