World Fantasy Convention 2010 - "If your world doesn't have a moon, you are just f***ed."

World Fantasy 2010 Extremely Brief Overview

I had a great time throughout, as did Jason. Here are a few highlights.

- Went to a lot of great panels, including one where the quote in the header was said by fantasy legend Dennis McKiernan. The panel in particular was where we were talking about how lots of fantasy authors just say "screw it" to the laws of nature in geography, or do something funky like create a world surrounded by "the impassible ocean/forest/desert/etc." Out of the blue, McKiernan boldly declared, "Oh yeah, and remember: if your world doesn't have a moon, you are just f***ed." Quote of the conference.

- Speaking of McKiernan, his interview was completely fantastic in nearly every regard. In fact, just about every panel he was on was great.

- Talked to a LOT of authors and a few editors throughout. Mostly authors (I made quite a few friends at the signings and just on the floor), but overall people were very gracious and more than willing to share information if they had the time. It was quite fun.

- Met with Eddie Schneider of Jabberwalkee (aka the dude who rejected Paradise Seekers). Had a good talk about literary fiction (my English analysis classes finally paid off), some submitting ideas, what he likes in authors, and more. It was very helpful and quite interesting. I was also surprised that he is really young, like probably only a few years older than me, if that.

- Got like $200 in free books. I snatched like 6 copies of Warbreaker because nobody wanted them. I'm going to had them out to friends because they were free. The free books also allowed me to talk for almost two hours to authors at the signing.

- Jason and I tried to save money by "stealing" packets of peanut butter and jelly from our hotel's breakfast table every morning to make sandwiches later. The biggest irony of this is that we found out on the last day when we were about to leave that food for all World Fantasy events is provided in the cost of admission, meaning there was this huge room downstairs full of food the entire freaking time. Yes. We are stupid.

- Jason got Tom Doherty (founder of Tor) to sign his Kindle right after Tom gave a discourse about how ebooks are killing new authors. The irony was thick, and pretty much every other author who signed the kindle after that exclaimed, "Wait, you got Tom Doherty to sign your kindle?!"

- We walked all over downtown Columbus and never found a post office or a McDonalds. I JUST WANTED A DAMN CHOCOLATE SHAKE AT 11:00 AT NIGHT, OK? GAH. Seriously, like 2-3 hours of wandering for nothing. At least we finally found a White Castle.

- Nobody wore costumes, even on the day before Halloween. There were also no filkers. This was a relief.

- I had a really, really good time. Despite being antisocial when I was around Jason, I was considerably more extroverted when I was on my own, and that paid off at the signing.


Overall? I'd say it was an overall success, but one that will be improved upon as more and more cons are visited. We actually met a lot of people from Conduit who recognized us, and we were able to continue that "blossoming" relationship with these authors. I have a feeling that, the more cons you go to, the stronger these relationships with various members of the fantasy community will become, and some real great friendships can come of it. I already bought tickets for next year (It's in San Diego, which is totally driveable), and will be going to LTUE in February and CONDuit again in May, as well as WorldCon in August. I'm hoping to see a lot of these people again once that comes around.

So, resounding success, and I'm going to say it was worth the cost for the experience. I gained a lot of insight into the industry, editors/agents, and myself as a writer.

Also, if your world doesn't have a moon, you are pretty much f***ed. Seriously. That messes up everything.

World Fantasy 2010: It was a blast.

World Fantasy was pretty rocking, but unfortunately I came back to three tests and a paper, all of which I was unaware of until literally an hour ago.

So I can't blog just yet. Maybe after getting some stuff done and calming down a little.

TO BE CONTINUED

I'm in Ohio, sittin in a hotel.

That's right fools. Going to World Fantasy tomorrow with my pal Jason (it starts at 3 oh boy!). So far it has already been an adventure, if by "adventure" you mean "total lack of sleep."

LET US RECAP.

We left at about 11:00 to go spend the night at Jason's Uncle's house by SLC airport. See, our flights left at 6, which meant we needed to be at the airport pretty freaking early. So we were. Problem was we didn't get to said uncle's house until 1, meaning I slept from pretty much 1:30 - 3:45. That was it. All my sleep.

I then flew to Dallis for a layover and then to Columbus. Due to losing two hours, we got in Columbus at around 3:00 pm. Magical.

We got driven to our hotel (the Red Roof Inn, also the cheapest place in downtown Columbus and within easy walking distance from food and the convention) and unpacked, then traversed the treacherous Columbus landscape until we found a nice irish pub and ate a very late dinner/lunch there. Hooray!

We also found the Hyatt where the convention is going to be. It's only about two blocks away from us. No driving/bussing required!

I then came back and took a nap despite it being like 6:00. It was a weird nap. I woke up with no recollection of where I was or what was going on.

I should have just stayed asleep, because now it is 9:00 and I'm not very tired. Actually, I'm craving caffeine. Maybe they have a soda machine somewhere in this place...

The con actually doesn't start until tomorrow at around 3:00. I have no idea how we missed this; we could have flown in tomorrow. Actually, due to the flights/plane tickets, it would have cost a lot more, but still...

I'm excited. Lots of authors and agents seem to totally dig this thing and I'm excited to meet new people (and buy their books). I actually have an alpha copy of Steelgods with me, and I have an idea at a pitch, though truthfully I'm hoping to converse more than sell. Though selling wouldn't hurt...

That's it from me. I'm kind of bored. Time to read Codex Alera until my body realizes exactly how sleep deprived it is.

Also, Word 2011 for Mac is quite good. Way better than the awful 2008 version. That is all.

Steelgods: Almost Done. World Fantasy: Almost Here

It's almost that magical time. That magical World Fantasy time. It's also that magical time when The Might of the Steelgods book 1 will be edited and read for blastoff. Hoo-ray!

Re-reading it, I really enjoy the novel, but I can't help but notice certain sections are considerably stronger than others. This is usually due to character interaction (where when Cevan is alone he's a boring turd, but when he's with others and talking things get great), which is good to know (protip to self: keep Cevan around other people in The Gears of Anbar).

Also the pacing is a little weird, but it might be just me. I honestly have problems forcing myself to stop reading, but the overall quality of the pacing and writing certain differs in sections. I have a feeling the final 1/3rd is considerably stronger than the middle 1/3rd (but then again, it is act 3 where everything happens, so...).

I also have no idea how to fix this if it is in case. That's what alpha readers are for, I guess.

It'll be done tomorrow. That's my goal, anyway. I'll probably do one final read-through skim on the plane to Ohio (and back) for spelling and grammar errors, then start printing it. By then it'll be November so Deadly Clouds will be going on in all its glory and horror.

Oh yeah. World Fantasy. Gonna be fun. Not going to stress out about it. Just going to enjoy myself. That's the plan, anyway.

Night!

World Fantasy

Also, I keep forgetting I'm going to World Fantasy Convention in Ohio in like...a week and a half. That's kind of a big deal. I need to print out some business cards to throw at random people or something.

I'm excited for it. I have heard it's pretty chill with regards to agents/editors/authors just willing to talk about whatever, which will be fun. I also hear people enjoy drinking a lot there, so I'd better bring my ID! (kidding...maybe)

I'll try and update my blog with a blow-by-blow while I'm there. I still don't know if our hotel has internet or not. We got a super-cheap one, and Jason and I are sharing a room to make it even cheaper (if he ever pays me back), so...that should be fun. Steelgods will be edited by then, so I'll have something to talk about I'd be willing to flash people should it be requested.

If not, I'm sure it'll be a great time none-the-less. If anything, it'll get me pumped for whatever thing I end up writing next.