Post-Convention Sleep Disorder
We fall down now
We just got back from two conventions in Chattanooga, TN.
The first was our usual yearly attendance at Libertycon, the second was The Chattanooga Homeschool Expo being held at the same time and same convention center.
As an aside, there was a third event being held the same weekend which was the Warhammer 40K National Finals (?!) tournament — there was a sprog looking all big-eyed at a table where the (slightly enthusiastic) players were bellowing stuff like: “Skulls For The Skull Throne!” and “Suffer Not The Mutants To Live!” with his … very … Mennonite mother sailing in with her skirts flying all over the place to snatch him out of that Den Of Iniquity.
His feet touched ground about every ten feet or so on the way out. :-D
Libertycon — as usual — ran a tight ship, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Next year, we think, we’ll propose a Friday block entitled “Foxes In An Elevator” where we have one room just after lunch where all of the Raconteur Press staff will be, so that:
1) Folks will be able to recognize Rac Press folks if they have questions; and
2) There will be a free hour so that if someone needs to talk to someone (Ian) they won’t have to try to snag someone’s (Ian’s) attention as he’s rocketing through the halls doing … Ian things.
Our “What’s New At Raconteur Press” panel was — we think — a success, and was well-attended. If you missed it, at least two folks video’d the whole thing, and we’ll have links up sooner or later.
Bill Willingham was a gentleman, and a hit at Libertycon; the reveal of the cover for the first book of The Outrider Trilogy met with thunderous applause.
On the Homeschool side of things, Chris DiNote and Janet Spaulding were a high-speed/low drag hit. Polished, prepared, and professional — they kicked so much arse in their panels that the homeschoolers had to import extra arse just to keep up with the demand.
Our authors Jacob Sharp and Fred Phillips generously donated time to read from their boy’s adventure novels (A Boy Against the Boxers and The Gold and Fire series) which generated quite a bit of interest from the home-schoolers.
Under the steady hands of Chris and Janet we suspect that the Boy’s Adventure side of the house is going to be a force to be reckoned with even sooner than we had hoped.
Speaking of, if you ever wanted to watch a retired USMC Sergeant Major with a theater degree absolutely ham it up with a children’s book he wrote, you missed out:
We saw old friends, and new ones, talked to dozens of authors, networked, and generally had a fantastic time.
There are probably a lot of things we missed, but we’re knackered, and we’re going back to bed.
Next con — assuming we can get plane tickets — will be Writer’s Cantina. Come see us there!
Ian and Rita
I enjoyed that. I even enjoy the picture at the top. So the question is why? I'm not going to the conventions etc. so again why do I look forward to reading your columns, and I do.
I figured it out. It's nice to read about normal, good people full stop. And sometimes in todays world that's very rare.
If you thought that was good, you should see me give a liberty brief!