This is long overdue, but I’ve been stupid busy trying to catch up on work stuff since I got back. Because I also am relying on a brain that has suffered 30+ documented concussions for memory purposes, I might have forgotten a thing or two (or dozen or more). So bear with me… there’s a LOT to cover, because it was LIBERTYCON!

Libertycon, for the uninitiated, was the first convention which had me on as an attending professional/guest back when I was a mere fledgling of a newbie author. I’d had a book being co-written with an established author (which later was scuttled) and had finished my first solo book and sold it weeks before. I was a nobody, yet Uncle Timmy (Tim Bolgeo) and family accepted me immediately as one of their own and invited me to come attend. I’ve been a steady attendee now for going on 20 years.

This year was my second Libertycon as a Baen Books employee, though, so it’s not the same as when I was simply attending as an author. These days I wear many hats at conventions, but first and foremost I’m a lowly mail clerk (joke will be explained later) for Baen, and a bestselling, award-winning author second.

Libertycon 35 was held from June 23-25 this year. However, I was in dire need of a few days off beforehand, so with Toni’s permission I skedaddled down to Chattanooga a week early. We stayed with good friends Rich and Tish Groller, helping a little with pre-con prep while I did some writing on the side for my new sekrit projekt (explained later — spoilers). From there we met up with our Canadian friends (and frequent co-author) Jamie Ibson, and his wife Michelle. Two days in an AirBnB up on Lookout Mountain overlooking Chattanooga was nice indeed, but it also rained the entire time we were there so it wasn’t as though the view was great. Still, preparation for the incoming insanity in a peaceful, relaxing environment was nice.

All of us got to head into downtown Chattanooga (seriously only 8 minutes away) and meet up for breakfast with Baen author Mike Massa and his wife, Lorna. They had the same idea we did and were in town early to relax. I think Libertycon is quickly turning into a Wednesday–Monday thing now (which I’m all for). Then it was over to meet up with the boss and have a meeting of minds.

Later that night (I think we’re on Wednesday now) we all met up with Steve Diamond, another Baen author who also is one of the cohosts for Writer Dojo. I listen to it regularly and it’s chock full of useful tips and stories about the journey to becoming not just an author but a successful one. We ate at the Pickle Barrel, which is one of the better burger joints in downtown Chattanooga in my humble opinion, before heading back up to the AirBnB for the night. It was time to prepare strategies for the weekend, since I knew I wasn’t going to be free at all once the convention started.

Thursday is the new unofficial start to Libertycon. They actually had my room ready early for once (hooray!) and we were able to check in. Our usual roommate Jasmine showed up a little later and the party officially began. We started seeing everyone down in the hotel lobby.

Note: I met just about everyone down there but, thanks to the aforementioned horrible memory brainy thing, I’ve forgotten most of who I saw. So if I miss you, don’t be upset. I was happy to see you and be able to spend time with you, even if my swiss cheese memory has failed me once more.

Friday I was actually a little busy. Not with panels, but meeting with fellow authors. One of my duties at Baen is making certain that when our authors need something, I go and get it. Usually it’s just making certain the author has water or has eaten recently (there has never been an author ever who forgot to eat because of panels, really **insert eyeroll emoji here**). Needless to say, no authors were permanently harmed in the making of the weekend.

My first panel (not counting opening ceremonies) was actually the Chris & Jason Hour. This is something Christopher L. Smith and I have been doing for… 7 years now (holy crap). Officially? It’s just two authors reading their current works in progress. However, because Chris and I know each other so well, we make it… interesting. Typically, if one of us flubs a line during the reading, that person has to take a shot of whatever alcoholic drink we have on us. This year it was scotch, so it wasn’t horrible, but since I’m not a scotch drinker, I wanted to make certain I didn’t screw up.

In 2022 we read our collaborative novella project The Fallow Fields. Oddly enough, our Russian got better the drunker we became, while our English suffered. This year? I decided that Chris’s Spanish was rusty, so he got to read a chapter from MONSTER HUNTER MEMOIRS: FEVER (authored by Larry Correia and myself) while Chris had me read his short story from the upcoming UNITED WE STAND anthology set in the Black Tide Rising universe (more on the BTR in a bit).

However, due to the earlier time, we didn’t get too plastered. That and I rescinded the usual rules since most of the people there wanted to here FEVER and not Chris’s story (poor guy). Still, about 20 people or so got to hear a sneak preview of MHM:Fever before anyone else (minus the people who were at Larry’s reading earlier in the day).

After this, it was straight over to the FREEHOLD: DEFIANCE panel… which I don’t remember at all. Odd. I’m thinking back and trying to remember who all was on the panel, but I don’t remember anything about it. Ugh. I know I didn’t drink that much during the Chris & Jason Hour.

Note to self: in the future, don’t try to write the AAR a month after the convention. Sheesh.

I went to the Worlds of John Ringo panel because a secret announcement was being made. John Ringo and Gary Poole announced that I will be authoring the next Black Tide Rising novel, set to be published in 2024. That’s right. I GET TO WRITE A BLACK TIDE RISING NOVEL!!!!

ON TOP A MOUNTAIN OF FIRE is set six months after the Fall and follows the story of the girls at St. Dominic’s Preparatory Academy, who were first seen in the We Shall Rise anthology. I’m super stoked about this and I can’t wait to see it out! Hardcover release and everything!

After that it was off to see the room parties. Since DeepSouthCon 60 was also going on at the same time, there were lots of room parties of other conventions. I got to meet some new conventions and swap stories with them, as well as hang out with people who probably would never admit to knowing me if pressed.

Saturday was busy. I had a signing first thing in the morning (a Libertycon tradition, apparently… nobody believes me when I say I don’t get hangovers, so they try to schedule me for a lot of early morning stuff to test me) and I was with Amie Gibbons, David Boop, D. Alan Lewis, and Tom Kratman for an hour. I didn’t sell any books (I didn’t bring any) but I signed a bunch of them. After, I had a chance to eat and prepare for the Baen Road Show.

The Road Show went well. Toni Weisskopf made the second announcement for my BTR novel, which made a lot of people happy. We also got to show off Marisa Wolf’s kickass cover (her novel, BEYOND ENEMIES, comes out in February 2024 and picks up where her CHICKS IN TANK TOPS short story ended) and a few others, including Christopher Ruocchio’s next Suneater cover (that book, DISQUIET GODS, promises to rock everyone’s socks off).

After the road show, it was off to my next panel — which I completely misunderstood what it was going to be about. “The Basic Survivalist” was about prepping and planning, stuff like that. I’d thought that it was about being dropped into an environment (foreign country or an alien world) and figuring out how to survive and, eventually, thrive. Still, I have enough prepper knowledge to fumble my way through, so it was a good time.

After that, I was done for the weekend–in terms of panels, at least. I still had the kaffeeklatsch on Sunday morning, but that was just sitting around and drinking coffee while people were trying to pry information about MHM:Fever out of me. I had two hours in the Authors Alley but, since I didn’t bring any books to sell, I gave them to H.Y. Gregor. It was her first Libertycon and I wanted to help her out some. You should also read her stuff.

Libertycon was, as always, one giant family reunion. Brandy and her team always deliver, and I already can’t wait until next year to see my massive extended family once more.