Listening to readings at a science fiction convention is a great way to find new-to-you authors and books. There are people who make a practice of hanging out in the reading rooms for that very reason. Because of this, and because I am (it must be admitted) not well-known, I request a reading slot at every convention I attend as a pro.

The experience is something of a mixed bag and has encompassed abject humiliations. Astronomicon 13 was NOT one of those. I was delighted to read for a half dozen people, some of whom had brought physical copies of my books that they wanted me to sign. As modest as it was, this was my best reading room success yet. I’m still having warm fuzzies over it.

A few hours after the reading, I had a panel called “What’s Mine is Line,” in which the authors are asked to identify who wrote the line presented by the moderator. The catch? One of the panelists themselves wrote it. When a panelist guessed correctly who wrote the line (whether their own or someone else’s), they received 10 points. For an incorrect guess, they received no penalty — unless it was THEIR OWN writing. Then they were docked 20 points.

Everybody laughed. Everybody cheated. Three of us (including me) guessed wrong about our own lines. (Hey, it could happen to anyone! The moderator pulled that line from a snippet I posted 8 years ago from a work that never made it to print!) I was deeply flattered by some of the lines the other authors thought were mine which weren’t. Hilariously, the non-romance writers on the panel began to ascribe the sexy lines to me.

And then, somehow, unbelievably, I won.

It was a good day all around.

The reading, by the way, was Food Fight. Which is, was, and always will be free! So get thee to thy favorite ebook seller, gentle reader, and pick up your own copy.