Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Boskone Trip Report (part 3 of 6)

Episode 3, Friday night: Schmoozing with Buffalo

After conquering the sea and obtaining my coveted Ribbon of Self-Esteem, I finally felt free to do what I'd come to Boskone to do: talk to as many cool people as possible. Friday night began with Esther Friesner and her friends from the Society of Creative Anachronism and included a hello from Jane Yolen. In case you don't know, Jane Yolen is the grand poohba of children's literature and has written something like 290 books. (I'm not exaggerating.
) Esther Friesner is the author of the very cool book Temping Fate (and numerous other books). When I met her at a convention several years ago, she introduced herself to me as the Queen of Hamsters. At a later convention, she introduced herself to people as the Perpetual Virgin -- and then without batting an eye, introduced her son and daughter. Anyway, we chatted for a while, and then Esther invited me to accompany her to the Buffalito party on the fourth floor. She then began stabbing the air repeatedly with her fist and shouting, "Buffalito! Buffalito!"

This confused me a little, but I like Esther and I like buf
falos (who doesn't?) so off I went.

Buffalito?!?!

Buffalitos, as it turns out, are science fictional creatures created by Lawrence Schoen, the founder of the Klingon Language Institute (which published Hamlet in the original Klingon). Lawrence, a very nice man whom I'd heard of but never met before, founded the Buffalito World Outreach Program (BWOP) to promote a collection of his short stories. As part of his marketing plan, he translated one of his stories into a number of different languages -- interestingl
y, none of them Klingon.

Hamlet in the original Klingon

I met a bunch of lovely people at the BWOP party (including romance author Darlene Marshall) and a bunch more very cool people at the George R. R. Martin fan party. All in all, a typical night at Boskone: lots of laughter shared with wonderful people who don't take themselves too seriously.

Coming next, episode 4, in which I speculate about the fate of a certain Mr. Potter.

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12 Comments:

At 9:14 AM, Blogger Faith said...

You're really enjoying dragging this out, aren't you? I can just picture you sitting at your computer, smiling serenely as you picture us sitting at our computers, yelling at the monitors. "Yes, but what was she like?? But what happened next?? C'mon, already!!"

Seriously, it sounds like you had a rocking time, and I'm really enjoying this, even if you are dragging out too slowly for my taste! ;)

 
At 10:58 AM, Blogger Sarah Beth Durst said...

FAITH: Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

 
At 11:08 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was a pleasure having you at the B.W.O.P. Party.

And again, congratulations on the forthcoming novel!

 
At 12:49 PM, Blogger Sarah Beth Durst said...

LAWRENCE: Thanks! It was great to finally meet you in person. I've seen your name in various places (online and at conventions) for years, and I think we're MySpace friends. :)

 
At 1:35 PM, Blogger Susan Adrian said...

Hey, I've known Darlene Marshall for years!! Well, not in person, but she and I are both regulars over at Compuserve Books & Writers. Small world!

 
At 2:17 PM, Blogger Sarah Beth Durst said...

SUSAN: Small world! She was really nice.

 
At 5:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard Boskone was fun. I was sorry to miss it. It was greating meeting you last night. I look forward to reading your book.

 
At 5:29 PM, Blogger Sarah Beth Durst said...

LAUREN: Boskone was really fun. You should definitely come next year! I'm looking forward to reading your book too. Really intriguing premise.

 
At 5:46 PM, Blogger Penelope said...

Heya, I semi-met you at Boskone (I was one of the 2 girls in wheelchairs in the back of your reading) and figured I ought to look you up online. I love the pictures going along with your Boskone trip!

It was great meeting you and hearing your reading and I look forward to seeing you at Lunacon!

 
At 5:54 PM, Blogger Sarah Beth Durst said...

PENELOPE: Thanks for coming to my reading and for finding me here online! Glad to hear you'll be at Lunacon. Looking forward to seeing you there!

 
At 9:49 AM, Blogger Darlene Marshall said...

I'm glad I had a chance to meet you at Boskone. Good luck with your writing career, and I hope I'll see you at Boskone 45.

 
At 9:51 AM, Blogger Sarah Beth Durst said...

DARLENE: Thanks for dropping by my blog! I'll absolutely be at Boskone 45. Can't wait!

 

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