Sense of Adventure

That’s, Holiday Inn, in official Archon abbreviation. Not Hawaii. I’d say, “sadly,” but I’m pretty thrilled to be here.

I’ve been offline for a couple days. Now back thanks to the hotel’s wireless net. At least until the Nerd Wave crashes it sometime Friday evening, along with the elevators.

Did an appearance tonight with Guest of Honor Barbara Hambly, an excellent writer who’s also quite nice, at the Brentwood Library, courtesy of Sheila Lenkman, the Masquerade Goddess. It was fun; we got twenty-five people. We talked a little, read some excerpts, signed some books. Sheila was disappointed that I didn’t bring the famed Toy Dinosaurs; I told her people would have to come to the reading tomorrow at 4:00 PM at the Holiday Inn (or HI.) Although sadly a fair number of attendees can’t make it because of the steep NASFiC membership rates.

Instead I read a couple passages from my story for the upcoming Wild Cards anthology, Busted Flush. It seemed to go over pretty well.

More later. I’m pretty fuzzed, having started the day on an early expedition to do Cowboy Action shooting at a local club and pretty well kept running since. I’ll be a busy lad, writing on my latest Rogue Angel as well as doing a bunch of con stuff.

I’m really looking forward to this con.

Yes, dinosaurs. As in, I make toy dinosaurs fight.

How can you possibly resist?

If you should happen to find yourself at NASFiC/Archon on Thursday afternoon, August 2, at 4:00 PM, clearly you can’t.

I’ll be reading from my finally-nearing-completion-dammit high fantasy epic novel The Dinosaur Lords. The excerpts I read at the Albuquerque Science Fiction Society meeting last month got a pretty rockin’ reception from the audience. Of course, you could probably read from the phone book white pages and get a good reaction if you accompany it by having a molded-plastic Allosaurus bite a model Corythosaurus on the neck.

(Friendly tip: if you write to tell me Allosaurs weren’t, so far as we know, contemporary with Corythosaurs, I shall mock you. They are on my world, buddy boy. As I’m at pains to tell my audiences right off, it ain’t Earth. Please feel free to go back and review the definition for “high fantasy” if you need a refresher, here.)

So anyway, of course I have to schlep a pack of the things in my luggage to St. Louis. This will complicate my keeping my checked bag under the airline’s 50-pound limit. One is tempted to stuff ‘em in the backpack. One can, however, too readily imagine the grotesque melodrama that would educe from “security” screeners. That’s enough of a nightmare already, thank you kindly.

Oh - just struck me: I’ve actually made to-scale plasticine dudes, weapons, and even a howdah to help me visualize my action scenes. I’m sure the bitty figures would not survive the trip, so I thought about just taking a block of modeling clay and making them up when I get to the hotel.

Then I thought again. That’d go well, given the most recent phony terror scare. So, sadly, the fans’ll have to settle for dinosaurs sans riders.

Anyway … Dinosaur Lords is a smokin’-hot yarn, even without the visual aids. On the other hand, if you’ve never seen a middle-aged 230-pound guy with a ponytail thrash around onstage making model dinosaurs attack each other while making growling noises - and very, very few have - it’s not to be missed.

Really.

And if you have to miss it, there’ll be another performance at Bubonicon in August. Even if you have caught a prior reading, I should be reading different excerpts. And there’s no telling what’ll happen when I get rolling with the ’saurs!

And of course, Friday the 3rd is my birthday. Just to drop an unsubtle hint like a brick, there.

Hope to see you soon. The cons really will be fun. Both of ‘em. And so will my readings.

Ooh. Ooh. We gotta. Go. Now.

Or in an alarmingly short period of time.

Yes, I’ll soon be on public display at Archon 31, aka NASFiC, aka TuckerCon. It runs from August 2-5 at the Collinsville, IL Gateway Center. Big fun. If you can stand the heat. And the humidity.

I don’t have much choice - although I’d definitely choose to go, because I wasn’t being sarcastic about the big fun thing - nor, sadly, the heat or humidity things - since I’m Masquerade Emcee. The Archon Masquerade is basically the coolest thing in fandom, and this year will likely be the biggest and best ever.

My tentative schedule is available - click on the link, then search for Vic Milán. I was as perplexed by “Vic-tory on Stage” as you are, until my query email was promptly answered that it’s an MC’s view of what makes a winning Masquerade entry. Sounds fun; I’ll have to try to catch it. Especially since I suggested it in the first place.

Otherwise the double-booked signing on Thursday is a likely scratch, especially inasmuch as I’m scheduled for one Friday. Also I’ll be doing a library gig somewhere Wednesday evening with GoH Barbara Hambly. I’ll post more info when I get ’round to digging it out. (Hey. I don’t have to know where it is. It’s not like I’m driving.)

Anyway, Archon is a great con - I’ve been going for, whoa, over a quarter-century now, and always have a blast. Good people and good times.

Hope to see you there.

It’ll be an Adventure.