Yesterday was our second rehearsal for the Cole Sarar SciFi Reading Hour. I'm glad we added a another session because I failed to do my homework this last time. Plus, I found it deeply distracting to try to read while Scott played--especially since he was electrified and we weren't. I read my absolute WORST. So, I guess it's good to have gotten that over with? Hopefully, things will only improve from here.

Some funny observations:

Our rehersals keep getting longer because Scott and I can't stop talking. Now that Cole is comfortable with us both, they are also joining in, but, inevitably someone has to say, "We should probably get to work or we'll never get out of here." 

The number of people that Scott and I have in common is starting to reach into strange and unusual places. I'm now starting to wonder how it is even possible that I have never previously talked to him before now. Like, seriously, he's very close friends with someone I regularly play D&D with. (lcohen , it's Carrilon.) The mystery is no longer "Oh, you know THEM?" but "Are you sure we've never been at a party together at some point???"

We spent a long time talking about what Cole likes about Convergence because I have been feeling kind of grumpy about that con ever since it moved to the hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Talking about it makes me feel like a fuddy-duddy, too, and I like that even less. Like, when Cole asked me why I'm not fond of Convergence, I started muttering about crowds and finding it hard to find the people I want to hang out with, and finally "eh, it's always felt like a party con." And, like, some of that is unfair. But, neither Cole nor Scott knew if there were any actual booksellers in the dealer's room--not, I had to clarify, "People sitting at tables with the books they've published" or people like Queen of Swords Press or Tor Books who are selling books, but only from their own publishing house. I mean, like people who are selling books who might potentially bring, say, Naomi's books or one of the Guest of Honor's books... or, you know, if it's Dreamhaven or Uncles, one of my books. They didn't think so, but the fact that that it never occured to them that one of the reasons authors go to conventions is to, you know, sell books, but don't actually necessarily want to have to sit behind a table hand selling their own books.... kind of tells me a lot. Like, I don't expect booksellers to be a con as small as Gaylaxicon (though Dreamhaven did have a spot in our dealer's room thanks to Greg being one of the GoHs.) because it's small. But, Convegence is massive. They should be attractive to a lot of booksellers. And yet... I don't think they are. And I think that's because it's still largely true that people don't go to Convergence to buy books.

The bookseller at Capclave was hopping. So, I don't think it's that booksellers can never make money at conventions. Greg and Lisa are forever travelling to conventions around the country, so it must be worthwile to them at least on some level or you'd think you'd have to eventually not go due to travel costs being higher than profit. 

Anyway, this led us to the Great Schism of Minicon and only Cole and I were old enough to remember experiencing it in real time. Cole's first ever convention was Convergence. 

I don't know where I was going with this. 

Anyway, it was a fun time. Part of what I hope to do today is spend a little time cleaning up some of the prose in my story. I wrote it very fast for an anthology and I'm kind of surprised my writers' group didn't catch some of my repetitive language, etc. But, some of that is less obvious when you read it, than when you read it OUT LOUD. Several times!

I think I need more coffee to be more articulate. Feel free, local and other Convergence attending folks, to drop me a comment about what you love (or don't) about Convergence lately.