Some of you might have heard me mention at some point, perhaps once or twice, that I was to be the Author Special Guest at CoreCon in Moorhead, MN. That happened this past weekend.
Thursday night was packing night. We packed up our clothes, some food, my stock of books, a costume for my wife to wear while judging the costume contest. Mr. Belyn was of great assistance in the matter. 
Then we trundled off to bed to get a good night’s sleep before hitting the road.
Friday –
We left early Friday morning, first driving south to Savage, MN to drop of Mr. Belyn at the cat sitters, then north to Moorhead, stopping once to stretch and walk around at a spot with a historical marker about a smugglers trail. Inside the rest station was a state road map, something I haven’t seen in a couple of years. 
We stopped one more time for gas and arrived at the Days Inn – Moorhead. We were greeted enthusiastically by the convention organizers, but our room wasn’t quite ready and there was a medical emergency with a hotel guest, so we drove over to the Village Inn restaurant for warm food. Full and happy, we returned to the hotel, got our room key, and upon entry was greeted by a lovely gift basket.
At first I was daunted by the strange hotel, but there were these helpful posters all over the con space.
We hit opening ceremonies which, while not without glitches, was good fun (which become the stuff of amusement and laughter- this was one of the truly lovely and joyful things about CoreCon, even when things were going a little awry, everyone took it in good humor and made the best of the situation). 
Sherry and Kev the Roadie helped me set up my table and display in the dealers room, 
where we found ourselves next to these desperadoes 
and across from these folks, who had a taste for terror 
, and all of them were the absolute best neighbors you could ask for in the dealers room.
No sooner were we set up then I had to head for my first programming item: I was helping crew the bridge for the Artemis Bridge Simulator Demo. Our captain was the ever-funny Joseph Scrimshaw and two of our crew were from the Kamikazi Snowmen, which meant four entertainers, so you might have a guess about how it went. 
Yes, we died horribly. And quickly. Twice. But we were entertaining, and the crowd laughed and had a good time.
Right after that was finished, we had to grab books and head for my reading. Special thanks here to everyone who helped Sherry and I carry books out of the dealer’s room, through the bar and restaurant, and into the comedy club. I read my work-in-progress, A Study in Violet off my wife’s brand new smartphone 
and later from Old Blood’s Fate. We had a decent turn out considering I’m not a World Famous Author Person. After the reading I returned and manned my table until they closed the dealers room.
We ended Friday by taking a turn about the convention, visiting with people and–mindful that cons are a marathon and not a sprint–found food and drinks before heading for bed.