LibertyCon AAR

Spent the weekend at LibertyCon in Chattanooga. LibertyCon is a very pro-heavy sci-fi and fantasy con that typically sells out within 30 minutes of opening ticket sales. They had nearly 1500 attendees this year. Larry Correia was 2023 Guest of Honor and did his usually stellar job of being gracious and available for pros and fans alike.

Larry typically conducts a session of his RPG “Gritty Cop Show” for charity at these cons. They auction off player slots for the game and this year Larry raised over $5000 for LibertyCon’s designated charity, Ronald McDonald House Charities.

I did a ton of networking, swapped a million stories and lies, consumed a depressingly miniscule amount of alcohol this year, and sold and signed a bunch of books.

I was honored and privileged to participate in several panels in only my second LibertyCon ever, including the always-popular “No Shit, There I Was” storytelling panel. I got a ton of laughs and caused a number of spit-takes among my fellow panelists, among them Mike Massa, LawDog, Griffin Barber, Jonathan Brazee, and Jamie Ibson.

Apparently, stories of killer ostriches and broken penises (penoose? penii?) are rife with comedic potential.

After the panel in one of the room parties, a couple of fans tracked me down and gave me this.

I’m here to tell you, I actually *do* dance like I’m trying to kill a man. Sometimes, that man is even me.

Steve Diamond and I read excerpts of our stories from Pinup Noir, and the audience loved them both. I sprained my voice trying to talk in the gravelly voice of my hardboiled gunsmith character, Sam Castle, and got quite a few outright guffaws when the audience realized my femme fatale was Tamara Keel.

The con staff did a fantastic job of organizing and keeping things running smoothly, and what few complaints I had can be laid at the feet of the host hotel. I hope to attend and participate in LibertyCon for many years to come, and if you ever get the chance to go, you should definitely take it.

Tickets go on sale at noon EDT on July 15, 2023, and if you haven’t bought your ticket by noon-thirty, you probably missed your chance.