MileHiCon 43

Another year's con has come and gone, and this one seemed to go faster than any in the past. I got an opportunity to talk to all of the usual suspects...and you know who you are...that I usually hang out with, and met lots of new people. Everyone was, of course, in love with the baby. She mostly stared at people at the beginning, but she eventually opened up and started smiling and waving at people.

Friday started out with a panel on the state of publishing, and we basically determined that it's in a state of flux, although I was surprised to learn that David Dvorkin in pushing for the grammerpocalypse (you had to be there.) In looking at my badge, I was surprised to learn that I was going to be a part of autograph alley, so I went to that after opening ceremonies. As I wasn't sitting with the main guests, I spent most of my time catching up with David Lee Summers, Gary Jonas, Carol Hightshoe, and Dana Bell.

Saturday was more or less an off day for me with no programming. I spent a lot of time doing the family stuff with the kids, and then took a break to sign at the Wolfsinger Publications table. They published one of my stories in their new Tale of Armageddon anthology. That night we went to the Smashy Claw concert. We've always been big fans of Odd Austin, so we were curious to see what this new project was. Unfortunately, the mix was off, and it was difficult to hear the vocals, so we still aren't sure what it's about. The baby really loved the music, however. She was dancing around in her stroller, and generally going crazy. Everyone sitting around us was laughing at her. After the concert was the masquerade, which had several good costumes, and several that seemed to be re-hashes of years gone by.

Sunday was my crazy day. Did a panel early in the day about fiction and RPGs. We had a good discussion, and we seemed to keep the audience entertained, which is always a good thing. The panel was moderated by my friend Ian Brazee-Cannon. This was the first time we'd ever done a panel together, so I had to have some fun at his expense. Next time you see him, just ask him if he's done any LARPs lately. I then did a reading and a signing, neither of which was well attended, and then concluded the day by moderating a panel on Mining in Space. I was the least qualified on the panel, which is probably why I was moderating it, but I think we put out a lot of good information, and hopefully the audience learned something.

MileHiCon is always so well done, and the entire staff deserves several rounds of applause, but especially Rose Beetem who does the programming. She always does a great job, and this year was no exception.