ReaderCon Report

Other people have covered this thought-provoking "imaginative literature" event better than me, Matt Kressel and John Scalzi among them. Long story short:

-went to some cool panels-played (and lost soundly at) Mafia-heard Altered Fluid-mate, Paul Berger, read live for the first time-helped Matt Kressel secure his place as preeminent publishing tycoon of Hoboken NJ-enjoyed China Mieville's eloquent and impassioned trashing of the Democratic Party-met more puppeteers than I ever thought I would-ate Icelandic licorice

In the air-conditioned ether of the Burlington Marriott, a number of intriguing thoughts availed themselves. Among them:

-humanity is evolving toward unconsciousness (courtesy of R. Scott Bakker)-speculative fiction is the only fiction that can make literature relevant again (as above)-truth on its own does nothing at all. Truth plus power changes things (courtesy of China Mieville)-using the word "dis" to describe a totally justified rejection from a respected SF magazine might just possibly be misinterpreted and should therefore be avoided (courtesy of John Joseph Adams-"interstitial" is not a category of fiction but an adjective roughly defining those works which can not be categorized easily. This matters. More later (courtesy of Ellen Kushner and many others)-two heads really are better than one (courtesy of John Scalzi)