Tiara and the Kids

I was going to offer you a tiara picture, but my computer really isn't letting me upload them. Pain in the butt. I can, however, link to my wife's blog. She's got a few photos up. This was a family affair you know. *Note: I've just managed to sneak a few photos in here, but there are a couple more at Gudrun's site.

The fact that Gudrun and the kids were there was one of the absolute best parts of the entire Worldcon/Hugo/Campbell experience. Before the ceremony, they were so nervous and excited. At the pre-Hugo party, Maya put her energy into doodling and came up with this funky cat....

Apparently an artist (I'm not sure who) happened by and paused to gawk over it. Cool.

As they sat beside me in the auditorium during the ceremony they kept looking at me, looking at the screen, looking at mom. Sage couldn't stop his legs from wiggling and squiggling. And when they called me name... Ah, man. Sure, I was excited, but the kids were balls of energy. During my speech I mentioned them all by name, and could see Sage's hair bouncing up and down as he jumped. Awesome.

The first photo of me... well, bare in mind that the auditorium was enormous. I mean, they had these two massive jumbo-tron screens on either side of the stage - that's what that first photo is of. It's me with about a ten foot smile on. There were rows and rows of people. I was just trying to make sure they all knew I was happy...

You'll also see me and Maya and Sage on stage at the Hugos. It felt really wonderful to be able to pull these guys up and share the stage with them for a moment. Had the pleasure of introducing them to GRRM also. Was nice because they had a hand in developing my Wild Cards character, and the man himself got to thank them for that and ask them a few questions. I don't suppose it hurt my status in the family to have stood next to Neil Gamain, and to have held his Hugo! The photo of us side by side is pretty blurry, but so was my mind right about then...

It was all so good that after the ceremony Maya developed an instant, pounding headache. They had to leave the after-party early. But still, we all enjoyed it.

Now, let me say this as well. As happy as I am about all of this I also think I have a pretty good grip on what it does and does not mean. No delusions of grandeur here, just joy at all the pieces falling together in my favor for once. I'll post about this soon. I've promised to write on the topic for Suvudu. When I do I'll let you know.

Okay, I'm off to mow the lawn. It's a lot more fun in a tiara...