I’m writing this a day early, because we’ll be getting up at 0200 hours tomorrow to start heading towards Chattanooga. Google Maps says it’s a 13.5 hour trip from Tiny Town to Libertycon, but we’ll see.

When I get off of work this afternoon, I’ve got to go betray Chuy and Mochi’s trust — they’re geriatric enough that Rita and I aren’t comfortable having them boarded with other dogs, so I’m taking them to the vet for boarding. They’re used to sleeping together, and the vet doesn’t have the facilities for this, so they’re not going to be happy with me.

I’m extremely pleased that we’re going to make it to Libertycon — we’ve actually only made it to about half of the conventions we had planned. In this “booming economy” (if you believe the Legacy Media) everything still costs 2x, 3x or 4x more than it did when I retired, but my pension cheque hasn’t gone up 2x, 3x or 4x. Funny, that.

Libertycon is the first literary convention I ever attended, and will always be my home con, so there was no way we were going to  miss it.

Raconteur Press is going to be having a rollicking good time — remember, if you find me at the con and tell me which author is my little brother in Goblin Market, you’ll win a Wiffle Fox. I’ll have a pocket full of them somewhere.

Speaking of Wiffle Thingies, the “What’s New From Raconteur Press” panel will be in the Convention Center, Ballroom E, at 1400 hours, local time on Friday. Since Mike Burke and Intern Steve 2.0 will also be there, Wiffle Ducks will be flying thick and fast.

We have badge ribbons this year, including one that says “RACONTEUR”. That one is reserved for our authors — yes, if you have a story in one of the 3MOTA 50-word shorts, you qualify. We will start handing these out at the “What’s New” panel, starting with a very special author. After the panel, Jonna will be in the Craft room, any of our authors who don’t show at the panel can pick one up from her there.

The other three ribbons are wide open for anyone to wear — get them from Jonna. The “Whimsical, Wyrd, Wildly Out Of Control” one seems to be popular this year, you might want to get yours pretty quickly, otherwise we’re liable to run out.

I’m on additional meds for the blood sugar, so my alcohol intake has to be monitored fairly closely lest I incur an ICU stay via the local ER. Fear not! There will still be anthologies plotted.

If you follow the North Texas Troublemakers page on Facebook, Rita and I will probably post updates during tomorrow’s trip using the TwoFoxesInACar and RaconteurRoadTrip hashtags.

Hope to see some of y’all in Chattanooga!

LawDog