March found me at OmegaCon in Birmingham and at MidSouthCon in Memphis.  Both were great fun!
 

I was on the road twice in March doing cons.  It was a lot of fun, and I am delighted by the people I met!

First off, I hit OmegaCon in Birmingham.  This was held at a great site in Birmingham's downtown.  The facilities were spectacular, though the programming was spread around a good bit making going from the literary panels to the dealers room a hefty hike.  But other than the separation, the location was great.

This was OmegaCon's inaugural event.  There was room to improve on a few things (the program book, for instance), but it was well attended and the organizers were diligent to make all the attendees and guests happy.  Their hard work seemed to pay off, as most everyone I met was satisfied.

I met some notable people there, which is always great.  David Drake, Mike Resnick, Chris A. Jackson and I were on a panel on humor in fantasy and science fiction on Friday evening.  That was a nice way to start things off for me!  (You can see all my panels on my cons page.)  I also met Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galgactica et. al.), Eric Flint (author) and Ben Bova (author).

A part of my time was spent hanging out with other small press publishers, like my good friends Dan and Jackie Gamber of Meadowhawk press.  I also spent some time with my friends from Kerlak Publishing, and when it was time for me to do autographs, it was Tales of Fantasy that I signed.

I hope to get invited back to be on panels again next year.  One way or the other, I plan to have a dealers table there for Double-Edged Publishing.

Last weekend, I was at MidSouthCon 26.  The people putting this on have had 25 years to get things right, and get them right, they do.  They utilize the facilities to the max squeezing meaningful programming out of every square foot available.

MidSouthCon holds special significance for me, as it was my first con three years ago.  I have become very comfortable there, and it is great to see people from years past and re-connect with them.

Ben Bova and Eric Flint, who I met at OmegaCon, were also there, so speaking with them again so soon after meeting them was nice.  Here, having a crazy last name like "Snodgrass" proved an asset.

The Gambers and the folks from Kerlak were also there, as well as other con-friends too numerous to mention in full (e.g. Joy Ward, Lee Martindale, Bev Hale...).  Knowing some of the programming committee (Caralin Stuart, Eric Groff, Danny Chamberlin, Kat Stephens...) also added to the fun!

I fully intend to be part of MidSouthCon next year, and I am scheming some big ideas for what I'd do with the dealers table I have already contracted for 2009.  Go ahead and start planning to be there to find out!

Before then, however, I suspect there will be other cons in my future.  Other cons have my attention and discussions are in the works.

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