Blog Archives
Dragon Con Round-Up: 2013 Edition
Dragon Con felt subdued this year. Not that it was small; I swear there are more people every time, and this year I actually needed 30 minutes to travel between panels. Nevertheless, a lot of faces were missing. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun, but it was a different convention than last year’s.
Now, the fun stuff: what did I do for three days? (Yep, I skipped out early Monday morning; Tuesdays at cons are too depressing for me.)
I chatted with editor Gabrielle Harbowy about Strix and saw a very early mock-up for a potential cover (spoiler: I love it…which means I should possibly get this darn thing finished). I wandered the dealers’ room and finally met Thomas and Sarah of Brute Force Studios. I went to some panels and readings, where I met Suzanne Church and caught up with Rob Sawyer. I wrote. In a happy twist of fate, I discovered that the Hyatt was screening a 24h/day Doctor Who marathon all weekend long, which gave me a place to retreat when I needed to recover but still wanted to feel like I was participating in the convention.

The Hyatt turned out well – most of my panels were there and I moved like a mole through its subterranean levels.
Several of my friends had exciting things happen: Mur Lafferty won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (i.e. the Hugo that is not a Hugo). I can’t think of anyone more deserving, and I’m absolutely thrilled for her. Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris picked up another Parsec for Tales from the Archives. Again: so very proud.
Also, Sylvester McCoy, better known as the seventh Doctor, presented at the Parsecs. He pwned the ceremony. He needs to get his own podcast which I will then listen to obsessively, because he was brilliant…though I’m sensing a trend towards very short acceptance speeches next year!
And that was about it, really. The post-con haze is settling upon me, and I’m very cognizant of the fact that I now have to work for eight days straight while juggling three different writing projects and starting Strix-the-Podcast.
So, you know, a typical month coming up. 😉
KT
Balticon Buzz and Schedule
Conventions always slip my mind. I book the hotel room, the plane tickets, and listen to the pre-con buzz, but it never dawns on me that I’m actually going until…oh, the night before. Then, it’s a mad scramble to pack and organize books, and it still feels unreal until the moment I pick up my badge.
That’s how Balticon feels right now.
I have my schedule. Apparently, my past self was very crafty and booked my flight and hotel a while ago. I even have plans to meet up with a few people.
It still doesn’t feel like I’m actually going.
Nor has it really sunk in that I’m going as a guest. I’ve termed this feeling “Cinderella Syndrome.” Every so often, I look at my Facebook wall and think, “Oh, wow. How has this become normal?” Answering that would be another post in itself…and may or may not crop up on a few panels next weekend.
Speaking of panels, here are the ones I have confirmed:
Friday
4:00 pm – Meeting Other Podcasters
5:00 pm – Professionalism and the Emergent Writer
Saturday
2:00 pm – Writing Real Children
Sunday
11:00 am – Autograph Session (and reunion with Tim Dodge! Woot!)
12:00 pm – Professionalism and the Young Writer
1:00 pm – Reading
8:00 pm –From Page to Pod
Monday
10:00 am – Introvert’s Guide to Social Media
So…basically, I don’t intend to sleep this weekend. At all. If you’re around the con, come say hi! I like people. 🙂
Writing may also be a bit iffy. I’m just over 1/3 of the way through the Massive Strix Rewrite. If I keep to this 2000 words/day pace, I should be finished in just under a month (hopefully I can cannibalize more words from the original draft near the end, but I’m not holding my breath).
We’ll see. The dayjob, while awesome, is also very physically tiring…but I’m incredibly anxious/eager/excited to get this thing out to Gabrielle and my cast.
Next week: The Balticon Round-Up!
The Other Side of the Table: World Fantasy Round-Up
It’s hard writing blog posts after cons. Mostly because the whirlwind of sight, sound, emotion, and experience defies compression into words. This is especially true of WFC2012, given that it was my first con as an author with a book actually out. Nevertheless, I shall try to recapture the weekend…not necessarily in any coherent way (indeed, I am indebted to Chuck Wendig’s portrayal of World Con).
