Me? Guest of Honor? I’m honored, I guess. Pardon me while my surprise masks my appreciation. A new community forming? Very nice. Writing conferences are happening on Whidbey. Dark Angels just held another of theirs. At the end of July, the Galaxy’s Edge Fan Expo is being held in Oak Harbor. Three days of a relatively new event about SciFi, writing, and generally building community. Thanks to an introduction from fellow writer Don Scoby, the organizers invited me to be a writer in attendance. The surprise hit when I saw their web site and found that I was a Guest of Honor. Cool. Where does this lead?

Here’s the necessary short plug, guiltless self-promotion, and background. In 2022, I finished my first science fiction novel, Firewatcher. It is a story about a bunch of humans escaping Earth because, if an Artificial Intelligence gained self-awareness – or even just looked like it, it would already be too late to leave. An adventure ensues. (Available on Amazon, of course.) As I was editing it I realized that simply adding an ‘s’ to a sentence meant that instead of a ship leaving the planet it could be ships leaving the planet. Add a letter, gain an opportunity for other writers to play into the same series. (SciFi Collaboration) 

An opportunity, but one that generated some interesting conversations, but no new books. 

Hello, Galaxy’s Edge and its fan base. Fans of the series have an outdoor event space, an interest in pulling that community together, and good stuff happens. The event still has that core creation but it seems to be opening itself to inviting fans of scifi, writing, and – well, seeing where the idea can go.

Like.

In the meantime, they recorded and released an interview of the hosts and me talking about the event, my work, and generally discussing writing, Whidbey Island, and sci-fi.

As much as I should spend more time on my guiltless self-promotion, I’m more interested in celebrating their effort at creating community. (OK. Go buy my book. Does that meet the minimum of the self-promotion hurdle?) 

Communities begin small. At some point, two people recognize they have enough in common to see if there are more people who want to join them. Woodstock, Burning Man, parades, didn’t start by hundreds of people simultaneously deciding to do the same thing the same way. I think we need more of those conversations and actions. People interacting with people is better than people simply being spectators. We need participants if we’re going to get things done. 

People meeting people is social. Social media is people meeting people, but filtered through electrons and limited to two-dimensional screens and massive infrastructure. People meeting people comes with body language, hugs and handshakes, nuance, and the realization that the other person is real. It is too easy to diminish electronic friends because they are distant, an excuse some use to be rude and shout rather than remember we are all humans and can appreciate listening, too.

Guest of honor? Sure. But I am not the only one. I just happen to be one who lives here. I’m interested in meeting the other guests of honor, but I am also interested in meeting the other guests, the attendees. I don’t know what they will want to talk about, but I know that this crowd has the potential to deliver insights into artificial intelligence, and then branch out from there. 

Communities can be good for that, gather for one reason, which inspires tangential conversations, which can lead to an infinity of possibilities. Or, at least having a good time.

Artists, especially writers, are known for being introverts. It can be why self-promotion can be so difficult. Being an introvert can be anything from merely being quiet to being as extreme as a hermit. But I enjoy watching some introverts who become engaging and entertaining when in the right crowd, a comfortable crowd of people with similar perspectives. 

Zoom calls claim to be able to do the same thing, but being in a gathering means possibly listening to one conversation while overhearing another and being noticed by someone else. No need to download the app. Resetting the server can mean tapping a new keg instead of flipping some switch on the dusty back of some box.

I plan to be there for the entire event, paid-work allowing (Tom Got A Job), because I am honored to be included; but also because I want to see a new community forming. A previous writing association on Whidbey Island accomplished impression things, until they ran into some mis-fortune. Many of those people and much of that energy is still here. (See, er listen, to WritingOnWhidbeyIsland.com for a few dozen podcast interviews.) Will this event become the seed of a pearl, or an inspiration for another group? 

There’s a bicycle ride called STP, Seattle To Portland. That’s about 200 miles, depending on the route, (206 this year, evidently.) They’re limiting registration to 6,000 riders. That’s down from the 10,000 when I last rode it, and that was probably a bit too many. But, a friend of mine was one of the first to official do the ride. He quit because it was fun at 300 but too crowded at 3,000. I think about those numbers and wonder who were the first two riders to say, hey, what about…

It started with a simple conversation and grew into a small city rolling along on a variety of bicycles, with people in a variety of outfits, riding at different speeds, but mostly following the same path with the same goal. 

The pandemic may not be gone, but we are coming together again, resocializing, reconnecting, and recreating community. Cool. Maybe I’ll see you there – or as part of some other community, maybe for tea, maybe to play with ideas. Dancing, perhaps?