Midsouth Convention Report (Part 2 of a half-dozen or so)

My first programming assignment, and the only one I had on Friday, was a reading for the children’s track. (I am not a children’s author! Does anyone even believe me anymore when I say that?) Since it was Friday, I didn’t expect anyone to show and figured I’d have a quiet hour to get organized. Ha! To my pleasant surprise, I had both children and adults and so “Purple Wings and Troll Snot” put in yet another live performance. (Really need to find a publisher for that thing—it makes too many people too happy to not be in print.) It was here that I got to meet Andrew Fox and, more importantly, his three wonderful sons, Levi, Asher, and Judah. (See! I remember their names. Adults I forget and have to look up in the programming book but anyone shorter than four feet I remember. But I am not a children’s author!) It was a good reading but an interesting way to start the convention. I was panting and trying to catch my breath for the rest of the evening. A kid’s reading is not a reading. It’s throwing yourself down a flight of stairs while reciting a story from memory.

I tagged back in with Bill and Jeremy and was ready to call it a night and head back to the Super 8 when Gary Babb caught me and told me there was a “meet and greet” where the folks could meet the guests. Being one of the guests, I figured I’d best attend and there was free food. I’m already in trouble with my publicist for turning down dinner with an editor so I wasn’t going to turn down free food. Andrew introduced me to Marty Halpern (his editor) and I ended up sitting next to Mr. Resnick talking Africa. When the gathering broke up, Mr. Resnick invited me to come up to the movie room and watch a pair of his short stories with him but, due to the lateness of the hour, I declined and called it a night. It was a good first day, I’d been up since about 6 a. m., and Mike was going to be watching movies until at least 1 in the morning. (I almost forgot to mention, I also met Glen Cook in the dealer room and didn’t recognize him. Somewhere between funny and awkward that.)

Before I managed to make good on my escape, I did an interview (really nice pair of guys) but then I was on my way. Half-an-hour later I found the rental car in the now-packed parking lot and eventually made it back to She Who Must Not Be Named.