In another day, I will be departing for World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio to meet up with 950 or so other authors, editors, publishers, artists and fans in the professional speculative fiction business. This is only my second con and my first major con, so, naturally, I am very excited, but most exciting of all is the chance to meet people who have become dear friends via Twitter and Faccebook. Some are well known like @ResnickMike and @PauloBacigalupi or @blakecharlton and @SamSykesSwears. But others are up and coming like me: @inkhaven @sandrawickham @johnremy @erikaholt @saladinahmed @inkgorilla @mosessiregar @johnklima and more. I’ll see my friend Eric Reynolds of Hadley Rille Books, and meet some new people, too, including, hopefully some editors who have worked on favorite books of mine and perhaps a few agents.
This convention is much more industry focused, so the panels and attendees tend to have stronger ties to the publishing side itself and be less general fans. So it’s a real opportunity for me to network. I have postcards about my books to hand out, including URLs for this blog and my website. I also have a few copies of “The North Star Serial, Part 1” to give away, and I hope to replace them with tons of books we are to be given free when we register at the convention. Hopefully it’s stuff I don’t already have.
Dave Truesdale has asked me to extend his greetings to many people and Mike Resnick swore he’d introduce me to the rest. It should be a great time. And I hope to come away refocused and inspired to start a new project in November for National Novel Writing Month. I really need to get back on the horse of my daily writing routine. It’s been pretty much since May that I did that, which is a lot of wasted time. I did write in the interim, continuing to work on the first draft of “Sandman,” and writing short stories as well as outlining some other projects and revising “The Worker Prince” in bits and pieces. But what I need is to get back to the dedication I had before and churn out the pages. I need to shake off this depression and anxiety and focus on my dream. Being in the process of applying for MFA programs is helpful, and I think feeling a part of a larger community and making stronger connections with people who already support and encourage me will also be good.
Whatever the case, you know I’ll report on it here with pictures and notes. Maybe I’ll even find time to blog a bit while I’m there. Meantime, if you’re going to be there, be sure and look me up. I look forward to meeting you.
For what it’s worth…
