RadCon Wrap-Up

So, Radcon was, in a word, marvelous. I've always liked this convention, to be totally honest, but this one was a definite highlight. not to mention that this was the first time I ended up on panels.

So, we start with the drama: I go to the green room right away (led by a very helpful volunteer security guard, I might add) and there's my packet with all my pro information, my pro placard, my schedule...but not the pro badge. Well, turns out there was a minor snafu and, instead of being upstairs, my badge had mysteriously ended up sitting downstairs. Oh well. No big deal.

I'm not going to spend time giving you a blow by blow of every panel. That would probably get horribly dull, after all. But there were some real highlights. For those that didn't know, Tanya Huff was our Writer Guest of Honor. Well, after a panel, we stood out in the hallway for a solid half hour just talking to her and she said something I think is very heartening to a lot of authors. Someone asked if she, like other authors out there, writes from 9-5 every day. She does have her hours set aside for work, but she doesn't necessarily just work during those hours. She's very good at spider solitaire. In fact, her original response to the question was, word for word, "Hell no!" She produces a single book every year. You can breathe that sigh of relief, now.

The other wonderful thing was talking to Patricia Briggs in the same hallway, a few feet away, at the very end of the convention. She, I think, is the epitome of what authors should aim for when dealing with fans. She doesn't really differentiate, not the way we're 'supposed' to. She'll talk to you. It's wonderful. Really wonderful.

And I met some wonderful new people doing the panels. The standout of the weekend for new acquaintances had to be Esther Jones, part of the joint writing team Frog and Esther Jones. A bright, intelligent woman, and the two of them have their first novel, Grace Under Fire. Obviously, I haven't yet had the chance to read it, but it sounds brilliant, and is pretty well-reviewed on Amazon. I would give it a look.

I also got the chance to (finally) meet Tonya Macalino, a fellow member of the Northwest Independent Writers' Association. It was a brief encounter, and all that really happened was the snapping of a picture, but she spoke well at her panel, and seemed very chipper, a rare sight on the final day of a convention. (Normally, that last day is full of zombified geeks moaning around the halls, myself included).

All in all, a fabulous convention.

Voss