The best thing about a summer convention is never leaving the air-conditioned hotel.
But this Readercon saw a lot of us hanging out on the patio, despite the heat and oppressive humidity. This was mostly to avoid contracting Covid (currently 26 positives out of 700 attendees) but ended up being a really fun part of the con. That’s where Scott Edelman showed up with donuts in the pic above!
There were some excellent highlights this year, including:
- Meeting up and paneling with cool authors like Cecilia Tan and LaToya Jordan, both pictured above
- Seeing both LaToya Jordan and Laura Blackwell win Shirley Jackson awards, both pictured above
- A late-night karaoke jam where we sang every ‘wrap it up’ song and then some, hosted by the Brooklyn Science Fiction Workshop
- Attending readings by John Chu (waving enthusiatically in the collage) and Randee Dawn (pictured several times)
- Hearing that there might be new or at least uncut Arthur Machen to be published soon (I’m a huge fan)
Opportunities to see friends and fans, to sign my books and talk about the art and the craft of writing with some of the best in the business are always welcome. Having to tell everyone that sadly, no, I will not be attending Worldcon in Glasgow this year, was definitely the only low point.
But my schedule stays booked and busy. I’ll be at Brooklyn Books and Booze on August 20, reading something new and unpublished.
