The coffee, it sustains

The first day at the con ... found me really running tired for multiple reasons, but I Pepsied my way through, having a fine crabcake dinner with Friends of Liad stalwarts Myles and Nancy from Chicago, that was at the Birch bar... and we were joined by John Peraultt (that can't be spelled right, sorry John) ...
so then the first panel on invention, where I couldn't get into the groove, in part because there were so many experts in the room ... that there wasn't much newer, realer, or more on point that I could add.

after that went back to the Birch bar for a drink some other folks and we ended up with a mini-round-table on the state of publishing...and rushed away from that to grab something else to eat because suddenly dinner was five hours behind me.

I was more in gear for the "keeping your serial fresh" pane; I moderated but a lot of the panel just ran, which is fun, with Mike Flynn, Juliet mcKenna, Pat Bray and Joel Shepherd ... not sure we solved it for other people, but it was an interesting time with some good audience questions and comments, too.

Then to the Art reception for wine and cheese and a bit of cheese cake ... lots of good folks and good music ...talked there with a bunch of the folks from Anticipation re hotels in Montreal ... and it looks like they are going fast... gah ... need to make reservations soon...

Then to parties for awhile, and had a chance to go to the Raleigh NASFIC bid party where Warren Buff was holding the fort. There were SMOFS at the party, to be sure...

And I got to my room to discover fresh news that Duainfey mass market is already in the wild and for sale, these 10 days early,really. then to be, andf then the alarm was going off and now, breakfast over, need to rush off to the dealers room... more impressions and comments as the clarify...

On track for Boskone

I am, very accurately, the first passenger on the train today --- the front seat in the front car, and I'm typing this as we travel AMTRAK ... the WIFI is WORKING TODAY and I just stopped typing long enough to crane my head to the left and watch Old Orchard Beach go by...I even caught sight of our usual OOB haunts like The Skylark ...

This is a pretty ride, with trackside rivers showing rapids and ice-bubbles, and the tidal sea-reaches mazes of jumble-block ice overflown by sea-gulls.

At the moment we're going very slow as we head into a siding to allow another train to pass...and another AMTRAK Downeaster passes us going north. The trees around me are blowing heavily in the wind, I look down and across into a snowy bank that's edged by evergreens.

An interesting sight as we pull into the Saco train station -- the wind generator that powers the station is spinning merrily as i sip on the soda that come gratis with the ride in the first car...

More later -- time for lunch!