What yesterday was still the distant rumblings of a cold is today a full-on assault, sneezing and coughing and a runny nose. I’ve kept the worst of it at bay through the generous application of cough drops (more than a few cadged from the office first aid stations), tissues, and chamomile tea, but I’ve still felt better.
This evening, rather than do the sensible thing and go home after work, I stayed on in the city for yet another event at the Center for Fiction, this one on “Outsiders in/of Science Fiction and the Fantastic.” The panel was moderated by Ellen Kushner, and featured writers Steve Berman, Samuel R. Delany, Andrea Hairston, Carlos Hernandez, and Alaya Dawn Johnson. It was interesting, overall, and I’m sure at some point the discussion will be up on their YouTube channel. Two things I noted:
- Berman joked (seriously) that one of the benefits of writing YA from an outsider’s perspective is that every YA reader — at least the intended actually teenage audience — every one of them feels that he or she is the outsider, even if that’s not the case.
- Hairston said that what science fiction does is rehearse the possible and the impossible.
I snuck out a little early, since they started a little late and ran a little long, and now I’m home, sneezing like a madman.