Back from a whirlwind trip to Philadelphia for an even briefer visit home before heading up to New England.

I had a great time! Thank you, Philadelphia Science Fiction Society (http://psfs.org/), for being a wonderful audience: attentive, interested, and enthusiastic, you made me feel very welcome. And thank you especially Lee and Diane Weinstein for setting it up and chauffering me about. Also, to my author Tom Purdom for being in the audience so I had an example to point to. Dinner before the meeting was very nice, and hanging out talking afterwards was just what I needed: after a turn on stage, it takes me a while to calm down, and it’s a lot more fun in a group. There was also an unexpected blast from the past: someone brought a copy of the December 1986 issue of Games magazine, which was my second paid writing appearance (my first was in the March 1985 issue).

For those of who weren’t there, it was my first free-form talk. Normally, when I’m giving a lecture or solo presentation, I have a specific topic (the Presidents, how to get published, etc.). But Friday’s talk was just me, talking about my career on both sides of the editorial desk, people I’ve met, writing and publishing in general.… I enjoyed it, and I think (hope) my audience did, too.

Today, since I was in Philadelphia, I spent some time playing tourist. I visited Benjamin Franklin’s grave, walked past the Philadelphia Mint, visited the National Constitution Center (had a very nice talk with the sales staff in the gift shop; apparently they used to have my books available, and will hopefully be reordering them), visited the Liberty Bell, walked past Independence Hall, and saw the portrait exhibit in the Second Bank of the United States. Then, it being after noon, I went to the Rosenbach Museum, which I’d never heard of. Darrell Schweitzer gave me a pass to see the Frankenstein and Dracula exhibit, which is just now wrapping up (manuscript pages from Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, and others). I was also in time for the tour of the building (the wonderful docent Martha was incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining), and I saw the Of Two Minds exhibit (about artistic collaborative teams, including Herbert and Lou Hoover!), which is just opening. The Rosenbach is named for the two brothers who were rare book dealers in the early 1900s, and I’m glad to have learned of its existence. Recommended. https://rosenbach.org/

I took 62 photos, but I don’t have time to go through and edit them now. Instead, I posted a few on my Twitter feed while I was there. I may post more sometime later.