Costumes, a crazy man, and a timely dose of pharmaceuticals
Mario here:
Well, it's over. Another MileHiCon has come and gone. It was a lot of fun meeting old friends, making new ones, and hobnobbing with the fans. Of course, we can't forget the awesome costumes and attitude.
Among the highlights, the panel
Must Action/Adventure = Dumb/Mindness with the bemused Betsy Dornbusch and the expressive (and Locus Award winning)
Paolo Bacigalupi. (He's from southwest Colorado where people normally act like this.)
Paolo had much to celebrate. He's next year's toastmaster and his much acclaimed debut sci-fi novel, The Windup Girl, just hit the bookshelves.
Steampunk was the prevailing theme with an amazing assortment of takes on the costumes. Jacob shows off his matching tarboosh and robe as he holds a copy of
Cherie Priest's steampunk novel,
Boneshaker.
If you love
Steampunk, unbuckle your corset and wave your gloves.
One new acquaintance was
Stuart Neville, who journeyed all the way from Northern Ireland to flog his new thriller,
The Ghosts of Belfast. What cultural wisdom did Stuart share? That there is nothing sadder than an Irishman and his empty glass of beer.
The look of frustration. Jeanne was all set to proclaim
Spike as the sexiest vampire of all
time. Then another panelist beat her to the punch. Jeanne did not take it gracefully. I was about to hit 9-1-1 on the cell. Here she is after we administered Valium.
A Winner! Though none of us Biting-edgers attended Bouchercon last week, we can tell you that fellow mystery writer James O. Born won a
Barry for his short story "The Drought."
Any thoughts on e-book readers? Luv' em? Or are they the Devil's handmaiden?