I just attended “Sci-Fi Night” at Reiter’s Books. Reiter’s is an extremely cool independent bookstore in Washington, DC, specializing in scientific, professional and technical books. They have been in business since 1936! This evening’s event was co-hosted by WSFA, the Washington Science Fiction Association.
Several members of SIGMA – a self-described science fiction think tank – were in DC for a Homeland Security conference. After a long day of talking to the government folks, they were kind enough to come to Reiter’s and have a lively discussion with a full house of fans.
The panel consisted of the following writers (in no particular order):
Arlan Andrews, Catherine Asaro, Charles (Chuck) Gannon, Greg Bear, Bud Sparhawk, Tom Purdom, John G. Hemry, Yoji Kondo, and Tom Ligon. You can find out more about all of these authors at the SIGMA Members web page.
After some introductions and talk about recent writing projects, there was a wide-ranging question and answer session. Topics included the dangers of space debris, the role of women in society, the likelihood of interstellar travel, the Delta Clipper project, the significance of science fiction today compared to 50 years ago, and the possibility of using quantum wave functions for interplanetary/interstellar communications. They finally had to cut off the questions so the authors could sign some books and still get dinner before local restaurants stopped serving.
The evening was a lot of fun, and I hope that WSFA and Reiter’s host this event again next year!
-posted by Kathi O.