Thursday
- My dad and I haul books inside. No idea where to pick up badges, where the dealer room is, anything. But, look, it’s Gabrielle! I found my editor – I’ll be ok!
- Have a badge, but still stopped by organizers as I run in and out of the dealer room. “Dealer room’s not open yet.” “It’s ok, I’m with Dragon Moon.”
- Oh hey, Dragon Moon authors are awesome! Here’s looking at you, Leah Petersen, Clint Talbert, Marie Bilodeau, Erik Buchanan. Ed Greenwood is cool too.
- Erik Buchanan lives two blocks from me! Huzzah for carpooling!
- Service at the Fox and Fiddle is slow. Hungry…
- Back in Leah/Gabrielle’s room. Ed is smart. Ridiculously smart. I bask in his wisdom.
- Refining Hapax’s elevator pitch. Dealer room is slow, but we have candy.
- Leah fights gravity by falling off a stage. Her ankle is blue and swollen. Gravity: 1. Leah: 0.
- Selling books is like interpreting at Black Creek. After enough exposure, I learn the spiels for other people’s books. People wander by looking confused. Their confusion confuses me. Books are sold! And signed! Huzzah!
- Madeline Ashby is reading! She lived in the apartment under me for six months!
- Robert J. Sawyer is reading! But I have to leave early…
- Watch out – Marie Bilodeau might “bitch-slap” you (grinning all the while).
- Spicy Thai food. Much Twittering. Absolutely exhausted.
Saturday
- Leah’s ankle is still swollen. We still have candy.
- Con organizer Peter Halasz is a very, very nice man. He tells me not to be nervous.
- Finally make it up to the Con-Suite. Into what magical land have I stumbled? People lounge on chairs (or the floor), eating free food and drinking free pop. There are nachos! And cookies! And best of all – root beer.
- Hey, it’s J.M. Frey – we’ve talked online, but it’s awesome to meet her in real life. Especially as she organized tonight’s shindig.
- Clint lends me his room for an hour. I practice my readings for tonight’s launch party, realize I’m practicing readings for a launch party in a hotel room at World Fantasy Con, and feel slightly rattled.
- Haul books over to pub. Set books up. Try to eat pizza. Fail to finish pizza. DMP authors are lovely and kind and supportive and I feel all warm and fuzzy
- OMG WHAT? PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY COMING TO THIS THING?!
- My roommate arrives with my rescued necklace, and proceeds to chat with writers, con-goers, etc., like a pro.
- Tony Pi is cool. He works at U of T. My friend Cat was his work-study student. The world is so small.
- OMG THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE HERE NOW.
- Reading the scene wherein Serafine explains to young Praeton exactly what a Hapax is. Missing my cast like crazy, but imitating Syd and Blythe as best I can.
- OMG PEOPLE ARE BUYING MY BOOKS AND I’M SIGNING THEM.
- My grandmother reads the dedication and chokes up. I choke up watching her choke up. Gabrielle chokes up watching us both choke up.
- Go home with grandparents and roomie. Sit up for a while chatting and reading When the Hero Comes Home.
Sunday
- Late start. Slow dealer room.
- Tweet from John Mierau – “you still at WFC this morning?” John Mierau? Author, podcaster, all-around good guy? Trying to figure out how John Mierau knows me.
- Selling books, following tweets on World Fantasy awards.
- Hey, it’s John Mierau! We know the same people! He reads my Twitter feed and has heard my promo! I’m stunned. “Can I bend your ear and steal your soul for ten minutes?” “Ok!”
- Chat with John Mierau!
- More books. Goodbye, Clint. Goodbye, Ed. Pack up table. Chat with folks at Bakka Phoenix bookstore. Return to Gabrielle/Leah’s room to divvy up money and have champagne and chocolate.
- Go home and die on the couch.
And the best part? Next Sunday, I get to launch Hapax all over again!
-KT