So, I’m back from terrorizing, er that is, visiting Chattanooga for the almost-annual pilgrimage that is LibertyCon. It is probably one of the most unusual of the smaller major cons, as far as spread of topics, kinds of people, and so on.
This year, instead of driving straight through from North Texas to Chattanooga, the trip got broken in the Memphis area. None of us wanted to deal with Memphis rush hour, especially when the secondary Mississippi River bridge was intermittently closed. It’s an interesting drive on I-40, because it feels as if the moment you cross from Oklahoma into Arkansas, the trees swarm in and that’s the end of the landscape until you get to the rice fields. Then the trees close in again until Chattanooga. The land gets more rolling, even mountainous for the last stretch from Nashville to Chattanooga. On the way back, we diverted up to Clarksville [no, we did not take the last train], to visit a bakery and winery, in that order. I drove back down to I-40. I can now add the Cumberland and Dan rivers to my life list.
As usual Liberty Con alternated frenetic with quiet. I went to a number of panels, including one on martial arts (Judo/Karate-type) and writers, writing humor, the neurosciences fire-side chat, and other intriguing topics. I crossed paths with a lot of people, nodded to others in passing, and missed several folks. I also skipped all the room parties, and made it to the ConSuite a grand total of once. That might be a record low.
LibertyCon is small as cons to, but still can feel a bit overwhelming at panel change, or when Authors’ Alley is in full swing. I love the wide variety of panels. There are things for writers, for fans, for science types, for art types, the ever popular “No [Sheep], there I was” panel, and the Baen Traveling Roadshow, where they talk about new releases, cover art, series plans, and other fun stuff.
I was on the werewolves panel, which had a very small audience this year. It was the first panel on Saturday, and werewolves aren’t really trendy at the moment. Then the Indie Publishing Q and A and Panel that seemed to go very well. We try to update everyone on changes to terms-of-service, trends, new tools for writers, and so on. (Dorothy Grant ran the panel, LawDog, Jim Curtis, yours truly, and Tom Rogneby chimed in, and the Lawyer on the Almost Back Row contributed, along with a few others). I slid out a little early to get to my reading. David Appleby read from his excellent new alternate history novel about the Roman Empire (what if Varus won at The Teutoberg Forest?) and his stories in the Lost Battalion universe. I read two short-short stories, one an urban fantasy about teaching, and The Pizza Story.
Sunday had too many neat panels all at once, as usual, so I went to the neurosciences panel. Then I went … Shopping. Having one carry-on sized bag, plus my satchel, put a crimp in my style but saved my budget, probably. Oh well. One waistcoat, two pieces of art, and some soap later, I’d managed to max out my Bag of Holding. (The first time I tried to pack for LibertyCon, I suddenly understood why Victorians had so much luggage. And I don’t even try to take a proper hat.)
For those wondering about meals, I got breakfast, then nibbled on stuff I’d brought, since I knew from experience that I’d be running around and forget to Do Food.
All in all I had a good Con. The drives were Gott Sei Dank uneventful, aside from the BOLO in Arkansas on Wednesday that ended up inspiring a short story (trucker sorcerer, Highway Patrol officer who accidentally curses his rig, and Bad Guy). The folks at Chattanooga did a fantastic job dealing with heck, high water, and a fire alarm, (plague was joked about).
I don’t think I will make it to next year’s con, because of probable lack of internet on Ticket Day (July 20). We’ll see.
Cat Rotator's Quarterly 
Did I see an Orvan Taurus in the wild, there? Otherwise, I need to reconsider what I had for supper.
It was good to meet you and several other mischief makers IRL, hear stories, and see Lawdog in frenetic thought and motion. I regarded that as a tall tale, instead of fact. Many good panels, and lots of good information to soak in. Neuroscience was like the better tech symposia sessions I’d been in; it extended another half-hour outside the room. Got good answers to a couple of questions I asked, outside.
I was more happy about the plethora of coolers and water bottles. It was just as easy and more dangerous to Forget To Drink, and I was down a quart or so on the previous week [no, not vampires].
Orvan Taurus was in disguise, but he was there.
On the Forget To Drink front, my wife experienced the consequences of that first hand. We walked over to Community Pie for pizza Friday evening, and after we finished she decided to take our baby daughter and go check out the vendor booths at the street fair outside. She apparently didn’t remember to drink water when we got back, and woke up Saturday morning dehydrated and suffering from heat exhaustion, and possibly a touch of a stomach bug. Took her until the Sunday to fully rehydrate, and until Tuesday before her digestive system was really back to normal. Ugh. (And then I was weeding Tuesday evening and didn’t drink enough water, so was dehydrated Wednesday. Enough water and electrolytes and a good night sleep and I felt fine this morning.)
Beside that, it was a great convention for us. There were at least three things I wanted to be doing going on at any time. I missed parts of a few panels I was watching because my daughter was getting antsy and needed me to take her for a walk or roll. My wife was feeling well enough to show up during the middle of the Baen Road Show and take the little one, so I was able to go and hear The Pizza Story and laughing my head off.
I’ve been that dehydrated, and don’t wish to repeat it! Seeing Orvan Taurus with special delivery made me rhino I was that far, again.
The pizza tale … I *was* thinking of personal pizzas and fresh marinara sauce this week. Now I need to check the perimeter. There were odd tracks in the garlic patch (planted 3 bulbs worth, almost ready), and some stalks pushed over a bit.
It was great to see you as always, and we did have fun on the panels!