Instead of my regular Sunday Week in Review post, I am going to give you another Con report. Specifically, Day 3 of MisCon here in Missoula, MT.
This day is the weirdest in my experience. Pros and guests are getting worn out and there is still another day to go. There is a lot more giggling and a lot more lost trains of thought. In other words if you can stay awake to enjoy it, it is the most fun.
That said, I have a bit of a rant to make. Today we had the follow-up to the Writers Workshop yesterday. I heard a lot of submitters dismiss everything the pros had said because “They didn’t understand what I was trying to do” or even worse “He didn’t understand because he’s a man.” If I wasn’t as shy as I am, I would have piped in as agreeing with the pros but I didn’t really want to start an argument. It really bothered me that these folks who had paid to be in this workshop were completely closed off to being taught just because the feedback they heard wasn’t exactly as they wanted it. I am not saying they should rush to change everything the pros pointed out, but they should be at least considering and mulling over the comments and only reject them then. /rant off
I spent the last half of that talking with John Dalmas who had sat himself down next to me. He is a fascinating gentleman with a lot of experience in the field of writing SF/Fantasy. I enjoyed that part of it thoroughly.
I enjoyed the readings of M. J. Engh and James C. Glass today. Their stories they shared were entertaining and, especially during M. J.’s (who had primarily pros at her reading), educational.
The final panel titled “Beyond Vampires” was very amusing. They argued and discussed. They were very passionate about genre trends and why the current trends exist. Also this is the first time I had seen one of Patricia Briggs’ fans come in dressed up. I wish I had a picture but this one had on a Mercy costume, complete with a heavy wrench hanging from her belt and tattoos painted on her arms. The only thing that would have made the costume better would have been the tattoo at the base of her back and if the wrench hadn’t been so shiny silver.
Tomorrow is the last day of the con. I am glad it is almost over. I am in desperate need of some writing time after all the positive experiences I’ve had here.
