I just spent a week in a cabin on a lake near beautiful and remote Watersmeet, Michigan. The cabin just got electricity in a few years back, and this year marked the introduction of a pump to bring unheated washing (but not drinking) water up from the lake. There are no phones and no internet access.
It’s a slice of heaven.
I’m in the middle of catching up from my absence. I should have my Gen Con schedule posted shortly, along with the third and final day of my Comic-Con notes.
Speaking of Gen Con, if you’re an industry professional and have yet to receive a notice about the Diana Jones Award ceremony at Gen Con, drop me an e-mail for the details. For the moment, just reserve some time late on Wednesday, August 9, to join your compadres in celebrating some of the best games of the year.
I just got back from Games Day Chicago, and I had a wonderful time. The Black Library staff treated me like a star, and I got to sit and chat with all sort of Blood Bowl and general Games Workshop fans. We sold over 100 copies of my books, and I signed every last one of them.
As a bonus, Mike Lee joined me at the author’s table, and I enjoyed lunch with him and his lovely wife Janet Young. I also saw them at Comic-Con, but I haven’t gotten to that part of the tale yet. Unfortunately, it’s going to be a bit before I can get back to that story. I’m heading out of town for parts off the grid, which means no updates for a week or so.
With luck, I’ll be able to squeeze in a few posts before heading off to Gen Con Indy. Either way, I hope to see some of you at that show of shows!
All day tomorrow (July 29), I’ll be at Games Day Chicago, the one-day Games Workshop convention. I’ll be hanging out in the Black Library booth, signing books with my pal and fellow author Mike Lee.
I’m told I’ll also help out with a Black Library seminar. In the course of this, there’s a vicious rumor that we’ll ask Blood Bowl trilogy trivia questions, with prizes given out for correct answers–or, barring that, the ones that make us laugh.
If you’re in Chicago and love Games Workshop, I hope to see you there!
Believe it or not, I did survive Comic-Con. Every year I go, it gets bigger, and I wonder if it will ever slow down. It never does.
I hear that this year’s attendance may top 125,000 people. Con management actually stopped preregistration in the middle of the show (for those buying one-day tickets later in the show, I presume) and even shut down on-site registration on Saturday.
Couple that with the heat wave that ran through town, and it was one sweaty, wild time. Since the weather is normally perfect year-round in San Diego, it seemed like few of the restaurants or bars had any kind of air conditioning. At least the convention center had upgraded its system, preventing the roasting we used to see, starting about 3 PM each day. You put that many people in one room, and it gets hot.
Anyhow, here’s how my trip went.
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Yes, I’m back from Comic-Con. It was a blast, and I’ll have a full report soon. In the meantime, here’s a tidbit that’s apropos.
On a mailing list for tie-in writers (affiliated with the IAMTW), KeVin Killiany asked about the best ways to look for work at a convention. Many of his fellow writers (including me) chipped in with some answers that should make for fun reading.
Although I haven’t seen it yet, I’m told last week’s US News & World Report contains an advertorial for Rockford Memorial Hospital. It features a story, with photos, about our family and the fantastic experiences we had with the hospital before, during, and after the birth of our quadruplets four years ago.
As I’ve said before, we rarely do any kind of publicity about our kids. Still, we make exceptions to thank those people who helped us so much when we needed them most.
I’m taking off tomorrow for sunny San Diego for Comic-Con. My first seminar is on Friday at 11:30 AM in Room 1B: “Competing for the Young Adult Mind with Words and Pictures.” The fabulous Maryelizabeth Hart (of Mysterious Galaxy fame) moderates the panel, and I’ll try to keep up with her and Holly Black (game-industry refugee and Spiderwick Chronicles author), Shane Berryhill (Chance Fortune), Tony DiTerlizzi (adventure gaming artist who illustrated the Spiderwick Chronicles and–get this–created the cover to the upcoming Peter Pan in Scarlet), Tim Eldred (adventure gaming artist and author of Grease Monkey) , and Anne Ursu (author of The Cronus Chronicles). We’ll have a group signing after that from 12:30 to 1:30 PM.
On Saturday, at 11 AM, I’m moderating “Getting Published in Gaming” in Room 24A. The brave souls joining me include Jamie Chambers (of Margaret Weis Productions), Phil Lacefield (of Paizo), Lee Hammock (freelance game designer), Tony Parker (freelance artist), Jeff Tidball (of Atlas Games), Seth Johnson (of WizKids), Christopher Appel (freelance artist), and fellow Alliterates member Stan! (of Upper Deck).
Later that day, I’ll be signing books at the Wizards of the Coast booth from 3:00 to 3:30 PM. Check out the entire Wizards signing schedule for details about Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and R.A. Salvatore’s signings too.
If you’ll be at the show, be sure to hunt me down and say hi. I’m looking forward to seeing all sorts of old friends and making new ones too.
You can now go vote for the ENnies!