Time does strange things. I have absolutely no recollection of writing this seventeen years ago. I was googling some information for a note about the Swancon just gone this weekend, and wanted some dates for Swancon 11 when I found my con report for Swancon 15. What struck me most about it? Not the melifluous prose. Mostly that I was a sarcky fucker, in truth. Sarcasm and cynicism are lazy and poor responses to life, really. I’ve not attended every Swancon in the history of the world. I started up in 1986, and what I remember of the event exists in somewhat fond haze really. Since then I’ve missed one completely when I was living in Oakland in 1997, have shown up at a handful, and have attended all of close to something like 22 of them, most recently over the weekend past.

What would I say to the 26-year-old me writing in May 1990 for the first issue of Eidolon? Apart from eat right and take care of your knees, open your eyes and look around you. I’d been in fandom for about five years. It had already given me some of the best friends I would ever find – hi Robin, Keira, Richard, Jeremy, Terry, Cindy and everyone else – friends who I’m still in touch with 18 years later. It introduced me to people I could never have imagined meeting, many of whom I befriended. It led directly to my traveling to the US, meeting Marianne, and having a family. Although I’d written a few book reviews (for a fanzine, I note), I had no notion of editing anything before Swancon 15. I walked out of it with the notion of publishing a fanzine with some friends. That led to Eidolon, to the Australian years best anthologies with Jeremy, to working for Locus, to editing year’s bests with Karen, and then on to the books of the past few years, culminating in my Hugo nomination last week.  I think I said it poorly when I was lucky enough to share a Ditmar Award with my dear friends Russell and Gardner, but what I do now literally could not have happened without Swancon.  I definitely have had some input too, but I would never have started without it.  There have been bumps on the road, and I’m not Swancon’s most favourite son, but it’s been an important event in my life.  Having kids makes it hard to attend Swancon the way I used to, but I’ll always make time for it as best I can.