Saturday, October 29, 2016

World Fantasy Convention Day 2

The first panel I attended today was titled "I Believe I Can Fly."  It was moderated by C. S. E. Cooney and included Curtis Craddock, Dan Koboldt, Alan Smale, and John Tibbetts.



The next panel was "Trilogies?  Small stuff!" with L. E. Modesitt, Jr., David Drake, Sharon Shinn, Mercedes Lackey, and Kay Kenyon.  They spoke about several aspects of "a series of length" (a preferable term instead of "long series").  One of the most helpful pieces of advice for authors beginning a series is to start small and local, knowing only what the protagonist knows, and then to radiate outward.  They also said that for a long-running series, they'll only have a small number of books focused on some characters, and then they'll move on to other characters.

After lunch, I attended the guest of honor speech by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.  He told fascinating stories of his past and his experience with writing.  I found it inspirational and encouraging.



After a dinner break (I was still too full from lunch to actually eat dinner), I headed to the mass autographing at the Regency Ballroom.  I like to use my glossy program book to collect autographs from the guests of honor and other special guests.





There were several parties happening on the fifth floor, so I thought I'd check things out.  I had good discussions with multiple people with topics ranging from space travel to Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Friday, October 28, 2016

World Fantasy Convention Day 1

Registration
After waking up and getting lunch (yes, I slept in due to the late arrival), I went to the Dealer Room and Art Show.  Sadly, I was unable to find any issues of Galaxy or Unknown.

Food!

World Fantasy 2016 Program Book

Later, I had dinner with John O'Neill (editor of Black Gate) and authors Patty Templeton and Bob Byrne.  Bob and Patty are also bloggers at Black Gate.  John regaled us with stories of publishing and collecting.  It was a lot of fun.

My wife, Bess, and me getting set for evening activities.

Opening Ceremonies... (Top Left: L. E. Modesitt, Jr.; Top Right: Randal Spangler; Bottom: Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon)
You could feel the strength of the bond between Mercedes Lackey and her husband Larry Dixon.  My wife took several pictures of them during the opening ceremony, and these two images seemed to depict their connection and teamwork.  When speaking of his wife, Larry said, "She's my everything."  I thought I was going to cry.

Elaine Isaak reading a short story

After attending one last panel discussion, I went to the bar to mingle.  I met authors Donald Crankshaw (who is yet another Black Gate blogger) and Kristin Janz.  It was interesting to discover how they help each other as married authors.  I like seeing other married teams coming together over writing, similar to my own marriage where Bess is there for me to do whatever she can to try to help me improve my writing and connect with other people.

Writing this blog post while eating Peanut M&M's (which I can't have at home due to my son's food allergies)

Thursday, October 27, 2016

World Fantasy Convention Arrival

Yesterday, we left Indianapolis for Columbus.  But it wasn't a direct route.  First, we dropped the kids with grandparents and then picked up Sara Goodwin (check out her tweets @SoSaidSara).  We got a bit of a late start, but we finally made it to the hotel around 2:30AM.



I'm looking forward to the free book bag, hoping it's as great as the bags issued in past years.  And I don't just mean the books within the bag.  The bag itself is the right size for all kinds of oddities.  For example, I'm using my bag from the 2010 WFC to carry all of my shoes.

"Wait... why did you bring a lot of shoes?"  I wanted options.  For all the times someone is actually going to look at my feet.  Which is probably never.  I hope.  Please don't look at my feet.

The first scheduled events begin at 3PM, which is a short time away.  I still need to run by registration and get something to eat.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

World Fantasy Convention 2016






I haven't attended the World Fantasy Convention since 2014, and I'm excited to be attending this year.  I'm looking forward to meeting with others, listening to panel discussions, and hearing author readings.  This year, I also signed up for my own reading:


"Jigo" features Katsu and Tsukiko from "Shadows in Sakamura".  In this tale, the two venture into Taiyomichi, a small village of simplistic, hard-working people.  Even when they find danger within the village, they can't imagine the true source until it's too late to escape.

Friday, October 07, 2016

Galaxy Retro-Review - July, 1953

My latest retro-review on Black Gate is for the July, 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction.  Two stories were really good.  Check it out!