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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
For me it was a pretty productive con – I connected with a few people that I definitely wanted to meet or see, I got a chance to hang out with some favorite peeps, I got a little writing done, and I did some career/work stuff that I wanted to get done. And I got the photo of Howard Waldrop with my brother and Gene Ha’s Project Superman.
Beforehand I did some stuff – I made a list of what I wanted to get accomplished, wrote to a couple people who I wanted to make sure to spend time with, and I went through the con program to identify some of the panels/features that I really didn’t want to miss. I also blocked in plenty of time for hanging at the bar, which I consider a crucial part of any con. I didn’t plan out every waking minute, to be sure, but I did make sure I knew what I wanted to do. I volunteered for programming and set up an individual reading as well as being part of the Broad Universe Rapidfire Reading.This is, I think, the sort of thing you need to do if you’re going to cons and justifying the expenditure as work/career related rather than fun. Otherwise you end up sitting in your hotel room thinking that you should be doing something or being somewhere but not quite sure what.
Absolutely, cons are about friendships, that’s one of the more enjoyable aspects. But some you know a lot of folks at and others you have to push yourself a bit. I tend to retreat when around people I don’t know, but I’ve found that if I push myself out of my comfort zone some, I end up having a much better time.
If I’d been more diligent, I would have done the following:
How do y’all prep for conventions? Or do you even bother about this sort of thing?
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In prepping for the WFC panel, I found there’s a bunch of Fritz Leiber stuff available free on the Kindle. Here’s some links for fellow Kindlers.
The Big Time
Bread Overhead
The Creature From Cleveland Depths
The Moon is Green
The Night of the Long Knives
No Great Magic
What’s He Doing In There?
Not free, but still well worthwhile at 99 cents:
The Big Time
I’ll be springing for the rest, probably: Conjure Wife and Our Lady of Darkness and all the rest. If you’ve never read Leiber, I heartily recommend him, and every sword and sorcery fan should be familiar with his Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser books.
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