On World Fantasy Convention 2014

World Fantasy Con is over.  I'm home.  I'm alive.  I'm back to the life of a grad student and adjunct faculty, with a side of writing.  And these are my mystical thoughts on the whole experience:

I began my journey in the fashion of a handrail used by a string of infected boat passengers.  On Tuesday, I started feeling a cold coming on, and I frantically chowed down Vitamin C and everything else I could find to stifle the monster growing within me.  Alas, the cold was up to the task and settled in by Wednesday morning, leaving me so wiped by Thursday that I had to cancel class in order to get a lot of rest before the 2-hour drive to Jacksonville and the 2-hour flight to Arlington.  My flight was delayed by almost 3 hours, leaving me in an uncomfortable airport with death dribbling from my nostrils.  The flight itself was terrible for the simple reason that sinus pressure + plane cabin pressure = a terrible combination.  By the time I got to Arlington, I was completely wiped.  Thankfully, I started feeling better by Friday, though spent most of that day (the 1st day of my WFC experience) napping.

5 Don'ts of Panels (and Podcast Roundtables)

I'm officially back from Worldcon/LonCon3, which marks my third convention this year (preceded by ICFA and CONvergence).  Having had a few experiences as a panelist, I've learned a few things about what works and what doesn't.  The below list is not exhaustive by any means, but it reflects my fairly new experiences as an panelist and audience member.

Here goes: