At Wiscon, I took in a few readings. Let’s talk about them.
Oxford Comma Bonfire: The readers were Vylar Kaftan, Nancy Hightower, Michael Underwood and LaShawn Wanak. Vylar read an upcoming story from the Mayhem and Glitter anthology. Nancy read a short about an artist creating a pathological disease from his work, LaShawn read an amazing piece about the divine driving those who had seen angels mad, and Michael read a piece from his new novel Celebromancy. I enjoyed all the readings, and Michael was such a performer that he has agreed to give me an interview about his technique.
Monsters, Magic, Mayhem, and Mothers: Also New York: Christopher Barzak, Kristin Livdahl, and M. Rickhart. Lots of good stories here as well. It’s no secret that I’m a Barzak fan, and his story, also coming in Glitter and Mayhem was a riff on the twelve dancing princesses. I am finding that my memory fails me about the other two stories, which is inexcusable, but is testimony more to my recent schedule than there quality.
Compass Reading: Catherine Schaff-Stump, Alex Jennings, David Engelstad, and Anna LaForge. No point in talking about my own reading, but my three partners in crime read some interesting things. David and Anna both presented a very different kind of high fantasy each, and Alex read from Peaches! his high concept YA that I’m on the look out for as soon as it comes out.
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There were a lot of other excellent readings that I’d wish I’d gotten to. It’s really one of the strengths of the convention.
