ConFusion 2008
We had a blast at ConFusion 2008 this year. One of the things I love about this convention is the balance between just-for-fun fannish activities and the writer/reader intellectual (and often hilarious) discussions. Everyone enjoys it: pros, gamers, costumers, pirates, etc. It's a good energy.



Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbalestier were the writer guests of honor this year. Good people. Caught them on numerous panels. You didn't have to be a YA reader to want to hang out and listen to these two.



John Scalzi was the Toastmaster. John's a lot of fun and did a masterful job at keeping things entertaining. (He left the blog, cat, and bacon at home, but brought plenty of wit and smarts.)



Of course, during the constant Pirate attacks, John did spend a lot of time quivering in the corner and crying.



Luckily we know Ann Harris (ABOVE, and yes, she's just happy to see you), and renniekins, so I wasn't flogged too badly, though a few other people did rather enjoy the experience and came back for more. Unluckily, one of my buddies enjoyed the rum one sip too many. {he he... it's not funny... he he...} Hope you're feeling better, Drew!



Hung out with my Clarion 2004 buddy, Dr Phil Kaldon (dr_phil_physics), quite a bit. Did I mention we'll both be in the next "Writer's Of The Future" anthology together? I did? Oh, I am so forgetful... hope I don't accidentally mention it again.

Had a great time talking with writer Carl Schroeder and his wife and daughter at breakfast Saturday. I hope you've experienced some of Carl's amazing worlds. We both have three in the family and paired off for conversation and a really fun start to the morning.

Coral and Larc spent much of their time in the kids activities, then crashed when Coral became overstimulated, but I had a great time hanging out with many people and stayed up way too late Saturday night hitting parties with my buds Drew, Pippa, Eric, Giles, and Rick Lieder. There were a ton of parties!

Saw Tobias Buckell and his lovely writerswife. This guy was busy! Saw him on panels more than off. Talked briefly (meaning not enough) with other busy writers like jimhines,  paulmelko Mike Resnick, Kathe Koja, among others. A number of editors were in attendance as well, which I really like to see.

Oh, and a special moment seeing one of my writing mentors from my very first writing group. It was good to see Ted Reynolds again. Hang in there my friend. See you again.

Talked to too many people to mention everyone, (HI again tshaile,  kgkofmel, jeffreyab) and realized I sort-of missed actually chatting with a few people (Like drzarron), but a shout-out to all of you who were there!!!

All in all, a great time.