Balticon

Hi folks,

I'm back from Balticon and juggling kids, work, the other work, cat-that-needs-to-go-to-the-vet, and all the other aspects of daily life.

But I wanted to put in a few words about conventions. Cons are so much fun, a place to let our inner nerds out to play without worrying that the real world will chuck dodgeballs at our heads. I sat in the Green Room for an hour in a lively, multi-person discussion of the continuity issues among the various Star Trek franchises... and it was AWESOME!

I also got to talk about my books--and about all of Spencer Hill's stuff--for hours with people who love that kind of stuff. It's a wonderful place to network, promote, and also have a lot of fun--all as part of being an author.

So, my advice to you is, if you write spec-fic (that's "speculative fiction," i.e., sci-fi, fantasy, alternative history, dystopian, horror, paranormal, etc.), then find a local con and try it out. Some are more tame than others, and even if the weirdness coefficient exceeds your normal tolerances, you can always use it as inspiration for interesting characters. You don't have to be weird to attend, just okay with being weird-adjacent.

And if "local" for you is the Boston area, come to our launch party for Kelly Hashway's Touch of Death at Arisia in January 2013--we're going to have a zombie prom, and we're asking you to be our bait--um, date.