Where I'll Be At WorldCon

If you’re going to be in Chicago come the end of the month – and why not? it’s a great town – then you should probably show up at WorldCon, which is a fun convention where I will be with Gini and my friends the Substelnys.  It’s one of the largest sci-fi cons, with tons of good writers, and I’m pleased to be in their company.
Where can I be found at WorldCon?
Doing A Reading. 
This is the big one for me – I’m always paranoid that I’ll do a reading and no one will show up.  (Which has happened; it’s always embarrassing reading to three people, two of whom you’re dating.)  So if you’d like to hear me read one of my stories, and I’m told I perform well, I’ll be reading “Shoebox Heaven” at 5:30 on Friday evening.
“Shoebox Heaven” starts thusly:

Andy found Oscar, his fur clotted with lint balls, behind the dryer.  Oscar’s body was still warm because he had curled up underneath the exhaust vent, but Momma told Andy that Oscar had been dead for hours — it was just old age, was all.  Andy wanted to pet Oscar, because Oscar’s head was still tucked underneath his paws.  It was like his cat was playing a game of hide and go seek.
Andy couldn’t understand why Momma was crying.  “Let’s go to the airport,” he said, “And fly to heaven, and get Oscar.”
So they did.

It’ll make for a good performance, with lots of emotion and a dash of crazed humor, so I think if you show up you’ll be rewarded.  At least with hugs from me.
Dissecting Ideas.
At Saturday at noon, I’ll be talking about where writers get their ideas.  This should be an interesting exercise, because the panel will devise an idea and we’ll each discuss how we’d flesh that out into a short story.  I may write and plot something entirely on the fly!  And you’ll get to see how others shape a plot from a plot-bunny! This should be entertaining.
Discussing Short Stories. 
At 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, I’ll be on a panel discussing whether authors can still break in with short stories.  I’m not sure what “breaking in” means – I mean, I’ve got a number of published short stories, and am not a household name – but I’ll be on the panel with my old Clarion classmate Gra Linnaea, who literally helped me write the most useful entry I’ve ever written on how to submit short stories.  This ought to have a lot of useful info.
Feeling Intimidated By Series.
I’m not entirely sure why I’m on this panel, as it features Eric Flint (1632) and Jack McDevitt (who’s written two Nebula-nominated series), but I’ll be discussing how to keep series writing fresh.  I must have been feeling adventurous when listing panels I felt I could talk about, and they foolishly took me at my word.  But here I will be, and probably too stupid to keep my trap shut!