*tap tap* Is this thing still on? *looks sheepish.*
Ahem. I would like to draw your attention to things that are happening at Chicon 7. While I won’t be in attendance, several awesome people I know will be, and they will be doing suitably awesome things. For example, Fran Wilde will be doing panels about food and fantasy, travel, and a reading. Her full schedule is available here, and if you’re attending Chicon, you should most definitely seek her out. Rumor has it she’ll have cookies.
Carole Ann Moleti will also be at Chicon, and she’ll be signing books on September 1 from 10:30-12, which is also her birthday! You should find her, wish her happy birthday, and get a book signed. What better birthday present could you give an author? Carole is also organizing an Anticipation/Taos Workshop group reading and information session on September 1 (which is still her birthday!) from 2-2:30pm. The details are still being worked out, but information will be available at the con.
Let me tell you about the Anticipation folks: They are good people. Anticipation was the World Con held in Montreal, back in 2009. It was my first World Con, and my first real con, actually. There were workshops. I attended one. I can pretty definitively say I would not be where I am today without that workshop. It had a domino effect on my life. Because of people I met at that workshop, I joined an online workshop that helped me grow immensely as a writer; I found a local critique group, which also helped my writing grow by leaps and bounds; I made new friends; I lost my fear of attending conventions (I even participated in convention programming); I became the co-editor of an online journal; I found a community of like-minded folks all more or less trying to do what I’m trying to do. Without that workshop, I’d probably still be flailing around blindly, getting things (more) wrong, afraid to come out of my tiny little isolated corner of the world. In short, I’d have missed out on an awful lot.
If Chicon 7 is your first con, or even if it isn’t, I’d strongly encourage you to seek out the Anticipation/Taos reading. You’ll meet some very talented folks, who are also wonderful, and friendly people. You may even discover the Anticipation Workshop, which is still ongoing in its online form, is the writing community for you.
