Readercon: The Good!

I got back last night from Readercon. As always, I love seeing my friends and meeting new awesome people. In fact, the best parts of the SF community were on display this week. (Also, so were the worst, but we’ll get there!)

On Thursday evening, Neil Clarke had a heart attack. Upon hearing he would be in the hospital throughout the weekend, people stepped in to set up his booth, staff the table, and break down on Sunday, and shoppers and well-wishers stopped to sign get-well posters. It was really nice to see the community supporting its own, and I’m among many others in wishing Neil the best for a speedy recovery.

Another highlight of the weekend for me was getting my Shirley Jackson nominee rock; Jackson was an amazing writer, and to be at all associated with her is not too shabby at all. (Her daughter, Sarah Hyman DeWitt, delivered a wry, hilarious, and touching address at the awards ceremony — another highlight of the con.)

In book news, those who bought Mechanique are getting some of the last second-edition copies! It sounds as though the third edition is right around the corner, which is a lovely and humbling thing to hear. Thank you so much to everyone who has bought the book, lent it to a friend, read it, talked about it, hurled it at a pigeon — it means more than I can say. (Maybe not the pigeon one, that seems mean.)

However, despite the many awesome things, not all of it was smooth sailing. More on that in the next post.