So, the rumors of my Worldcon panel-snubbing have been greatly-exaggerated. Well, no, that’s not exactly true, but I’ve been added to a panel to replace someone who can’t make it. Here’s the panel info:

IT CRAWLED OUT OF THE SLUSH PILE
Stephen Eley, Betsy Mitchell, Alan Rodgers, John Joseph Adams
Friday 11:30, ACC 210-B

Description: Editors share their “favorite” stories of manuscripts that were a triumph of hope over talent.

It sounds kind of mean, but I hear it’s usually a lot of fun, and is somewhat of a staple panel for a lot of cons. I’ll probably use something from Gordon’s file o’ badness, to avoid insulting a writer’s recent work.

Though I have to admit, after learning of the panel, I came across two submissions (from terrible regulars) which would be perfect for this. One of them, had I been drinking, surely would have caused liquid to stream from my nostrils. This was due, in part, to my thinking beforehand that it would probably be bad, and so would be ideal for the panel. I didn’t make it through the first sentence before cracking up.

So, the thing is, to read that would feel like crossing a line–because that writer is writing at that level right now. For the old stuff in Gordon’s file, at least that’s ancient history at this point, and any writer who was writing at that level then probably isn’t still writing at that level (one would hope). Still, I’m ambivalent about being on the panel.

Here’s the rest of the Worldcon schedule.