That was the Armadillocon that was (2022 edition)

I attended the 44th edition of Armadillocon over the weekend. For those of you who are impatient and want me to cut to the chase: I had a good time. The end.

For those who want a more detailed recap, I'll do as best as my increasingly unreliable memory will allow. I was oddly tired all weekend. Mind you, conventions normally wear me out, so that I often take the following Monday off from work. This year, however, I was tired all day, every day, not just in the evenings. And there weren't any big room parties to keep me up late the night before. If this is indeed age sneaking up on me, I would very much like to speak to a manager.

Mask wearing in panels was mandatory. Yes, the masks were annoying, but not as annoying as the superspreader event I got to be a part of last month. The convention was wise to err on the side of caution. What's more, the guests and attendees were wise to not make a thing of it. Folks were pretty chill that way.

There were several moments over the course of the weekend where it turned out that folks I knew from science fiction circles also knew folks I know from tiki circles. It may be hard to fathom for some of you, but by and large SF crowds are broadly unaware of my interest in tiki (it being an interested that manifested only a few years pre-COVID) and tiki crowds are almost always surprised to discover I'm a published author. When those interests overlap, it can be a bit disconcerting. Nice, but disconcerting nonetheless.

Programming was interesting and varied, continuing Armadillocon's established efforts to avoid same-old, same-old programming topics. My one complaint, if it even rises to that of a complaint, was that I ended up scheduled opposite the one panel topic I had suggested (2001: How Near Future SF Has Changed). I didn't necessarily need to be on it, but would've liked to hear what others had to say on the matter. Other than that, I had no complaints. I ended up sharing two panels with Ehi Okosun, who has a duology coming next year from Harper Voyager. On several occasions, he had no qualms about telling me my half-baked ideas could probably stand another 10 minutes in the oven. I can't speak for her experience, but I thoroughly enjoyed our time spent together and look forward to seeing more of her in the future.

On other panels I obviously ran amok, and talked for entirely too much time on defunct Texas hockey leagues and the fact that more than one game was "fogged out" back in the day when hot, humid September air rolled into unairconditioned rodeo arena and engaged the retrofitted ice rinks in mortal combat. And I also worked references to the Chicken Ranch into pretty much every panel discussion, but I think by this point we all agree that's pretty much baked into the equation.

In other news, the great Sara Felix wowed everyone by presenting the GoH lineup with custom tiaras accompanied by poetic vignettes. The Willie Siros memorial panel was bittersweet (and the act of walking through the dealers' room was a surreal experience without Willie's larger-than-life presence behind the stacks of books). Malvern Books was there, selling copies of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch, which made me quite happy. They also sold out of their stock, which made me even happier. I also signed more stuff over the weekend than perhaps I ever have before. In addition to the Chicken Ranch book, I signed copies of the Writers of the Future volume I'm in (haven't seen one of those in ages), a copy of The Leading Edge with my story "Devil in a Tiny Little Ocean Bloc Container," which I can't recall ever signing copies of, and The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities. Just about the only thing missing were old Interzone back issues!

I had great conversations with Patrice Sarath, Jess Nevins, Mikal Trimm, Mark Finn, C. Stuart Hardwick, Renee Babcock, Beth Bugbee, Jessica Reisman, Josh Rountree, Scott Cupp, Don Webb, D.R.R. Chang, Matthey Bey (who gifted me some fantastic homebrew prickly pear wine!), Stina Leicht, Troyce Wilson, A. Lee Martinez and a host of other people I'm forgetting. I also got to meet Writer Guest of Honor Dr. Darcie Little Badger, who lives in San Marcos (yet somehow doesn't work at the university). How cool is that?

Below are various photographs I took over the course of the weekend. I'm not including captions because I'd like for this to come out before Armadillocon in 2023. Those folks contained therein know who they are and if you don't know someone, consider it a challenge to attend the next Armadillocon and fill that particular blank on your social dance card.

Now Playing: Arthur Lyman The Legend of Pele
Chicken Ranch Central