We were mostly quiet while he read. Not, I would attest, because we weren’t appreciating the humor and nuance of the language, but because we wanted to be able to hear. It can be tricky when the room’s that crowded.

Steve and I were standing near the elevator. At one point a guy got out, looked aghast at the sea of humanity, and made his determined way toward the Architecture section.

One of the people in front of us appeared to have a double-jointed knee, bent distractingly backward.

Multiple notable handlebar mustaches were in evidence.

The line that got the biggest laugh was near the end of the reading: “Inchmale’s subclinical sadism sometimes finding a deserving target.”

I took notes during the Q&A, but sometimes I just got his responses sans Q.

On what’s next: “Not only do I have no idea, I kind of have to have no idea.”

“I don’t want anybody to think that I’ve gone Tom Clancy.”

“SF is a narrative strategy rather than a genre.”

The next biggest laugh came after the question that began with something like: “I don’t think of you as a funny writer, but…” and went on to praise his humor.

He remarked that he felt that his humor didn’t usually get much attention because journalists can’t do hooks that involve more than two concepts.

“Neuromancer was not without a certain comic edge; my colleagues and I sniggered about it mightily…in our cyberpunk ratholes.”

The answer most comforting to the other writers in the room (or to this one, anyway) was when he confessed that he would not recommend his writing process to anyone, that he never gets any more confident about it.

Lots of questions about technology, how his work is both influenced by and influences it, and if there were particular technologies that had surprised him. One answer:

“Try to imagine an sf novel written in 1981 wherein the driving technology is cellular telephony…the world in which we live is irrevocably and multiply and complexly changed by cellular telephony.”

On how it’s different to publish a book now: “Books are surrounded by an invisible cloud of hyperlinks…readers will find easter eggs because you’ll be going to the source material for a lot of what I did.”

On an e-reader demo: “Software that tracks your eye — if your eye is wandering it can give you a DDZT! — or show you illustrations in the margins…”

Authors he recommends: Iain Sinclair, Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, and Random Acts of Senseless Violence by Jack Womack.

On cyberpunk: “When I started, my model was not the Sex Pistols. I was fired up for the idea of a roots movement: Waylon and Willie going to Nashville and saying ‘You fools, get this plastic shit off the table, this can really kick some ass…’”

On cyberpunk, part 2: “Now you can say ‘That album is cyberpunk. Those pants are a little cyberpunk,’ and people know what you mean. Cyberpunk has become a Pantone chip in the spectrum of popular culture.”

On cyberpunk, part 3: “Anything that begins with a manifesto is going to end up slightly embarrassing.”

I didn’t stay to get the book signed, but I already own it twice: the nice hardcover (although I prefer the UK cover with that cool barcode detail), and the audiobook.

Thanks for visiting Portland, Mr. Gibson. Come back again.

I realized earlier this summer that simply by tweaking one or more of those routines, I can feel like I’m on vacation. Hence the title of this post, which I prefer to the awkward neologism “staycation.”

Since it has so many distinctive pockets, Portland is especially conducive to tiny vacations. All you have to do is leave your own neighborhood and go somewhere you usually don’t. Doing something you don’t usually do also counts. This past weekend, we had two tiny vacations: breakfast at The Detour Cafe and a show at Mississippi Studios. Highlights of the first: ivy-covered patio, delicious food, and the local fauna, including various birds and a tan French bulldog. Highlights of the second: acoustics, company, and the surprisingly raw, ragged energy between the musicians, both of whom were apparently departing significantly from the playing styles for which they were known.

Gone on any tiny vacations lately?

As promised, here are my slides:

As I said during the presentation, the bullet points about each title I highlighted during the trend snapshot piece are absolutely not intended to cover all aspects of a book, simply the trend(s) it represents.

Questions, comments, passionate disagreement — all welcome!

2. I recorded another Rules for Hearts podcast! (Link is directly to the mp3.) See, people, when you bug me via the Formspring, it works! Because anonymous Internet questions are the new peer pressure. Or maybe they are actually the old peer pressure.

3. Saturday morning, May 22nd, 9 AM, on the Portland State University campus in the Smith Memorial Student Union on the third floor. I am going to talk about YA Trends. AND Audience. Not just trends, not just audience. BOTH. As part of the Ooligan Press Write to Publish conference. I will remind you about this again, I bet.

• The new What A Girl Wants post is up! (And I am blushing because Colleen says very kind things about my work in the introduction.) We wrote about the books we wished we’d read when we were sixteen.

• Portlanders! On Saturday, 5/22 I’ll be giving a talk at the Ooligan Press-sponsored Write to Publish conference on “YA Trends And Audience.” It’s at 9 AM, which is counter to the trend of when I like to wake up on the weekend, so I will make sure to be especially caffeinated! Y’all come!

I, um, don’t spend a lot of time outside typically. So today I met up with my friend Deborah in an attempt to partially remedy that.

Outside can be awfully pretty.

And because we are in Portland, sometimes it includes giant acupuncture needles.

Tuley investigated the painted pillar with interest, but failed to obey its recommendation to chill.

Think I’ve seen both these stencils on other walls, and possibly also on t-shirts.

Clearly an offering, but we weren’t sure to what or whom.

Perhaps an attempt to propitiate the owners of this vehicle?

Spotted something shiny. What’s inside, we wondered?

+ 1 glamour, of course!

The artists are Eatcho and Jason Graham. I’m particularly impressed by how they blended their styles.

Now for a tiny nap, and then to start Day 2.0, the one where I write fiction and do not get sucked into the Internet.

I’m working on the graphic novel all day today, and listening to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

While staring into space (because that is, of course, an important component of working) I suddenly noticed the pleasing industrial geometry above. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of Steve’s drawing table.

• Five unblinking cats, camouflaged by the brown-and-black facade of the house they appeared to be guarding
• A man rinsing out a toilet for repurposing as a planter
• A miniature Stonehenge in an otherwise unremarkable yard
• An angry note addressed to Portland Power, inscribed on a phone pole from “the honey suckers who used to live here”
• Two people drinking on their roof
• Two other people smoking on their porch
• An older home repurposed as an emergency clinic
• Gang tags, executed by scratching them into the moss growing on a retaining wall

What do you see on your way home?