I began Friday by sneaking out of the hotel to once more absorb at little bit of Austin culture. I decided to hit the Austin Museum of Art, which turned out to be having an exhibit titled “New Art in Austin: 20 to Watch,” featuring original works by local artists.
You already know how I feel about much of what passes for modern art based on my February 20 visit to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, but there were actually a few people whose work I found intellectually stimulating, notably Jill Pangallo and the team of Jen Hirt and Scott Webel, who create as the collective the Museum of Natural and Artificial Ephemerata. Those latter two turn out to have their own gallery here in Austin, and I intend to make it over there Saturday after lunch.
I then returned to the hotel, where I found the following battle in progress between competing Nebula nominees Jennifer Pelland and Mary Turzillo.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
We won’t learn until Saturday night whether Jennifer’s “Captive Girl” or Mary’s “Pride” will take the trophy in the short fiction category, or whether one of their talented competitors such as David Levine, Karen Joy Fowler, Andy Duncan, or Vera Nazarian will win, but since I think that literary competitions should always be resolved by fisticuffs in hotel hallways, I have to believe that Jennifer and Mary have the edge.
After tending to Mary’s wounds, she and I and Geoff Landis headed off to Stubbs BBQ for lunch. There seems to be a disagreement among Austin natives as to whether Stubb’s or Iron Works Barbecue has the city’s best, and our plan was to try them both on Friday. I ordered the three-meat platter to see what they could do, and my verdict is that their pork ribs were excellent, with a nice peppery crust, the sausage was good, and the beef brisket was merely OK. The ribs were definitely worth a return trip.
At the mass autographing session, which took place from 5:30 through 8:00, I sat between Nancy Kress and Kij Johnson, the latter of whom you see with me below. I have fond memories of reading her award-winning short story “Fox Magic” at a workshop held in either 1992 or 1993 at Geoff Landis’ house. (I think it was 1992, because if I was still workshopping, then Science Fiction Age had not yet eaten my life … but I could be wrong.) I’m glad we had a chance to catch up. If you look carefully, you’ll be able to see Geoff reflected in the glass of the window behind us.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
After the signing, Geoff, Mary, and I had planned to hit Iron Works, but we were stunned to be told by the hotel concierge that they would only remain open until 9:00, which was inconceivable to me on a Friday. So there was to be no taste test for us that night. We instead headed to Thai Passion. I enjoyed the duck curry, which was one of the house specials, but still, this is Austin, after all, and I would have much preferred checking out those Iron Works’ ribs. There was lots of good technical talk about comparative writing techniques as we ate, and I hope we each left the meal less rather than more confused.
As a thunderstorm began, we ran back to the hotel. I ended the night in the hospitality suite, where I learned my place in the science-fiction pool pantheon. Geoff, Mary and I returned to find the table empty, and so Mary and I started. Though she sank many great shots, I managed to beat her, which made up for my loss to Liza the night before. But then Geoff Landis beat me, reminding me that I wasn’t the shark I’d momentarily thought I was. Then Sean Fodora beat Geoff and Robin Wayne Bailey beat Sean, leading me to believe that the challenger would always win at this table, until Robin held the title against Steven Gould. I wandered off while Robin was defending his crown against Vera Nazarian. A whole dollar was raised by these bouts for SFWA’s Emergency Medical Fund.
My final conversation of the night was with Michael Marano, which ended up being mostly about the current state of comic books, following up on our chat earlier that day about the death of Steve Gerber.
