BobDevney<p>[Final thought: in the con's last hours, I encounter award-winning SF writer and longtime Readercon star James Patrick Kelly in the hall — and bleat out the first thing that comes to mind]</p><p>Devney [startled]: Hey, didn't think you were here this year! I just read over your Wikipedia thingy last night.</p><p>Kelly [accurately]: Why, did you think I was dead?</p><p>Devney [busted]: Uh …</p><p>Kelly: [clutches his chest]</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/OhTheEmbarrassment" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>OhTheEmbarrassment</span></a></p><p>— END —</p>
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#readercon
75 posts · 2 participants · 0 posts today
BobDevney<p>[For works such as her landmark Green Bone Saga, fantasy writer Fonda Lee has thought long and hard about the corrosive effects of time on ideals, whether in rule or revolution]</p><p>It brings to mind the quote, "Either you die a hero, or you live to see yourself become a villain."</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Fantasy</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>History</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Per writer, professor, and gamecrafter Erin Roberts, the view may be sharpest through the rear-vision mirror]</p><p>Who decides when the revolution is over? The next revolution.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>History</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[In Sunday's panel titled After the Revolution, writer / union organizer Will McMahon ponders the gap between political cause and effect]</p><p>In 1972, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the outcome of the French Revolution [1789-1799]. He reportedly said, "Too soon to tell."</p><p>[Though he may have misunderstood, and thought the question was about the Chinese Revolution [1927-1949]. But still ...]</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>History</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Matthew Kressel puts the Weird Jobs panel behind us with a less-then-fond recollection of what we might call "caca de Long Island." He recalls his short-lived assignment at a people's plage in a New York state park that attracts 6 million NYC residents a year who urgently want to, uh, relax by the seaside.]</p><p>I cleaned public toilets at Jones Beach. It lowered my impression of humanity.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Jobs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jobs</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Nethercott's avocation as a folklorist brings to her attention some seriously loony shit]</p><p>Do you know about star jelly? Since the 12th century, people have reported that sometimes after a meteorite lands, you find a pile of jelly on the ground. In lots of places. In Mexico, it's called "caca de Luna."</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Jobs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jobs</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Mercier also has an exercise tip for us; don't know about you, but I feel seen]</p><p>Sitting is the new smoking.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Fitness" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Fitness</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Writer Matthew Mercier agrees with Kressel about writers' finances. On the subject of whether successful horror writers really rake in that sweet sweet, ah, let's call it blood money]</p><p>John Langan and Paul Tremblay are both public school teachers.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/TheWritingLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TheWritingLife</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Since 2008, writer Matthew Kressel has co-hosted the famous "Fantastic Fiction at KGB" barside reading series in Manhattan. (Each month, two spec fic authors read from their work, then everybody drinks.) Kressel indicates writing is not a job, it's an adventure.]</p><p>I'd say that less than 5 percent of the writers who come through the KGB series make a living as full-time writers.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/TheWritingLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>TheWritingLife</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[On the Weird Jobs panel, I think it's GennaRose Nethercott who comes up with this, as part of her philosophy to basically say to everything in life: yes I said yes I will Yes.]</p><p>Women are going to come up with enough reasons not to sleep with you. You don't have to come up with your own.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/GoodAdvice" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>GoodAdvice</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Boy, did writer Cecelia Tan get an early start on a show biz career, kinda]</p><p>When I was a teenager, I ran the biggest English-language Menudo fan club in the world.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Jobs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jobs</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Is writer Katherine Crighton telling us that one job required her to spend all her working time being, let's say, uh, REALLY charming on the phone?]</p><p>I did voice acting. Which was a euphemism for ... something else.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Jobs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jobs</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[As a kid, Vermont fantasy writer / poet / folklorist / podcaster / livewire GennaRose Nethercott didn't have to run away to join the circus. In Sunday's Readercon panel on Weird Jobs & the Worlds They Inspire, she shares her upbringing as a child performer in the family act—and her deep familiarity with the weird juxtapositions life will throw your way]</p><p>My father is a clown. And my mother is a therapist. </p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Jobs" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Jobs</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[I bought that Clute book from Joe Berlant in the Readercon Bookshop. You hear all sorts of things from booksellers; they've lived in the SFFH world a long time, & hobnobbed with players large & small. Example: Sally Kobee of the Larry Smith shop tells me she once cherished a pet, well, rat. Named, maybe, Cyndi? Which provides sorely needed context for her next sentence:]</p><p>I've known George R. R. Martin since forever; he once took one of my rat babies.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Books" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Books</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Again, I'm spending the convention lurching around on an intermittently pretty painful patella. So when John Clute performs an effortless deep knee bend, flexing down to a low table to dash off an autograph on my copy of his newest publication "The Book Blinders" (about how the British Library committed a centuries-long cultural high crime by trashing millions of books' dust jackets), I compliment him with obvious envy ... Grinning, the bastard does it again!]</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Books" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Books</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[Due to a badly timed dorveille, I oversleep and miss a much-anticipated kaffeeklatsch with John Clute, the colossus of SFFH critics. But in the hall later, Rich Horton <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://wandering.shop/@hortonwho" class="u-url mention">@<span>hortonwho</span></a></span> (the raja of reviewers) fills me in on the hour's highlights]</p><p>We're at a science fiction convention — so of course we spent quite a bit of time discussing Wallace Stevens. Oh, and the sins of the British Library.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Poetry" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Poetry</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>Well met at the hall in Readercon, editor and friend Rich Horton <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://wandering.shop/@hortonwho" class="u-url mention">@<span>hortonwho</span></a></span> mentions that, with Eric Schwitzgebel and Helen De Cruz, he's currently assembling a new anthology, modestly titled something like]</p><p>Best Philosophical Science Fiction in the History of All Earth</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/ScienceFiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>ScienceFiction</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Philosophy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Philosophy</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[At the insistence of my effin knee, at one point I collapse onto seating in the hall. Happily I'm soon joined by auld acquaintance F. Brett Cox. Besides writing, editing, & professoring, he finds time to aid administrator JoAnn (no relation) Cox & a kaleidoscopic cast of luminaries with the Shirley Jackson Awards, which he co-founded in 2007. This year they scrambled to find new jurors, but, because SFFH pros are good people]</p><p>Everybody we asked just said yes.</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Horror" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Horror</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[After trying and failing to sign up for his sold-out kaffeeklatsch, I somehow manage to also miss every other single appearance of one of my favorite newish writers, John Wiswell @Wiswell. But I do manage to waylay him in the hall long enough to blurt, about his brand-new novel I've just started — a wildly imaginative remix of the Labors of Herakles, "Wearing the Lion"— "That's one HELLUVA first chapter!"]</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Fantasy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Fantasy</span></a></p>
BobDevney<p>[In the Readercon hall on Sunday, I talk to writer friend Gillian Daniels. After years in the short story salt mines, she's making a break for the big tome]</p><p>I just sold my first novel! To Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It's horror; called "Jenny Will Eat You Now." It's supposed to come out in summer 2026. So maybe I'll have advance reading copies for NEXT Readercon …</p><p><a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Readercon" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Readercon</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Quotes" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Quotes</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Horror" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Horror</span></a> <a href="https://wandering.shop/tags/Books" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#<span>Books</span></a></p>
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