Technically, Friday was the first day of the con but since I got here on Thursday it feels like Day 2 for me.
We started with the opening ceremonies which were short and simple. The various GoH’s introduced themselves and said, “hello” to the audience. Martin Young, the Toastmaster, gave me the straight line of asking if things ever went wrong in puppetry, so I told the Sleeping Beauty story.
Sandra Tayler is in town and rooming with me. She is a delight to hang out with. By the way, I highly recommend having someone like Sandra with you when you GoH to act as a safety net.
From the Opening Ceremonies it was off to Getting Published Today with Dani Kollin, Eytan Kollin, and Susan Krinard. Oddly we were all Tor authors whose surnames began with the letter K. It was a fun conversation although at one point I remarked that we were a self-heckling panel. The key takeaway I think from that is that if you want to get published you have to have a good manuscript and do your research.
Between panels Sandra and I hung out in the bar area with John Picacio, Chris Garcia, Jeremy Llassen, and a roving cast of others. Funny conversations including a whole host of innocent sentences parents should not say about their children without risking jail time if they are heard out of context.
In the evening we went to the Meet the Guests reception which was good clean fun. I need to give a shout out to Tobi Schneider, guest liaison, who is doing a fantastic job of making us all feel welcome.
After the reception, I indulged in my guilty pleasure and went to the Regency Ball. I brought an extra dress and managed to talk Sandra into going. Man, some of those dances are really fast. At one point, I lost a shoe. I felt very much like Cinderella.
Here’s where you can find me today (Saturday)
11:30 AM to 1:00 PM in room: San Tomas
Growing Artisticially Through Crisis
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in room: Bayshore East and West
Puppetry Workshop
(Note: I will have the pencil-necked little weasel, and John Scalzi’s Papa Fuzzy puppet with me)
4:00 PM to 5:30 PM in room: Winchester
$5, a Dead Fish, and a Time Machine
5:30 to 7:00 PM in room: Central
Autographing
By the way, if I’m not in a panel, the bar is a good bet on where to find me.
