Friday: I had an interesting panel on Trends in Fantasy. We had a lot of audience interaction, but basically decided that you can’t look at today’s trends and write to them. By the time you are through with a manuscript, and have send it through the submission process, and it has gotten accepted and put into the publication queue, several months — if not years have passed, and you are no longer trendy. So, the consensus was to write what you want to write, make it the best it can be, and then look for a market. Don’t try to write to the market, because that is a moving target.

Finishing the night was the traditional Yard Dog Press Road Show. If you ever get a chance to see one, take advantage of the opportunity. It is always fun. Here are a few shots captured at the Road Show:

Melanie Fletcher reads and Julia Mandala and Rhonda Eudaly “dance.”

Rhonda performs…while Mel. White plots…

Kathy Turski reads while Dusty Rainbolt waits her turn…

The Road Show is always fun, but exhausting. It was a pretty early night.

Saturday: I had two back to back panels about the Young Adult trends. The first one discussed whether or not there was too much darkness in the books being published currently. It was an interesting discussion. We decided that the trend is reflecting the climate of the world the kids are living in, and that the darkness in the books can be helpful in learning to cope. (Plus, the darkness has always been there…it just may be less hidden these days.)

Then we discussed the rise of the Heroine in YA, and gave our favorite examples of strong heroines in the current literature. From Hermione Granger to Katniss Everdean, the strong heroine is a role model for today’s girls.

Then I had a signing with Lou Antonelli. He had brought some of the paperback copies of Zombie Writing!, so I got to get one for my archive shelf. It is a neat collection of zombie writing advice, and I am pleased to be part of it. Now I need to read the rest of it and learn how to write scary zombies as well as silly!

Mel. White coaxed me onto the What is Filk? panel, and I actually performed some of the songs from Don’t Go Drinking With Hobbits. She even convinced me to come to the filksinging later in the evening, and I sang three songs…didn’t get back to the room till midnight. 🙂

Sunday: Resting up after a great supper to drive home tomorrow morning. Very energized after the weekend. Can’t wait to get back to work on some revisions I have in the queue.

Got some great feedback on the chapters of Skellyman that I read in my reading. Rachel Caine, one of the sweetest writers I know, was extremely helpful and encouraging, which makes me excited to get back to work on it. (And champing at the bit to read her work-in-progress when it is out.)

Then I got added to a panel which included Cherie Priest, the con Guest of Honor. I hadn’t read any of her books before, but I am a third of the way through Four and Twenty Blackbirds, and I am a new fan. It is Southern Gothic and extremely compelling. I’m sure I will get around to her Steampunk trilogy soon now. 

It was a fabulous con, as always, but I will be happy to get home.