The WorldCon post I wrote on the plane instead of writing fiction

Some things happen to me at every con I go to. If you know me, you know which things those are. Let's just say that LonestarCon 3 was not an exception and move on.

I didn't spent much time attending panels or readings. The panel I was on was fun though. I got to sit next to an astronaut, Cady Coleman, who must be one of the coolest people in the universe! So glad that I got the opportunity to do the panel. Thanks, Ann.

It was great to catch up with a bunch of people in person who I, otherwise, only get to talk to electronically. There are too many to mention, but I was especially happy that Ann VanderMeer could take time out of her overloaded schedule to come and that I got to spend some time with her. Also, party hopping with Nick Mamatas and Ellen Datlow(GoH!) was a lot of fun. I met a lot of people that I don't think I would have had the nerve to introduce myself to.

It was great to meet a bunch awesome people whom I hadn't known before this con and hope to know better over time. As I've said, as time has gone on, my con experience has gotten more and more social. I have to thank Emily Jiang for helping me navigate this.

Anyway, thoughts in no particular order:

I screwed up my elbows a couple months back. Since I know what's good for me, I'm being disciplined and lifting until they heal. Not lifting always makes me grouchy. Carrying luggage didn't help my elbows one bit but, otherwise, being on vacation did. (I'm still trying to figure out how to avoid stressing my elbows in real life.) Hopefully, I can go back to lifting in the next month… or I may go mad.

I've met my fan! I.e., that person who didn't know me, who didn't mistake me for someone else, and who both knows and likes my work. Also, some folks had actually heard of me when I introduced myself.

Someone else wants me to do more narration for Lightspeed. I'd love to but, of course, it's not up to me. If anyone wants me to do more Lightspeed narrations, the right person to inform is the talented and sonorous Stefan Rudnicki.

I melted into a puddle when I realized the hand I was shaking was Steven Brust's. Words, of course, instantly evaporated from my mind. Eventually, I did manage to eek out that I love his work, that I've read everything he's ever written and that I've prowled used book stores for the out-of-print work. He was extremely gracious about me making a spectacle of myself. Apparently, being told that someone loves your work never gets old. Who knew? (Teresa Nielsen Hayden's reaction to my implosion was a funny, but impossibly dry, “Oh, John, I didn't know that you're a Steven Brust fan.”)

Thanks to random con interaction, I now have the opportunity to translate the short fiction of a highly talented Chinese writer. This is a huge break for me and I'm really looking forward to the work.

I dropped my cellphone. It's not a big deal. The screen is fine. The back now has a web of cracks that radiate from the bottom right corner. The phone works just fine. I may still use this as an excuse to get a new one as I'm now off contract and the back is now in slow-motion decay.

A couple editors who publish awesome work suggested that I send stories to their markets. (Like a bunch of other things that happened during this con, this one has literally never happened to me before.)

The Wonderbook is truly full of wonder and very heavy. Can't wait for it to published.

People said “I saw you walking by and I was going to say hi but you looked like you needed to get somewhere right away” to me a lot during the con. Interestingly, none of those people have ever seen me when I actually was in a hurry. I've been told I walk quickly. (I actually never realized until I started doing improv. How you walk makes a difference for some exercises.) Seriously, I suspect a lot of people could walk much faster than I do if they wanted or needed to. (Because short legs.)

On the whole, I'm glad I went. I met for the first time or caught up with a lot of really cool people. Some business accidentally happened. Despite not getting a whole lot of sleep and spending a lot of time at parties, I managed to decompress some so this trip actually fulfilled it's intended purpose.

The plan right now is to go to London. Maybe not Spokane, but I hadn't planned on San Antonio either.