Readercon quotes

There are conventions where I feel charming and clever, and conventions where I don't. Readercon was one of the latter. I just didn't find myself with much to say, and socialized less than I'd like.

Still, I had a good time. Readercon is one of the few conventions where not only are the panel topics interesting, but the panelists have quite a bit to say, so the hour flies by and the moderator has to make an effort in the last few minutes to squeeze in a few questions from the audience. I didn't start taking notes until late Saturday, but I did write down ( a few quotes. )

At the poetry reading, I found myself listening to the sound of the words and repeatedly forgetting to make sense of them, which made the experience far less than it could have been. It was worth going anyway, because it let my claim a front-row seat for the Kirk Poland Memorial Bad Prose Competition, always the funniest event of the year. It can sometimes be a little difficult to hear all of the entries clearly from farther back, and I'm going to try to make an effort to show up early enough to claim good seats from now on.

Kate Wilhelm was one of the Guests of Honor, and I can recommend her new book, Storyteller, a memoir of the Clarion workshop.