As per usual for me and Readercon, my Readercon experience didn’t begin at Readercon. Instead of flying to Boston and bussing it to Burlington, I flew to Providence for a morning with Paul Di Filippo and Deb Newton, which this year also meant some pre-con time with Liz Hand and Michael Dirda. We got a tour of the new Di Filippo/Newton castle and ate a Chinese/Thai lunch before heading out mid-afternoon.

Because programming wasn’t starting until 8:00 p.m., the afternoon and evening was spent in the usual lobby schmoozing followed by a massive dinner for 15 with me and Liz at the heads of the table (though I guess one of us was really the foot) and 13 others between us, including Howard Waldrop, Rose Fox, John Clute, Graham Sleight and many others.

But then—a quandary. My 9:00 p.m. reading was scheduled against one of the two panels I most wanted to see at the con, “The Influence of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency.” Luckily, there was a solution. I decided my iPhone had a sufficient microphone to record me reading solo, and yielded over my Flip camera to Paul Di Filippo so he could record the Meredith panel. Which meant I could be in two places at once.

And now, you can also be in two places at once.

So first, here’s my reading of “Things That Never Happened,” which will be out later this year or early next in an issue of Postscripts.

And then, “The Influence of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency” in two parts (for a reason you don’t need to know). The panel features the big brains of Barry Malzberg, Eric Van, David Hartwell, and Gordon Van Gelder.

I share this Friday afternoon, rather than waiting until I’m home, in the spirit of Edelman’s Schadenfreude Theory of Convention Reporting, but also because, hey, it’s not too late for you to hop in your car or catch a plane to attend what’s consistently been my favorite con of the year.

Get on down here!