Yesterday, I had two panels: one about the origins of LitRPG and the other on how to get into a shared universe. Then I had a reading with Kacey Ezell.
But first, pictures of Madeline having fun! Here she is meeting the inimitable Ian McMurtrie of The Bugscuffle Gazette.
The LitRPG panel was early in the day and the moderator and another panelist didn’t make it. That turned out to be brilliant! That meant it was just Ben Yalow and myself.
Ben is a real interesting guy. He’s always dapper, always with a bow tie. He’s been part of SF/F fandom since basically there was such a thing. He’s been going to conventions for decades, having helped probably with something like 70 (or maybe more) cons over the years.
That makes him a fantastic primary source of the early days, especially since he can quite literally say things like, “Jack Chalker and I were chatting, and I suggested…” This panel basically devolved into the two of us talking about earlier SF/F, of which I’ve read a goodly amount, though not in his league.
Still, I can hold my own, especially on some topics like Randall Garrett, one of my favorite short story authors. In the context of early LitRPG, Garrett’s Lord D’Arcy earns a spot in my mind. I also brought up the Deities & Demigods, with all the stats for Elric, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Cthulhu, and more. This was the first time I can recall specifically assigning stats to book characters. I also talked about Quag Keep by Andre Norton and other stuff.
But really, we just talked about cool SF/F, including, for example, Jack Chalker. I even got to bring up the Hornblower books.
Lots of fun, even if it wasn’t really on topic.
The next panel talked of tips to join a shared universe. This got off the rails too, and to be honest, didn’t have a great crowd that could take advantage of it. Still, there were a number of great points from the co-panelists: Fred Hughes, Jesse Barrett, and Jim Curtis.
After that, the wife and I lounged for a while. Opening ceremonies went of the rails in a fun way and then it was time to go to my reading.
Kacey Ezell is just a fun person. Smart, funny, uplifting. A great person to share a reading with.
She read from both her Shadow Card Guardian and Blood in the Sand novels. These are fun, exciting, action-packed LitRPG romps.
I read the first chapter of Shattered Spear, my upcoming boys book from Raconteur Press which comes out on November 13th. Then, because Kacey’s second passage including kissing, I had to read the second chapter of the sequel to Shattered Spear, which includes a 13-year-old boy trying to understand girls.
Fun stuff.
After that was CHEESE!
We had some great cheeses in our fridge that we wanted to eat before we left, so we brought it out to share. We had a mimolette, a Stilton, a manchego, a blue-cheese infused cheddar, and one other soft cheese I can’t remember right now. That was a tasty dinner, especially with folks gathered around to share.
Then we had CAKE!!!
And went up to the con suite after the bar closed. I ended the evening chatting with Kelly Grayson, which is always fun… and weird.
What a good day.
Today, I’ve got up, eaten breakfast, taken a nap, a second shower, and chatted with folks.
At 5pm, I get to talk about what happens after the adventure ends. Then probably more cheese, drinks, and whimsy.
My job doesn’t suck.