I’m back home from Bubonicon, our venerable local con, and the last one on my schedule for this year. No more cons on my schedule until the end of February, when I’ll be headed to Virginia.

Bubonicon — named after our state’s rep as “home of the flea, land of the plague” — is much bigger and livelier than it used to be, but still a very friendly, fun local con, with a strong literary flavor. This year’s incarnation featured a great lineup of guests including Cat Valente, Tamora Pierce, and Mary Robinette Kowal. I enjoyed hanging them with, and getting to know them better. Terrific guests, terrific writers, and wonderful people. Warm and witty.

A whole bunch of my Wild Cards writers and friends were also on hand, including the usual New Mexico gang, and out-of-towners like Caroline Spector and Carrie Vaughn.

The highlight of the weekend, as ever, was our evening with Pope Francis.

And so con season draws to a close… but football season is almost at hand!