Back from Denvention, and this time I get to stay home for a while.

Worldcon is always one of the highlights of my year. (I am still sorry I missed Japan last summer). This one had some problems, admittedly. We were scattered over seven different hotels spread out across most of downtown Denver, we had to share the cavernous convention center with several other conventions, the con was way too early (worldcons should be held on Labor Day weekend, the traditional date, not the first weekend of bloody August), and the party hotel (the Sheraton) really sucked. Even so, I had a great time. Hey, it was worldcon. There are good worldcons and not-so-good worldcons, but the worst worldcon is still great.

For me, the highlight of the weekend was getting to go up and accept Michael Chabon’s Hugo for THE YIDDISH POLICEMAN’S UNION. A great book, and a great honor, and the comments Michael made in the acceptance speech he sent me were very gracious. Calling him afterward to tell him that he’d won was also great. He really did not expect it; his surprise and delight were palpable, even across a couple of thousand miles.

Melbourne won the right to host the 2010 worldcon (not unexpectedly, since they had no competition), so for all my Australian readers who have been emailing me to come visit Down Under, please circle the dates on your calendars. The Aussies always give great con. Visit the Aussiecon IV website and sign up now; memberships will never be cheaper than they are today.

We had a great time — and a good crowd — at the Wild Cards panel as well. At my reading, I read the first third of “The Mystery Knight,” my new Dunk & Egg novella, and that seemed to go over well. Did the usual round of power breakfasts, editorial lunches, and publisher dinners, had lots of good meetings on lots of projects… and, of course, there were the parties. As usual, the Brotherhood Without Banners threw the best parties at the cons. My thanks to Stego, Mr & Mrs X, Kate, Queen Julie the First, Yags, Skylark, Daj, Vanessa, and the rest of the crew, and my congratulations to the new Knights of the Tomato Pie. And a shout out to Pod and Lodey, who were missed.

Only one more trip this year (Calgary, for the World Fantasy Convention), so for all you folks who are worried that I’m having too much fun, relax. My assistant Ty is getting the grindstone back up to speed, and I am about to press my nose to it once more.

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