Until Midnight (& Sometimes Later)

I’ve gotten my final Confluence schedule–they’ve added another panel on Sunday. I still don’t know what some of these panels are about. And there are no moderators specified as yet–I suppose we’ll end up using some of the time-honored methods for choosing such: last arrival at the panel, person sitting in the center, etc. Should be fun.

SATURDAY
1:00pm in Oak
Keeping Within the Constraints
[Panelists: Cat Faber, Seanan McGuire, James Daniel Ross, Elektra Hammond]
Comment: Oh boy–a panel with GOH Seanan McGuire. And I’ll get to see Dan (who is in both my anthologies, In an Iron Cage: The Magic of Steampunk & Galactic Creatures. I haven’t met Cat yet, but I know she’s a filker, and I look forward to meeting her, also.

10:00pm in Oak
Sins Are Refreshed : Frank Discussions, Erotic Readings and Naughty Jokes
[Panelists: KT Pinto, Elektra Hammond, Kevin M Hayes]
Comment: I’ll be reading something written by Bernie Mojzes, caterpillar erotica from an Alice in Wonderland-themed collection. Find out why caterpillars are the new cephalopods. Thank you Bernie!! I’ll also be setting the mood with some single malt–come by and have a drink with us.

SUNDAY
noon in Oak
Thank Heaven for Little Subs
[Panelists: Danielle Ackely-McPhail, Larry Ivkovich, Elektra Hammond, Jeff Young]
Comment: I’m not sure if this panel is on sub-genres or small press–everyone on the panel has published with small press at one point or another. Hopefully we’ll find out before the panel starts . . . .

1:00pm in Oak
Geek Culture versus Geek Generation
[Panelists: Paul Melko, David Barr Kirtley, Christopher Pisano, Elektra Hammond]
Comment: This is the panel that was just added. Sounds interesting!

Hope I see a bunch of folks at Confluence–it’s always a fun convention!

The last weekend of July will find me once again at one of my favorite conventions, Confluence, with some of my favorite folks–the members of Parsec, the Pittsburgh-area Science Fiction club. I’ve just gotten my preliminary schedule, I’m looking forward to more information on what some of these panels are:

SATURDAY
1:00pm in Oak
Keeping Within the Constraints
[Panelists: Cat Faber (F), Seanan McGuire, James Daniel Ross, Elektra Hammond]

10:00pm in Oak
Sex Panel: Erotic Readings and Naughty Jokes
[Panelists: KT Pinto, Elektra Hammond, Kevin M Hayes]
I’ll be reading something written by Bernie Mojzes, probably caterpillar erotica, from an Alice in Wonderland-themed collection. Thank you Bernie!!

SUNDAY
noon in Oak
Thank Heaven for Little Subs
[Panelists: Danielle Ackely-McPhail, Larry Ivkovich, Elektra Hammond, Jeff Young]

The short form: Best. Con. Ever.

The long form:
I sold books, thanks in part to the great team at Fortress Publishing Inc., who did me a favor by putting my books out for sale on their table. Thanks Brian, Chris and Christine!

I was on panels, which enabled me to meet and interact with some great people. I moderated^* the Steampunk Panel, which was a rocking good time. I finally got to meet Kevin Geiselman (Geis) in person, and shared time with Al Katerinsky and Michelle [Sagara] West. I don’t think anyone can spend too much time with Michelle–she is one of the nicest and most interesting people I’ve ever met.
I did a small press panel with Brian Koscienski & Chris Pisano of Fortress Publishing, Inc., and Eric Beebe of Post Mortem Press–we had a great time sharing the state of the world of small press.
I also participated in a Web Publishing & Web Comics panel, also with Michelle and with Richard Errington and Paul Anderson. That was a really fast-paced fun panel, even if we went off topic a time or two or three . . . .
I even did two readings, one from my story in In An Iron Cage, and a late Saturday night erotica reading with K T Pinto (aided by a bottle of Glendronach). I read a selection from Beyond the Vision of Dreams, a weresnake fantasy sent to me by my friend Stella Price, written with her sister Audra.

I squeezed in a shift at the Parsec table, which mostly consisted of chatting with the people who stopped by. I went to several panels, all enjoyable, and live-tweeted several of them (including the social networking panel). I spent a few dollars in the Huckster’s Room, and chatted with a number of the dealers. I roomed with Chris Cowan from Undiscovered Treasures, and finally had time to catch up with her. Best. Roommate. Ever.

I met a bunch of people, including the folks in charge of programming, Karen Yun-Lutz & Kevin Hayes, and several folks from the Seton Hall MFA program. I only wish I could have spent more time with all of them!

If you haven’t been to Confluence, put it on your calendar for next year. It’s always a terrific con. I’m already making plans for next year!

Oh, and I got a convention t-shirt that had my name on the back as one of the guests–how cool is that?

^*I gained the courage to moderate from talking to one of the best panel moderators around, Carl Cipra. I asked him how to be a good moderator, listened, and tried to apply what I learned.