... seemed to go very well, I think. It was a small but responsive crowd of 13 people. Interestingly, it was half people I've met before and half strangers, and the new folks all sat on the right hand side and the acquaintances sat on the left. Gary was worried he didn't have enough material to cover the hour and a half, but everything timed out perfectly. At the end several people bought books, which is always a plus. And the librarian who organized the event seemed impressed and offered to write a letter for Gary to the local school systems. It'd be very cool if he got invited to speak at schools.

shemhazai drove out from Springfield to come to the reading, and she and I and Gary went out for sushi at Otani afterward. Yummy!

Gary's reading at the Old Worthington library is next Wednesday, the 26th, not the 27th.

Gary will be reading at the Old Worthington Library 7:30-9:00 p.m. on October 27th. The library is at 820 High Street, Worthington, Ohio 43085.

Come join us! He might bring goodies.

The Stokers went pretty well, I think. It was a nice laid-back convention for me. I got to hang out with some cool people and enjoyed the nice weather. Didn't get to do much sightseeing, but I wasn't expecting to. The redeye flight back early Monday morning was hot and sticky and smelly and cramped, but I pretty much expected that and it was bearable.

The Saturday signing at Dark Delicacies was way too crowded for my tastes, but I'm glad it apparently generated a lot of good business for the store. Store owners Sue and Del Howison were very good hosts and gave us a lot of freebies when we went back to browse the next day.

I've heard some grumblings about the lack of catering and afterparty, but I thought the con went very well. IMO HWA treasurer Lisa Morton did an excellent job on fairly short notice; as an added bonus, she did it for $9,000 less than last year's convention.

( Stoker Weekend photos of Karen Taylor, Gary Braunbeck, Jonathan Reitan, Chuck Palahniuk, and Del Howison -- may take some time to load )