So, back from Readercon. Had a lovely time. Saw lots of old friends. Met lots of new ones. Avoided running into enemies, but possibly made some new ones. Did typical con activities. Some highlights:

• Attended first Kaffeklatch. Was disappointed that there was no Kaffee.
• Prior to hosting first Kaffeklatch, dubbed it “Klatch of the Titans,” then retitled it “Klatch of the Titan,” since there was only one of me.
• Hosted first Kaffeklatch. Infuriated that there was no fucking Kaffee.
• Took Kaffeeklatch attendees to dinner at Korean BBQ place due to extreme lack of Kaffee and extreme desire for food
  
• Discovered Kaffee in Con Suite and Green Room. Felt better.

And here are some non-Kaffee-related highlights:

• Saw with my own eyes, and touched with my own hand, the fabulous, the spiffy, the astounding Kowal Portable Typewriter and Adding Machine, which I’d previously seen on Mary Robinette Kowal’s blog (and subsequently on Boing-Boing)
• Chatting with Wastelands‘ publisher Jason Williams
  
• Listening to Gary K. Wolfe of Locus discuss the interesting life of Cordwainer Smith
  
• Dinner with Sean Wallace and Stephen Segal of Wildside Press/Prime Books at a restaurant with an animatronic moose
• Having Elizabeth Bear write me a rejection haiku on her autographing name tent, in essence creating for me a 1 of 1 limited edition poetry chapbook
• The haiku, “Slush Haiku in the Style of JJA,” reads: Thank you for your submission / But I am afraid / Your story “did not grab me.”
• The phrase (spoken with orgasmic glee): “Oh, Mr. Gernsback!”
• The Traveler Book Restaurant, where I got not only free books, but also some kick-ass pizza as well
• Getting a review copy of RADIO FREEFALL by Matt Jarpe hand-delivered
• Hanging out in the bar with Paolo Bacigalupi and others
  

No doubt there were many more excellent things that happened, and apologies here if I didn’t drop your name, but it’s getting late and I have to work tomorrow. Can’t be falling asleep when I’m supposed to be reading slush.

Oh, and one other thing: At the con, I also llearned that I can now announce that I’ll be editing an original SF anthology for Prime. More details on that soon!

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Two of my agent’s (Jenny Rappaport) other clients have started blogs: Nathalie Mallet, author of PRINCES OF THE GOLDEN CAGE (Night Shade Books, August 2007) and Dave Williams, author of THE MIRRORED HEAVENS (Bantam, July 2008).

Also, F&SF author John Langan has a blog. Go say hello!

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I’m off to Readercon in the morning. I posted my con schedule here, if you’re interested. If you’re at the con and see me walking by, come say hello (even though your instinct might be to run away, or run to your room to arm yourself with weaponry). If you’re not at the con and you see me walking by, run, it’s an evil clone!

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Strange Horizons is having its annual fund drive. Give a little, why don’t ya?

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To raise money for his impending relocation to England, where he intends to take up a secondary career as a housesitter, F&SF author Matthew Hughes is auctioning off some items that may be of interest to collectors. He’s going to hold a number of auctions over the next few weeks. First up:

Lot 1 — Fools Errant hardcover: this is the original 1994 Maxwell Macmillan Canada edition, signed, in near mint condition — it’s unread but it’s been moved around from time to time — and dust-jacketed. Only 750 copies were printed, and most of them went to Canadian libraries.

Lot 2 — Black Brillion proof: this is a Advanced Reading Copy paperback, with no artwork on the cover, signed, in mint condition.

Lot 3 — Magazines: a complete set of my magazine appearances from recent years. In total, there are twenty-one stories, sixteen from F&SF, Two from Asimov’s, two from Postscripts, and one from Interzone. Each story is signed on the page where it starts. As a bonus for completists, I’ll also throw in signed copies of my two stories in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine and a Czech and Russian edition of F&SF with a couple of my pieces.

HOW TO BID

For each of the three lots, e-mail a bid to mhughes[at]mars.ark.com, and put AUCTION and the LOT NUMBER in the subject line. I’ll post the latest bids (assuming they keep coming in) daily, or more often if there’s a lot of action. There will be no time limit (I’m not Ebay); when bids stop coming, I’ll sell to the highest. There will also be shipping costs.

For more information, visit Matt’s web site at http://www.archonate.com.

 

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