One programming point I would like to suggest: please get a poetry Slan (it’s an sf convention, people) together for next year. A lot of us missed having one at this year’s Readercon. I spoke with Mike Allen and so I did learn of some of the reasons behind the omission this year. I hope that things can be worked out for 2013.

I don’t think it’s a generational thing. I think growing up reading precisely the sort of terrible pulpy SF/F that Kirk Poland skewers–even though it was published decades before I was born–contributed to my ability to parody it, and that’s an advantage I probably have over others my age but not over those who are older than I am. I also learned a great deal from watching previous KPs and learning from others’ successes and mistakes, and I was coached by past contestants Glenn Grant and Mary Robinette Kowal.

I think my greatest asset is that I’m an editor who works with unpublished authors, and that’s trained me to look for each author’s verbal tics and bad habits. When I’m editing, I tell the author to take out those flaws. When I’m parodying, I make sure they show up in my own work. Most of the past contestants have been writers first and editors second (if at all). I think it probably makes a much bigger difference than the age gap, which really isn’t very big; I’m only 14 years younger than Yves and 9 years younger than Mike. That doesn’t begin to qualify as a generation!

Does this mean that we have to admit (as apparently one of the participants did) that no only are we old, we also Aren’t So Adept at Imitation than The Next Generation?

If this trend continues, I’ll try to stay awake long enough to see next year’s KP.