MidSouthCon 33 Wrap Up
Memphis reminds me a lot of my home town of Montgomery, AL. Both are relatively flat, have a river running through down town, and possess that big-small-town feel. Be kind to whomever you meet. You’ll see them again shortly. With luck, they’ll bring fried chicken.
I had the pleasure of being a temporary Memphian — or as I have proposed they re-brand themselves, “Mempheasant” — this weekend for MidSouthCon 33. I started the weekend by sitting in on the Nation of Jake radio show, during which Jake discovered and exploited my complete ignorance of Mr. Mom plot details, damn his eyes.
Once at the convention, I spoke at a panel on time travel, worm holes, and other such fantastical astrophysical whatnots. The panel seemed to agree that we like portals better than wormholes since the latter’s tidal forces are likely to spaghettify you as you approach. What’s the point of traveling somewhere if you’re a one-atom-wide string when you get there? Even worse than air travel.
I met fellow writer Michael D’Ambrosio (Fracturedtime.com) and convention toastmaster Frank Tuttle (franktuttle.com) on that panel, and both turned out to be good friends to have. I learned a lot about being a good panelist and con attendee from those two.
Here I am, paneling alongside Mr. Tuttle, Ben Herr, and S.H. Roddey on the Humor in Writing panel.
Photo: Sean Grigsby
On Saturday, I had a slot to hawk my books on Pro Row, and the great fortune to be sat next to Kim Smith. After a few minutes chatting to Kim, very kind convention attendee appeared and offered to buy a copy of Dangerous Dan, even though I had no signage, credit card machine, or even change for a $20. Luckily, Kim had the latter and saved the sale. Thank you, Kim!
That evening I traveled into Memphis to walk around Beale Street a bit. I got to see W.C. Handey’s house, then ate some of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken. Since I was alone and the restaurant was busy, I just sat outside on a big plastic pipe to eat my chicken, which was okay since I had a cold beer too.
A gentleman asked me what I, my chicken, and my cold beer were doing on the pipe and I explained that I was traveling. Where from? Atlanta. He nodded, satisfied. I must have been unwittingly fulfilling some peculiar habit of fried chicken gobbling Atlantans.
On Sunday, I spoke at a few more panels, concluding with a Dark & Stormy, which is an improv game in which a story is made up using written audience suggestions. I thought my standup comedy experience would serve me well. I ended up resorting to puns, which elicited many groans. The crowd turned on me when I refused to read one of the later jokes, which was revolting and without merit. “Read it!” they yelled. I read it. Silence.
I warned you guys.
I was sad to leave on Sunday, but missing Sweetie and home too. Unfortunately for me, a rain cloud parked itself over my car and followed me for hundreds of miles, pelting me with rain as it went. I took screenshots to prove it.
All in all, it was a great weekend, and I learned a lot. I hope they’ll have me back next year.
Next stop: JordanCon in April!
