Boskone 2026

The topic for today is Boskone.

As I’ve worked to place writing more centrally in my life, one thing that’s been missing is meeting other writers. When your butt’s in a chair, you know what you’re not doing? Getting out and meeting people.

For the holidays this year, my cousin decided enough was enough. We’ve been talking about this for long enough. We had dabbled (we took a sketch writing course, then followed up with an accountability group, which coincidentally did turn into a writer’s group as well), but I (at least) had never gotten around to a convention. He’d attended Boskone a few years back when his friend Isabel Yap was presenting and had a good time. Did I want to give it a try? I did. And I’m so happy about the decision.

We had a really grand time. And not, necessarily, in any of the ways I expected. Before attending, I relistened to Larry and Steve’s advice on attending conventions part 1 and 2.¹ This was really helpful, because it reminded me of a few things:

1. There’s the talk track, but there’s also the hallway circuit, the lunch circuit, and the after-hours circuit
2. There’s also Kaffeeklatsches. These were a highlight of my visit. I signed up for three - Stefan Rudnicki & Gabrielle de Cuir, Melinda Snodgrass, and Jeanne Cavelos.

The talk track (panels) were good and I learned a lot - though as often as not it was a single sentence said midway through the panel that lingered and stuck with me.

But the best part was the people - and getting to know them happened in the hallways after sitting next to the same people in a few panels or during kaffeeklatsches.

Transparently, I didn’t know any of the hosts of the kaffeeklatsches prior to signing up. Not really. I’d seen Jeanne on a panel, felt some name recognition, likely because of her distinctive name, with Melinda, and Stefan was a guest of honor. That was all I was going on.

It was only after showing up and hearing more about them that I realized these folks are all legends in their own ways. You just wouldn’t know it by talking to them. They were also exceedingly modest.

Kaffeeklatsches felt like a risk initially. What would we talk about? Would it be a good use of time? Particularly when trading off with a panel where I knew what I’d be getting out of it (generally).

But if they were risky, it paid off handsomely. The conversations were fabulous. I learned a ton - not just from the hosts, but also from the other folks who showed up at the table.

In fact, it was at Jeanne’s table that I met one of the guests that I expect I’ll be talking to for years to come - another writer who I hit it off with.

That was the piece I was most pleasantly surprised by. There are a lot of writers out there. We’re all at different places - skill level, experience, professionalism, what have you. But at Boskone, I found that every time I wanted to talk to someone, they were open and I had a great conversation. There were no egos and whether or not I made lifelong friends, time will tell.

In the meantime, I would say that my first convention was a great success. I have some nuggets, phrases, and words of wisdom that I’ll be trying to adopt and apply to my own craft and a few new friends that I wouldn’t have met had I not gone out and touched grass - as the kids say… do they still say this?