Last weekend I was able to attend BasedCon 2024 at an undisclosed location. After missing last year’s event, it was a breath of fresh air. Since it was a nice day and I knew I’d arrive early regardless, I decided to take backroads. My GPS apparently decided I needed to take a very scenic route (not, as I found on my home, the best route). And it was a fun drive.
On the way, I started a very good audiobook on Ronald Reagan.
Almost as soon as I arrived, I fell into a conversation on why you shouldn’t write novels in first person present tense. So if you thought, based on the name, that BasedCon would be nonstop hate speech… well, you might not be too far off the mark. It’s just not the sort of hate speech you thought. Anyway, I saw lots of familiar faces and it was good reconnecting with old friends with whom, thanks to social media, I never really lost touch. A few people I’d hoped to see weren’t able to make it this year.
But such is life.
After dinner there was an opportunity for authors to read from their books. As with any event of this sort, some of the readings received polite applause and others sent us running to the merch table for signed copies of their wonderful work. I hadn’t planned on reading, but for once the readings didn’t go overly long and they opened it up to anyone who was interested. For whatever reason, I decided to break with custom and read from something that isn’t published yet. It seemed to get a good response.
People were asking me all weekend when it will be finished.
The next two days were packed with panel discussions that I won’t try to summarize here. Two of my favorites, however, were titled, “Humorous Science Fiction and Fantasy,” and “Fairy Tales to Fight the Culture War.” Even the “culture war” panel was filled with whimsey, and that’s something which I want to emphasize. The reason BasedCon exists is because the mainstream sci-fi and fantasy space isn’t open to the based-minded and many (if not most) of the speakers have been canceled in one way or another.
If anyone has a right to be angry and bitter, it’s these people.
And yet, I doubt you’d find a happier, more gracious gathering of creatives working in that space anywhere on earth. The freedom to tell the stories they want to tell, the way they want to tell them, is worth more to these men and women than awards and massive audiences. Sure, some of them are gruff, with thick skin, but they wear their battle scars with pride. And if they can do it, maybe those of us who aspire to find some success with our words can weather the same storms should they come.
We can’t fear the storm.
Readers are hungry for good stories that don’t offend their values. Conservative talking heads love to ask, “Why isn't there any conversative art?” and then refuse to acknowledge the enormous library of work available. They have their reasons, none of them defensible. And it’s as annoying as heck. Thankfully, at BasedCon we have the chance to gather and remind ourselves that the talking heads are wrong and just blowing hot air. We are many, and we are not alone. BasedCon is growing every year, and because of it the output of good stories will grow to levels that asking that question will be as inane asking, “Why aren’t there more Starbucks?”
You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting one.
BasedCon isn’t a gathering of outwardly angry people. It’s not an overtly political event. No one leaves feeling outraged or despairing at the state of the culture. Attendees want to tell stories that live and breathe, that live longer than memes, inspire and entertain in ways propaganda cannot. For myself, I came home refreshed and inspired to keep creating, knowing that there is a far larger group of people than I’ll ever fully realize who share many of my values. We may not agree on everything. I know we don't. But we share enough common ground to support one another where it matters.
Bring on BasedCon 2025!
