Returning to Great Britain for a Worldcon is always a treat for me. Ever since my teens, I’ve had enchanting experiences in the British Isles and Ireland. I’ve encountered megalithic mysteries from Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain to the five-thousand-year-old burial grounds of New Grange in Ireland. I’ve hiked through Words-worth’s daffodils and Beatrix Potter’s farmland with that most magical of authors—Carol Emshwiller —and watched my children board the Hogwart’s Express.*

Returning to a Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland, is also fun. I first visited the city fourteen years ago. At the time, I had no idea that I would be coming back. My husband and I had just completed our hiking trip with Carol in England’s Lake District and were headed north for the remainder of our vacation. Coincidently, Carol was going the same way. We all ended up at Glasgow’s Central Hotel. Located at the Central Train Station, it was the original destination of wealthy visitors to Glasgow during the Industrial Revolution. In 1991, one could still imagine the Victorian hotel’s grand past. At that time, Glasgow was being transformed from the grim city that guidebooks once cautioned tourists to skip, to the delightful city that it is today.

On our first night in the city, Carol called our room and told us to look out the window. A huge full moon rose just over the horizon. A breathtaking sight, it must have been a product of the “summer moon illusion.” Although NASA says my perception of an enormous moon is just a trick of the eye, my memory of that moon remains an astonishing one.

In 1995, I returned to Glasgow for my first Scottish World Science Fiction convention, and this summer I came back for my second. Memories of enormous moons remind me of the moon in the movie AI, and one of the highlights of this year’s convention was visiting with the always charming, Brian W. Aldiss. Brian lives in Oxford, England, and is the author of the story that A.I. was based on— “Super Toys Last All Summer Long.” He was just about to celebrate his eightieth birthday, and was as effervescent as ever. As usual, the time with Brian didn’t last long enough, but I will most likely see him again in March at the Conference of the Fantastic in Florida, where he is the Permanent Special Guest.

I hadn’t seen Ian Watson since my last trip to Glasgow. Ian can talk faster than just about anyone, and he can say more interesting things in five minutes than I can manage in a day. He has screen credit for the screen story for AI. It was great to listen to him once again, and I hope to see more work from him soon.

I spent a good deal of time catching up with other UK contributors like Liz Williams, Charlie Stross, Karen Traviss, and Chris Beckett. I was pleased that my path crossed with the Stephen Baxter and with Paul J. McAuley, too. Later that weekend, Paul, along with Kim Newman, was responsible for the shortest Hugo Awards Presentation Ceremony on record. With its hommage to Victor Hugo —the founder of modern SF in some alternate universe—the presentation was also one of the funniest. I visited with Ian R. MacLeod, and many other British writers, along with American, Australian, Canadian, and European authors, too. Interaction, as the convention was called, was truly an international world con.

I was disappointed, though, because I didn’t have the chance to meet all of my favorite British writers. Somehow, I was simply never in the same place as Ian McDonald, the author of the marvelous tale of “The Little Goddess” in our June 2005 issue. Some British authors, such as Neal Asher and Ian Creasey (a new writer whose first story for Asimov’s— “The Hastillan Weed”—will be appearing in our next issue) weren’t at the convention.

Still, between the panel discussions and the parties, there was barely enough time to spend with the authors that I did see. In my opinion, some of the best parties included the Asimov’s/Analog party in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America suite (I’m not biased), which showcased glorious cakes sporting the magazines’ covers and procured at great effort by the lovely Elizabeth Kerne, and the splendid party on the pirate ship that was thrown by HarperCollins/Voyager, and where I had a wonderful time talking to George R.R. Martin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Connie Willis, and Jane Yolen, to name-drop but a few.

At Interaction, it was also my pleasure to speak to Michael Whelan. Michael is an immensely talented artist who has been awarded a multitude of Hugos for his work. One of his beautiful pieces can be found on the cover of this issue.

In addition to long-time contributors like David Marusek, Brenda Cooper, and Jim Grimsley, it was also fun to talk to some up-and- coming authors like Benjamin Rosenbaum, Christopher Rowe, Chris Robertson, David Moles, Ted Kosmatka, and the most recent Hugo-award-winner, Kelly Link. I look forward to opportunities to showcase their fiction in the future.

And now I’m back in New York City, digging myself out from under the huge load of work that accumulated during my absence. My friend Carol Emshwiller was not in Glasgow this time, and although she lives much of the year in New York City, I rarely ever get the chance to see her. I’ve been reading her science fiction for thirty years, and I’m pleased that Asimov’s is starting 2006 off right. As you peruse this issue, you’ll find her first story for us on p. 46. Enjoy!