LauraJUnderwood
Silly Author Person
Well, I just got back from Conestoga 11, and it was a fine adventure to be certain.
GoH was Laurel K. Hamilton, and the toastmistress of the weekend was my friend Elizabeth Moon.
I started out by driving from East Tennessee to the other end of Arkansas to spend the night with friend and editor Selina Rosen. The next day, we caravaned across Oklahoma to Tulsa for the 11th annual Conestoga.
Had to wait to check into the hotel, so we spent time setting up in the dealer's room. I brought my own books to sell and it worked out well for me to do so at my publisher's table.
Once we got into the rooms, I attended Opening Ceremonies. A lot of fun. The charity for the weekend was a rescue safari place that takes in exotic pets. They brought several of the animals, including a lemur and an alligator, a Fenix (sp) fox, two boas, an albino raccoon and a wolf. All weekend, I was taking opportunities to pet the animals or talk to the handlers. I even spoiled the lemur by introducing him to Ranch Style Doritos (they said it was okay). Little fellow turned into a regular addict.
After opening ceremonies, Elizabeth Moon, Julia K and I had dinner in the restaurant, then it was on to the parties. Yard Dog Press was hosting a party in the consuite called "Ho-ing Through The Ages..."
For those unfamiliar with this theme, Yard Dog Press calls it's authors "Writer-Hos" and our editor Selina is "The Pimp." We ho our books to anyone who will buy them. Our assignment was to produce a poster about a "famous ho" from history. I chose Edgar A. Poe. I even wrote a poem, draped my poster in a black scarf and added a little raven for that 3-D effect.
The party went off well.
Saturday morning, I had a "reading panel " at 9:00 am, and to my surprise, there were real people there. In fact, the audience well outnumbered the readers. I read from The King's Wind and from The Hounds of Ardagh.
After the reading, I dashed out to get my fencing gear because we were doing a demo for the SFWA Musketeers. The room filled up and the audience was generous with their donation for the SFWA EMF (our charity). I got to show off my skills as a former fencing champion. Afterwards, I had a lot of people wanting to take my picture in my Musketeer outfit.
I then had to run and do a panel on Food in Genre Fiction (while still sweaty). We discussed how food can say a lot about the culture in your writing (of course, at one point, we did digress into "the grossest thing I ever ate" but we got back on track).
Next, I ran back to the room to shower and change because my next panel was Guns and Knives for Writers. I was moderating this panel, along with Matt Reiten and a member of Twisted Blades (a group that choreographs fights for plays and film, and does demos). We had a really good panel, discussing likes and dislikes in the industry (I, for instance, sometimes have to bite my tongue because I will be watching sword fights in films and I will SEE openings that an amateur fencer would have gone for, and it sometimes spoils the scene for me). We also talked about sources for writers online.
Once that was over, I grabbed a snack, then went to the Author's Reception. It was for authors who had a book premiering at Conestoga. In this case, Selina Rosen and I had Bad Lands, our paranormal mystery novel just released at the end of last month.
After that, a gang of us went over to the Delta Cafe' for dinner. Then a run to the various parties before retiring to the room.
Sunday, I had a light schedule--a signing at 1:00, so I spent the time packing, loading the truck, selling books, talking to fans, etc. Selina and I then headed for the table where we signed dozens of copies of Bad Lands and the new YDP Anthology Houston, We Got Bubbas (containing my story "St. Ned of Airlock-9"). We attended closing ceremonies, and then went back to the Delta for dinner before heading home. I spent Sunday Night at Selina's place, doing a few writer chores, then drove home Monday.
It was a great con.
Now I have NASFic to look forward to as they gave me a ton of panels.
Laura J. Underwood
GoH was Laurel K. Hamilton, and the toastmistress of the weekend was my friend Elizabeth Moon.
I started out by driving from East Tennessee to the other end of Arkansas to spend the night with friend and editor Selina Rosen. The next day, we caravaned across Oklahoma to Tulsa for the 11th annual Conestoga.
Had to wait to check into the hotel, so we spent time setting up in the dealer's room. I brought my own books to sell and it worked out well for me to do so at my publisher's table.
Once we got into the rooms, I attended Opening Ceremonies. A lot of fun. The charity for the weekend was a rescue safari place that takes in exotic pets. They brought several of the animals, including a lemur and an alligator, a Fenix (sp) fox, two boas, an albino raccoon and a wolf. All weekend, I was taking opportunities to pet the animals or talk to the handlers. I even spoiled the lemur by introducing him to Ranch Style Doritos (they said it was okay). Little fellow turned into a regular addict.
After opening ceremonies, Elizabeth Moon, Julia K and I had dinner in the restaurant, then it was on to the parties. Yard Dog Press was hosting a party in the consuite called "Ho-ing Through The Ages..."
For those unfamiliar with this theme, Yard Dog Press calls it's authors "Writer-Hos" and our editor Selina is "The Pimp." We ho our books to anyone who will buy them. Our assignment was to produce a poster about a "famous ho" from history. I chose Edgar A. Poe. I even wrote a poem, draped my poster in a black scarf and added a little raven for that 3-D effect.
The party went off well.
Saturday morning, I had a "reading panel " at 9:00 am, and to my surprise, there were real people there. In fact, the audience well outnumbered the readers. I read from The King's Wind and from The Hounds of Ardagh.
After the reading, I dashed out to get my fencing gear because we were doing a demo for the SFWA Musketeers. The room filled up and the audience was generous with their donation for the SFWA EMF (our charity). I got to show off my skills as a former fencing champion. Afterwards, I had a lot of people wanting to take my picture in my Musketeer outfit.
I then had to run and do a panel on Food in Genre Fiction (while still sweaty). We discussed how food can say a lot about the culture in your writing (of course, at one point, we did digress into "the grossest thing I ever ate" but we got back on track).
Next, I ran back to the room to shower and change because my next panel was Guns and Knives for Writers. I was moderating this panel, along with Matt Reiten and a member of Twisted Blades (a group that choreographs fights for plays and film, and does demos). We had a really good panel, discussing likes and dislikes in the industry (I, for instance, sometimes have to bite my tongue because I will be watching sword fights in films and I will SEE openings that an amateur fencer would have gone for, and it sometimes spoils the scene for me). We also talked about sources for writers online.
Once that was over, I grabbed a snack, then went to the Author's Reception. It was for authors who had a book premiering at Conestoga. In this case, Selina Rosen and I had Bad Lands, our paranormal mystery novel just released at the end of last month.
After that, a gang of us went over to the Delta Cafe' for dinner. Then a run to the various parties before retiring to the room.
Sunday, I had a light schedule--a signing at 1:00, so I spent the time packing, loading the truck, selling books, talking to fans, etc. Selina and I then headed for the table where we signed dozens of copies of Bad Lands and the new YDP Anthology Houston, We Got Bubbas (containing my story "St. Ned of Airlock-9"). We attended closing ceremonies, and then went back to the Delta for dinner before heading home. I spent Sunday Night at Selina's place, doing a few writer chores, then drove home Monday.
It was a great con.
Now I have NASFic to look forward to as they gave me a ton of panels.
Laura J. Underwood
