As I warned everyone visiting this site posting will be thin during the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period as I work 10-hour days five days a week and half days on Saturdays. Still, the money looks nice every two weeks.

Last week was Thanksgiving and for the first time since November of 2019 I returned to LosCon, the annual Los Angeles area science-fiction convention. They did hold an in-person convention in 2021 but I was not yet feeling secure enough with the pandemic to venture out of my home for crowded rooms. But this year, yes, and it felt so good to mingle again with my people.

After finishing work on Friday my sweetie-wife picked me up and we immediately headed out for Los Angeles. Luckily, the Friday following thanksgiving is light in traffic and we made good time arriving at the hotel just after 6 in the evening. Of course, arriving in the evening and after checking in, getting our convention badges, and having dinner, there were few panels left to attend. Still, there was one on writing effective horror that had small enough attendance that it turned into a pleasant round-table conversation between the pair of panelists and the audience. Exhausted from work and the trip I made it an early night and slept for just over 9 hours.

Saturday started early with breakfast and then the first panel which I was on and moderated, Everything You Need to Know About Editing. I had a pair of ladies, Jessica Brawner and Rebecca Inch-Partridge and I think we had a pretty good discussion.

I followed that up with a presentation on space imagery from a couple of JPL scientists.

Towards the end of the panels, I moderated another one, this time the subject was Finding Your Own Voice in Writing. I had a great full panel of writers with loads of good advice. Voice is particularly hard to define and that is doubly so when looking at your own writing.

That evening I rolled the dice and toured the parties. Unusually sociable I had a nice time talking with people I hadn’t seen in years and a few who enjoyed some of my panels.

Sunday, I had a more economical breakfast at a fast-food spot and enjoyed another day of panels including two more that I sat on, How to Write For a Specific Genre and What the Publishing Landscape Looks Like Today.

Once I finished the final panel my sweetie-wife and piled into my Kia and headed back to San Diego. Stopping only for our Sunday shopping trip, we made it home with enough time for us to watch the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and then it was bedtime to get up early for another 10-hour day at my job.

It was a good weekend.