This weekend I attended LepreCon 36, a SciFi/Fantasy convention held in Mesa.
Confession: I’d never been to a Con before. I didn’t really know what to expect. I did have my writing fellows with me (Amy McLane and S.C. Green), who are seasoned pros when it comes to Cons.
I went to the con to hear Charles Vess, James A. Owen and George R. R. Martin.
OK, and to see people dressed up as Klingons and pirates and steampunk dirigible captains.
While there, I bought books and artwork and had them signed by the authors and illustrators. (Squee!) I networked a bit, too, which is always good. I learned to never engage in a duel of nerdiness with someone dressed as their favorite SciFi character. They will out-nerd you every time. They got the mad nerd skills. My kung fu is weak. And, of course, while there I took notes. Old college habits die hard. Here are some tidbits I jotted down.
James A. Owen
“The calendar pages are flipping by. I don’t want to spend my time doing things I don’t want to do.”
~ James A. Owen
“It takes work. I can’t just toss this stuff off.”
~ George R. R. Martin (on why he takes so long to finish his books)
“Dealing with writers is like herding cats.”
~ George R. R. Martin (on working with a team of writers for
the Wild Cards books)
“Every generation of writers face their own set of challenges.”
George R. R. Martin
~ George R. R. Martin (on the changes in the publishing industry)
“Never sacrifice what you want the most for what you want the most at that moment.”
~ James A. Owen
Good stuff. I returned from the con inspired to finish my WIP and get it out the door. I also returned a little more aware of the greater world of fandom out there. While I may not be the kind of girl who dresses up like a Klingon, as an author, I can think of few things more flattering than fans dressing up as the characters in my books. Heck, I’d even let them out-nerd me.