Because it was already 6:00 p.m. by the time the members of our caravan were checking into our rooms, and the first programming items were to begin at 8:00, we immediately dove into dinner. Paul, Deb and I joined Diane Martin, David Shaw, their child Miles (check out the cute trio below), plus Kit and Joe Reed for a wonderful meal.

The conversation was lively—lots of talk of how the first Readercon came to be in 1987, plus nods to fallen comrade Bob Ingria—and the food was great. We’d all complained the year the restaurant was closed (was that two Readercons ago?), but the food has been much better since its reopening. Especially the tower of duck David and I split! (Though, yes, it’s more pricey, too. But the trade-off seems worth it to me, particularly since there’s so much great stuff happening at Readercon that it’s difficult to make a case for venturing out.)

The first panel I attended was “Writers Who Review,” and it featured an all-star line-up—Michael Bishop, Paul Di Filippo, Liz Hand, Barry Malzberg, Howard Waldrop, and Gene Wolfe. I never tire of hearing Barry Malzberg quote from his worst review ever: “Avon calls this a brilliant new novel, thereby making three mistakes in three words.” Michael Dirda asked Gene Wolfe whether he’d ever learned anything from a review, and Wolfe replied: “All I can say is … no.” The audience roared.

Unfortunately, there were readings going on at the same time, so I had to miss the second half of the panel. I normally sit in the first few rows of any panel, but this time I’d sat in the back just so I could slip away surreptitiously (as much as anyone 6′ 4″ can sneak) to head to friend Resa Nelson’s 8:30 reading. She read the opening chapter of The Dragonslayer’s Sword, and since there was time left, the first chapter of her new novel to be published next year, Our Lady of the Absolute.

Then it was off to hear F. Brett Cox read at 9:00 from his novel in progress It Came Out of the Sky. Brett always gives a good read, and it made me anxious to read the whole book. Now finish the damn thing, Brett!

There was no further official programming after that, so I hit the bar (because that’s what we do at these things, right?) and sat with Warren Lapine, Doug Cohen, Ron Sawyer, Rick Wilber, Jacob Weisman, Nick DiChario, and others, paging through the new issue of Realms of Fantasy. Congratulations to Warren for preventing a good magazine from dying. Now about Science Fiction Age …

After that, there was no more juice in me, so I crashed. Now it’s time to shower, shave, get dressed (in that order, I think) and get on with the day. Not only am I on two panels and giving a reading, but there are three panels and two readings by others I want to attend as well. Thank you, Readercon committee, for being that damn good!