I’m coming off the high of attending Penned Con in St Louis.  There were books and authors and readers and bloggers as far as the eye could see. It was awesome. Plus I finally met some of my online friends in person. Tackle hugs and awkward selfies ensued. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet all of my FB friends, but there’s always next year. Here are some things I learned at Penned Con.

Selfies are supposed to be better than full length photos, because, “Selfies are from the chest up. No one has to see what size your stomach is.” While this is sound logic, it still doesn’t keep the angles of the photo from being weird when you have short arms. Perhaps I need to bring a selfie-stick next year.

Freight elevators are scary. They ushered several hundred authors to lunch using the freight elevators. The doors that close top to bottom make it seem like you’re walking into the mouth of some giant robot creature that plans to gobble you up. I am truly thankful that I was not on the freight elevator that stalled out for a few moments when it was jam-packed with people. *shudders

Writing with sharpies isn’t easy. Half the time it looked like I didn’t know how to spell my own name. The i and the r kind of blobbed together. Maybe next year I’ll invest in fine tip sharpies.

Never assume coffee will be readily available. Last year, there was a snacks and beverage area on the conference floor. This year, probably due to the size of the conference doubling, this wasn’t the case. I found coffee at lunch, but I really needed some around ten a.m. Next year I will bring my own supply of caffeine.

That’s all I have to say about Penned Con for now. If you’ve never been, you should consider signing up for next year. It’s a great event.