I missed the quote part of the first post and was like "I was thinking maybe 2026 myself, only because I know I can't pull it off this year." And then I went "oh, you mean just to visit. Haha of course that's what I meant too."

I'd love to see all three of you there (it's my current plan)

That would be awesome.

I will heartily welcome you all!

Ooo how big will the UK contingent be!!

Decent I suspect. Two years' pent up demand.

Seeing lots of people I know saying they're going ... hmm.

*hearty encouragement* And the flight's shorter than my train rides to London!

I've always fancied Montreal as a holiday.

Yeah, I've always wanted to go too. And it's technically in driving distance. But I'm afraid there will basically be a US/Canada DMZ by then.

Me too. Lived there for 5 years as a nipper, but not been back.

Make sure to swing by Quebec City while you're in the area! (Assuming you've never been here.) It's a 3-hour drive, but well worth it. Hands down the most beautiful city I've ever lived in, and very different from Montreal. :)

I visited Quebec City and stayed a couple nights on Île d'Orléans on a trip last year to visit a friend who lives near Ottawa. It was amazing. I still haven't been to Montréal, and I'm making plans to attend my first Worldcon since 2016.

imho, Montréal is the Los Angeles of Canada, and Quebec City is the San Francisco of Canada. 😌

I feel like that undersells Montreal culture. Anytime I go there, I feel like an orc in Lothlorien.

I love that "in the area" for you is "opposite end of the country" for me.

… and since you'll be in Canada, why not see the beauty of B.C.'s Sunshine Coast?

Because mosquitos! Pharmacist: oh, you are a super reactor! Me: what does that mean? Him [pointing to my scarlet arm]: that! (I am now the proud owner of a mosquito blouse I bought in BC. Gorgeous place.

A super-reactor? Is that what powers the mech suits in Pacific Rim?

I'm telling you, on that day, the heat from my arm could have powered DC.

*ouch* still...

It’s just next door… ok, next ocean, same difference. 😇

I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2022... After that, almost everything seems walkable. 🙃

It's within walking distance*! ;) *technically

Aha! You live in England, were 100 miles away is a long way, as opposed to North America, where 100 years ago is a long time

As the expression goes in America (and even more so Canada) one hundred years is a long time, in Europe one hundred miles is a long distance.

A hundred miles in the US, you’re in another state; in Europe you’re in another country; in the UK you’re in the sea.

Well, east to west, maybe.

You can never get more than 70 miles from coastal waters in the UK.

Yes, but you can easily travel a hundred miles or more in one direction if you are going north to south (or vice versa) without ending up in the water.

Oh yes, we did 180 miles yesterday to get home, largely in a straight line, did not get our feet wet.

Not with my sense of direction.

Okay, so never get in a car Adrian is driving is my takeaway here.

Honestly good advice for a number of reasons.

Scotland???

If only like deep one hybrids we could return to the sea...

I mean you can, just not for very long.

'One day my gills will come...'

I mean, on the scale of the universe... 🤣

Would be lovely to see you there, Master!

Dude I keep telling people I’m not a vampire.

Ok but have you told people this when standing in front of a mirror, hrrrrmmmm?

I keep trying but there’s never anyone there to tell.

That explains why you write so many books: during the day you're hunched over the keyboard, drinking the blood of victims that your spiders have procured for you.

Clearly, all of Adrian's early unpublished stuff was about flies; we should get mildly worried when he moves onto sparrows, and positively alarmed if any of his books include cats.

I'm still hung up on the spider servants. Didn't know that was a perk.

Usually it's a gift only granted to Australians, considering how many of them are here. It's taken Adrian the last 200 years to learn of our techniques.

Ok a vampire commanding an army of Australian spiders is fucking terrifying.

Nosferantula.

XD

That's just what we'd expect a master vampire to say.

And we believe you. On a different topic, I made garlic bread! 🧄

I apologise sire, I didn't know it was meant to be a secret!