I'm happy to report that AnachroCon was a great success last month. Over 1200 attendees filled the hotel. Lots of excellent panel discussions and demonstrations were there to be enjoyed. The panels I attended were amazing, interesting, and informative. I can only hope the two I was on were as good to the folks in the audience. The official charity for the con was Reading Is Fundamental, with $800 being raised. There was a blood drive, which collected 25 pints of donations. The Dealers Room was backed near to bursting with wonderful items from very talented people. Clothing, hats, jewelry, ray guns – Just a huge variety of steampunk accessories. Various writers were in attendance, some selling copies of their works. There were a few publishers there, too. Craftspeople were more numerous than last year. In short, the convention once again doubled in size, as well as in fun. Next year holds the promise of of the Con being even bigger!

I got the chance to hang out with several of the writers and craftspeople. In almost every case, these folks demonstrated an amazing variety of interests beyond just their own work. The experience was akin to holding a conversation with a living, breathing encyclopedia. I couldn't possibly list even a bare hint of all the topics we covered. Not and do it justice, no. Just imagine the best party you’ve ever been to, combined with the best school class you ever attended, and crank it up to eleven. And rest assured there will be even more, and better at AnachroCon 5 in 2013!

My two ray guns were a big hit. Lyn and I were met with dozens of requests to look at and photograph them. I also wound up handing out a stack of Aphelion business cards, so we might see an influx of new readers, and perhaps even some new writers.

Once again, I was surprised by the number of people who already knew about Aphelion. Some said they were regular readers. Others mentioned that Aphelion is well regarded among other websites and blogs. I run into that almost everywhere I have a chance to pass out a few more Aphelion cards. "I've heard of that," or "I've read some good stories there," or even "Is that still online? Wow! I used to go there all the time..." Those are the most frequent replies I hear. It is good to know that the word is still getting out there.

And now it is time I let you all go explore the new issue. Enjoy!

Dan