In July 2013, I served as the “editor-in-residence” for the Codex Writing Group, which meant basically I was asking a month-long AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) interview. With Codex’s permission, I’m re-posting the Q&As here on my blog. The questions were all provided by members of Codex.

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Do you still geek out and “fan-slime” creators you admire? If so, what was your most recent “I can’t believe I’m talking to this person” moment?

I don’t think I’ve ever “fan-slimed” anyone, but I certainly have geeked out on the inside. (And may have been a bit awkward in their presence, but because I was nervous and a nerd, not because I was gushing at them.) My default social mode at conventions and the like where I might run into someone famous is, “Don’t bother them.” I figure I’ll end up running into them at some point naturally without actively seeking them out, or else they’ll take the initiative to come talk to me, or I’ll end up invited to the same dinner as them.

My most recent inner geek out was at the Nebula Awards recently when I found myself talking with Trevor Quachri, the new editor of Analog, when here comes Robert Silverberg, and then here comes Joe and Gay Haldeman. And so there we are talking in the lobby, and Bob Silverberg (he insists I call him Bob) suggests we go to lunch. So then suddenly I’m not just CHATTING with Bob Silverberg and Joe Haldeman, I’m HAVING LUNCH WITH THEM. So that was all very cool. As if that wasn’t cool enough, Trevor even insisted on picking up the check! (Ahhhh…expense account!) And then also, this cool thing happened.

On the flip side, at World Horror this year, I was the editor guest of honor. The opening ceremonies were in this big room with a bunch of banquet tables, and there was a finger-food buffet and there was a cash bar setup. As I mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I don’t drink, and I didn’t feel like spending three bucks on a diet coke, so I just took a seat and waited for things to get going. I didn’t see any familiar faces, so I just sat there by myself. Two young women ended up sitting at the table with me, and so we chatted for a bit. I introduced myself as just “John” since, I mean, it’s weird to say your full name when you meet someone, right? So they didn’t realize who I was. At some point, one of the con organizers came over and handed me a couple of drink tickets that I should have gotten earlier. After she left, one of the young women asked me why they just handed me those drink tickets, and I said, “Oh, uh, it’s because I’m one of the guests of honor.” And they were pretty flabbergasted, so that was kind of funny. But then, almost literally just as I was saying that, who joins us at our table but ANOTHER guest of honor — Ramsey Campbell. I had never actually met him, but I had published an original story of his in Nightmare, so I was pleased to meet him, and I did geek out a little just then. I always do find it a little intimidating to make conversation with, you know, legends, though.

Prior to all of that, one of my “geek out” disappointments was narrowly missing the chance to meet Neil Gaiman. This was back when he was GOH at the Worldcon in Montreal a couple of years ago. At that point, I had reprinted a couple of his stories, so I figured he might know who I was (otherwise I wouldn’t have even thought about bothering him). And I didn’t seek him out, but as I was exiting the green room one time, I saw him approaching, which was almost like spotting a unicorn, because even though he was a GOH, he was never seen walking the halls of the convention. (I still don’t understand how his handlers manage that. Does he have an invisibility cloak? Admittedly it’s probably pretty necessary, as he’d get mobbed as he tried to get from place to place.) Anyway, I saw him coming and was just about to say a quick hello and go on my way, but before he got close enough to extend a hand or anything, he got a phone call, so I just walked past and let him enter the green room in peace. I did end up meeting him a couple years later, and HE GAVE ME FIVE GOLD DOUBLOONS

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