I’ve been meaning to post some thoughts on my time at MileHiCon, but this week has very much gotten away from me. Somehow it is Thursday. Better late than never, though. Yes?

So. MileHiCon. For those unfamiliar, this is a lovely little regional con held in Denver, Colorado. I decided to attend primarily because it seemed like a great opportunity to catch up with my friends — an increasing number of which are located out Colorado way. Happily, a couple other members of my extended writing family had the same idea, journeying in from California, New Jersey, Texas, and Iowa.

It was awesome to see everyone, and I was reminded how interesting people brought together by writing can be–and how different we all are from one another. I mean, in everyday life we tend to be drawn to friends who are similar to us–similar backgrounds or jobs or interests. But writers are brought together because of the dreams they have and the words they put on pages rather than their shared religion or beliefs or occupations. So groups of writer friends tend to be fascinatingly diverse.

Also, while you might not get to see your writer friends very often, they sometimes know you better than your close friends do (or at least they know a part of you that your close friends may not really understand). It’s really lovely to be around people who just get it, who you don’t have to explain the writing life to. They know.

In addition to seeing old friends, cons are great places to meet new ones. MileHiCon was no exception. Everyone I met was warm and friendly and interesting–be they pros or newbie writers or fans. I would definitely describe the general vibe of MileHiCon as welcoming and unpretentious. And fun. It was fun.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

I’m glad I went, but boy did being away for four days wreak havoc on my day job and my household. I’ve just been feeling behind all week, which is an awful feeling. So, today is catch up day. I will catch up on course prep (mostly writing quizzes and recording supplementary lectures for my students to listen to online), lay some more pipe on my novel, PROJECT AWESOME, try to outline that short story idea that’s been nagging at me for days, go to Pilates, and — of course — clean the apartment (bleck).

We’re also having a costume Halloween party this weekend, so I need to prepare treats and eats and put the finishing touches on my costume. Any guesses as to what I’ll be dressing up as?

Anyway – that’s a lot to do in just one day, so I’d better get to it!