Due to a whole combo of things, not least among them exhaustion, incipient con crud, and more exhaustion, this report will, by necessity, be shorter than I’d like, and I’ll leave a bunch of people (and things) out, no question. The other option, though, is to wait to do it until I have time and energy, by which point I’ll have forgotten, or it’ll be time for the next con report, or something, so here goes:
For me, probably the most exciting thing I knew about this trip in advance was that I was going to get to meet Jesse Bullington, Molly Tanzer, and Selena Chambers in person for the first time. Which I did, and it was good times! Much fun was had by me at least, and I hope by all, and no one seemed too disgusted with me by the end of festivities. Though I am forbidden by dark oaths and fear of legal reprisals from disclosing everything that we said and did, I can say that, in addition to the con stuff, there were absinthe bars, bacchanals, food carts, and lots of good conversation.
As far as con stuff is concerned, the highlights reel includes a panel featuring myself, Molly, and Joe Hill (among others), Molly’s incredible reading of her badass Historical Lovecraft story “The Infernal History of the Ivybridge Twins,” and John Langan referring to me as “the monster guy.” I was asked to sign stock of Delicate Toxins by a dealer in the dealer’s room, and there was an impromptu dinner with myself, Selena, John Langan, Paul Tremblay, Jordan Hamessley, Joe Hill, and Steve Niles, during which I got to be the guy at the table who knew which Howling movie was the one that featured marsupial werewolves (this should probably not be a proud moment for me).
I got to meet a lot of new friends, and re-connect with some old ones, though I got to talk to pretty much everyone more briefly than I’d have liked. An exhaustive list of names is way beyond the scope of either this entry or my memory, but one big surprise was running into a couple of fellow Kansas Citians in the form of Bear Weiter/Jacob Ruby and Steve Scearce, both of whom live within a few miles of me, and one of whom lives on virtually the very same street, which was a huge surprise, since neither of them were aware of me (nor me of them) beforehand, and we only met because we happened to end up in the same room party!
Again, I could do this list all day and not get through all the people I met, nor all the people I missed, nor all the people I didn’t get to spend enough time with. I’m sad to say that I missed the announcement that Chizine is publishing Ian Rogers’ collection, but I did get to congratulate him a little later on at the mass writer signing.
The long weekend culminated in the launch party for Selena and Jeff VanderMeer’s Steampunk Bible. It was a pretty awesome party. I got to meet Rick Klaw (who I actually met my first night in Austin, and who showed us around a bit) as well as Liz Gorinsky, Jess Nevins, and Michael Moorcock! Then it was time to go back to the hotel for something like fifteen minutes of sleep before catching my ridiculously early flight home.
There are about a million more things to tell, but I think that’s going to have to suffice for the time being, until I think of something really, really important that I forgot to tell. To everyone I met and didn’t mention (and to all those whom I did), it was great to meet you! To all those I missed, or didn’t get to chat with long enough, sorry to have missed you and I would’ve loved to have more time. That basically goes for everyone there.
It was a great con, and I’m looking forward to next year!
