I arrived in Boston yesterday and am halfway through the first full day of Readercon.  For now, just a few impressions until time and inspiration allow for a longer post:

1. Theodora Goss writes some of the most charming stories.  Today she read from her forthcoming novel, “The Thorn and the Blossom”, a project for Quirk Books that tells the same love story from two perspectives – it’s a sort of modern day fairy tale/Arthurian legend-come-to-life set in Cornwall.  Honestly can’t wait to get my hands on the full length version when it comes out in January 2012.  This was a half an hour well spent.

2. Mary Robinette Kowal always has something interesting to say about puppets.  This time it was to provide writing tips inspired by storytelling via puppetry (especially relating to the meaning of movement and focusing of attention).  Plus, she had a really cute puppet with her.

3. A point, subtle but important, about 1st person narratives from Caitlin Kiernan (whose fiction may be a bit too far out there for me, but who undeniably writes beautifully): 1st person isn’t just a chance to get in a character’s mind or tell the story from their perspective, but a chance to let that character become truly real and speak for themselves (rather than being spoken for by the author).

also,

4. $7 is unreasonable for a tiny roast beef sandwich and $13 is unreasonable for poorly functioning in-room internet service.

and, furthermore,

5. I have had too much tea.

Okay.  More later!