The 5:2:1 rule of convention going applies to New Orleans. Try to get at least 5 hours of sleep per day, though it needn't be at night. Eat 1 or 2 meals daily - one for sustenance, and an optional second for the sheer pleasure of it (three is not only self-indulgence, it may actually count as self-harm. Do not succumb to temptation and eat five). ( Read more... )

Friday morning, I headed back to the con for a 9am panel on how to get your stories into anthologies, which was largely a litany of editors' pet peeves (which include being programmed at 9am) and a discussion of the relative merits of themed vs unthemed anthologies from the viewpoint of both publishers (themed anthologies sell better) and editors ( ( Read more... )

After the Smithsonian, I caught the Metro and a bus to Wolf Trap in Virginia to see the Indigo Girls and Joan Baez in concert. This was the main reason I left Perth early rather than stay to mark exams, and it was well worth it: Joan Baez still has the power in her voice after more than 50 years in the business (she recorded her first album the ( Read more... )