Sirens!

[swan_tower]

Got back last night from the ever-lovely Sirens Conference, which this year moved to a location outside of Portland, Oregon rather than up in Vail. Fortunately the move seems not to have hurt the event; on the contrary, attendance was reportedly up 25%. Still a small con, but so far it's doing well.

I had a lovely time as usual -- albeit an exhausting one, due to my unwise tendency to say "yes" when friends ask me to do things like panels. (Though I could hardly have refused the last of those requests. One of the Guests of Honor, the folklorist Kate Bernheimer, unfortunately came down with the flu and had to stay home; the staff had to throw together a last-minute panel to replace her keynote address.) The site is in the Columbia River Gorge, and thanks to driving there and back with starlady38, I got to see a nice cross-section of the Pacific Northwest. Next year I'm hoping to take two days and go up the coast instead, which is (I'm told) even prettier than what I saw on the I-5 route.

Next year will be the fifth Sirens, and in honor of that anniversary, the theme is "Reunion." There will be four Guests of Honor, rather than the usual three, so as to have one for each of the previous four themes: Robin LaFevers, author of Grave Mercy, for "warriors;" the ever-awesome ellen_kushner, author of (among other things) Thomas the Rhymer, for "fairies;" Alaya Dawn Johnson, author of Racing the Dark and Moonshine for "monsters;" and Guadalupe Garcia McCall, author of Summer of the Mariposas, for "retellings." So, y'know, it's a fabulous year to try out the con. Registration will open soon, with a lower rate than it will cost later; I'll post here when that happens!

Comments

[eve-prime.livejournal.com]

You probably came through Eugene. *waves belatedly*

The icon is from a much-photographed headland near my birthplace. The coast route is pretty but definitely takes a lot longer.

Sounds like a neat con.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I did indeed! Stopped there for dinner on the way up.

I wouldn't try to do the coast route in a single day. Definitely a two-day job, especially if you want to be able to pause for pictures.

[eve-prime.livejournal.com]

I hope the weather cooperates -- sounds fun. Lots of little motels along the coast, and of course beaches and tidepools to explore everywhere. There's a hotel in Newport that my mom used to like to stay in, which has rooms themed by authors (she liked the Agatha Christie room), but Newport is already most of the way to the Portland area.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd need something closer to the halfway point.

[eve-prime.livejournal.com]

Maybe somewhere between Brookings and Bandon? I remember there's a beach around there somewhere with black sand...

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

It's top of my 'cons I most want to go to' list.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I think you would love it.