Monalisa, I’m sorry I didn’t make it to your reading. That was in part because there were three other things on the schedule at the same time which I hated to miss (hey, it’s LibertyCon, right?), but mostly with my normal level of derpitude, I didn’t trust myself to be able to find the room 🙄. Have mentally tagged any reading you do next year as a priority!
Ego is simple for a writer. You need to be a snail with a tender, tender foot, and a hard shell. The art is getting the right things to hit the right part.
Ah, SF conventions! I was in line to register once, behind a couple and their son, whom I had seen about conventions, and a friend of his from school, come to one for the first time.
That was when I saw "her jaw dropped" for the first time in real life as people in costume walked by. (Then, she was wearing a tie-dye Star Trek T-shirt. Told her it would make her fit right in, and it made her thoughtful.)
I actually spent a lot of time while sick thinking about and outlining how I'm going to do LibertyCon next year to focus on heading off my introvert stuff at the pass. I'm working on a piece about it and hopefully I can sell the idea for a presentation to the con since it's a writer's con not a selling con. I feel like I've sort of reached a mild understanding of the variables and how to navigate them.
We all like to reconnect and do stuff and live in the moment vacation style when we're there. But it really kind of takes some mindfulness about how to use your few spoons over a 3 or 4 day span in the public interaction dunk tank. (bonus points if you read that dRunk tank, because... you know)
Doing readings can use a lot more spoons than we think, especially if it's new and there are people showing up bursting to tell you how much they liked your killer robot short or vampire trucker story or your book about cybernetic groundhogs running a subterranean society based on gambling and filched garden produce black market vendors. It really pulls a lot from some people to do readings followed by 10 people who are very* excited to talk to you about something you wrote.
Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time and Rick didn't pull his hair out over traffic. Or he did and you're gracious enough not to mention it.
This resonates so much with me. Last year I had one person at my reading, my wife/pulicist/wind underneath MY wings, not counting the other author. He HAD to be there. This year, there were more than five, some of whom were there to hear ME! (and one friend because I asked him to come). Yes, readings are a total crapshoot of ego and dread. I wish I had made it to yours, because well, I already told you how much this blog has helped me, but Dan Kemp is a friend and I wanted to support him as well. Schedule conflicts abound at cons, though, and LC is no exception. Like we say about something we ended up missing, "maybe next year." Thanks again, for the blog and the stories.
As the other author that year, I really enjoyed your reading, Michael. You have a great speaking voice, and you forced me to up my game. 🫡 I'm very glad to hear you had more people at this year's. 👏
Monalisa, I’m sorry I didn’t make it to your reading. That was in part because there were three other things on the schedule at the same time which I hated to miss (hey, it’s LibertyCon, right?), but mostly with my normal level of derpitude, I didn’t trust myself to be able to find the room 🙄. Have mentally tagged any reading you do next year as a priority!
No apologies needed. That is indeed the thing with LC. We’d all like to be triplets.
Ego is simple for a writer. You need to be a snail with a tender, tender foot, and a hard shell. The art is getting the right things to hit the right part.
Ah, SF conventions! I was in line to register once, behind a couple and their son, whom I had seen about conventions, and a friend of his from school, come to one for the first time.
That was when I saw "her jaw dropped" for the first time in real life as people in costume walked by. (Then, she was wearing a tie-dye Star Trek T-shirt. Told her it would make her fit right in, and it made her thoughtful.)
I actually spent a lot of time while sick thinking about and outlining how I'm going to do LibertyCon next year to focus on heading off my introvert stuff at the pass. I'm working on a piece about it and hopefully I can sell the idea for a presentation to the con since it's a writer's con not a selling con. I feel like I've sort of reached a mild understanding of the variables and how to navigate them.
We all like to reconnect and do stuff and live in the moment vacation style when we're there. But it really kind of takes some mindfulness about how to use your few spoons over a 3 or 4 day span in the public interaction dunk tank. (bonus points if you read that dRunk tank, because... you know)
Doing readings can use a lot more spoons than we think, especially if it's new and there are people showing up bursting to tell you how much they liked your killer robot short or vampire trucker story or your book about cybernetic groundhogs running a subterranean society based on gambling and filched garden produce black market vendors. It really pulls a lot from some people to do readings followed by 10 people who are very* excited to talk to you about something you wrote.
Anyway, I'm glad you had a good time and Rick didn't pull his hair out over traffic. Or he did and you're gracious enough not to mention it.
This resonates so much with me. Last year I had one person at my reading, my wife/pulicist/wind underneath MY wings, not counting the other author. He HAD to be there. This year, there were more than five, some of whom were there to hear ME! (and one friend because I asked him to come). Yes, readings are a total crapshoot of ego and dread. I wish I had made it to yours, because well, I already told you how much this blog has helped me, but Dan Kemp is a friend and I wanted to support him as well. Schedule conflicts abound at cons, though, and LC is no exception. Like we say about something we ended up missing, "maybe next year." Thanks again, for the blog and the stories.
As the other author that year, I really enjoyed your reading, Michael. You have a great speaking voice, and you forced me to up my game. 🫡 I'm very glad to hear you had more people at this year's. 👏
You, sir, are very kind, and I thank you! Maybe they'll schedule us together again next year!
🤞