Last weekend I made my first appearance at Con Nooga. Robby Hilliard, director of the literary track had invited me to attend, so I decided to venture south and check it out.

I like Chattanooga.  It’s a nice town that embraces its southern pride without being obnoxious about it. Tennessee whisky is a specialty there, one I enjoyed in a tasty and strong drink called Chattanooga tea.  Mmm.

The Apex table, despite its poor location in the vendor hall, did good business. All 5 panels I sat on were well attended. The convention, from my perspective, was friendly and well-ran.

I even enjoyed the concession stand hamburger I had Saturday.

While few people knew me, many knew of Apex. This was incredibly gratifying.

Here are 5 things that might…or might not have happened at Con Nooga last weekend:

1) cried out in fear due to a terrifying noise outside my hotel room in the middle of the night

2) Watched John Hartness insult a man just to make him cry.

3) engaged in a southern accent war with a diner waitress

4) scold a roomful of people for never reading anything by Thomas Ligotti…for shame

5) make a hotel clerk uncomfortable with a blank stare as he made terrible jokes (I had only had one cup of coffee!). The clerk finally gave up and said “Are all people from Kentucky so humorless?