"...an emperor without a stitch of clothes on"

He thinks that he's bad, when his shit is so sad
But he's taking the bows for what he's never had
(And he never will)
-Bill Champlin, "Stone Cold Hollywood"

That song lyric kept running through my head as I simultaneously looked forward to and dreaded Readercon.

Cross-reference my list of literary idols with Readercon 21's guest list, and you'll see a great many names in common.  The thought of sharing oxygen with those writers just blew my mind.  I did my best to prepare for a war against my shy, introverted nature.

For awhile, it was a war of attrition.

Readercon, Day the Fourth

Here it is, the last entry in our time travel adventure back to my fourth and final day at Readercon. So hard to believe it was a mere two weeks ago. To say it was an inspiration is a massive understatement. I'm glad I already know next year's dates--as soon as I rebuild the cash reserves, I'll be booking my registration as soon as it opens.

So, let's open the TARDIS doors and walk out onto Day the Fourth...

Readercon, Day the Third

Continuing my ridiculously overdue recap of my Readercon memories, we dial the WABAC Machine to Day Three, which I didn't think could possibly be as awesome as Day Two.

I was wrong.

Readercon, Day the Second

Sorry for the interruption of blog posts. I had my second geek weekend in a row, this time out in the woods where internet access was even more prohibitive than the Burlington Marriott's $12.95/day WiFi rate. It did give me a little more distance from the squee-worthy events of my second day at Readercon.

This was a long day, so smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Thinking back to Day 2, I remember...

Readercon, Day the First

It's taken me a week to fully process my Readercon experience, partly because I think part of me would rather just sit back for the rest of my vacation and just live inside my memories. But as the saying goes, "After the ecstacy, the laundry." Time to move this stuff out of my head, so I can move on with the rest of my life. So, here's a rough synopsis of my first day: