• Location: Tartarus Scopulus
• Mood: contemplative
• Music: Gorillaz, "Superfast Jellyfish"

The Highly Abridged Quotable Readercon 21

During any good convention, which Readercon is, you hear people say marvelous, brilliant things. I know this, and still I never take adequate notes. But I wanted to but a few things down. Some are from my Moleskine notebook, and some are from memory (so possibly paraphrased).

"I spent the summer of love doing jigsaw puzzles." — Greer Gilman (nineweaving)

"The girls' journey is walking a labyrinth." — Greer Gilman

"You can track the true and terrible history of science fiction as failure." — Barry N. Malzberg

"I'd built this little house, with me inside. That's what we do." — Peter Straub (on writing novels)

"Remember when we thought we were creating art?" — Peter Straub (on book design, repeating a question asked him by an editor.)

"When I'm writing the book, I'm the top." — Cat Valente (catvalente)

To that last one, it was immediately suggested by several people that the built-in "safe word" is one's ability to close a book and stop reading.

There was so much more....maybe I can summon them from scattered notes and memory later, and add to this post.