I’ve gotten out of the habit of writing con reports, because I go to too many cons to really do that.  I mean, I can write detailed con reports or I can write books, you know?

But I want to say a few things about Salt Lake.

First, Blake Casselman and Ryan Call do great work.  I know a few panelists were disappointed with how some things turned out this year.  It’s okay to be disappointed — this is a fallen world, and stuff ain’t perfect.  But Blake and Ryan work really hard, and deserve thanks.

Second, holy WordFire Press, Batman!  Did you SEE those lines?  And the press of readers?  And the precision control around crowd management?  And the awesomeness of those books?  I have to say, I feel like I make a great call in jumping for that wagon.  Props to Kevin, Rebecca, Peter, Alexi, Quincy, and the rest of the team.

Third, Jim Butcher.  That dude is an unassuming, cool cat.

Fourth, Larry Correia.  You might not agree with his politics or his views on the Hugos and you might not enjoy being in a debate with him.  But NOBODY is more accessible to his fans.  Larry is SUPER friendly, available, generous, and as loyal to his fans as they are to him.  Color me impressed.

Fifth, also, Larry ran me over like a freight train Friday night at Choose Your Own Apocalypse as the partying Reavers.  To be clear, Jason King as the revivalist Borg ALSO ran me over, like a slightly smaller freight train.  This is a game I have won before, but man, not this time.  I think I had ten different audience members come up to me on Saturday and say “CYOA is our favorite thing.  We need one of those every night!”  Because yes, I lost, but it was HILARIOUS.

This is an ALLCAPS kind of post.  It was an ALLCAPS kind of con.

Sixth, many people are awesome.  Nathan Shumate (The Last Christmas Gift, go buy it now for stocking stuffers), Jason and Sariah, Michaelbrent Collings, Judy Collings, Kendra and Matt Santa Cruz, Jared Garrett, Kevin Nielsen, David Young et familia, Justin McBride, the Terrells, Peter Orullian (because MUSIC!), Julie Frost, M. Todd Gallowglass, Scott Tayler, S.A. Butler, David J. West, Holli Anderson, Nathan Croft, Scott Tarbet, Tyler Jolley, Jacob Gowans, Celeste Hansen, Joy Johnson, Daniel Braithwaite, Jason Mocer, and MANY OTHERS I AM FORGETTING AT THIS MOMENT AND TO WHOM I OWE AN APOLOGY.

Seventh, I LOVE doing cons at the table.  The green room is cool, that’s a place to meet writers, and Bob Defendi has written a lovely meditation on the greatness of the green room.  But at the table I got to chat with Chris the electric ukulelist who build his own instruments and amps, and Terrie the forest ranger who read Hellhound on My Trail up in the Uintas, and other people who bought books before from me and came back for more.  How cool is that?

Eight, congratulations to Josh Vogt.  Even bigger congratulations to Paizo.

Nine, I met Chuck Gannon.  He’s a cool guy, and I’m excited to read his first book.

Ten, I was on some sweet panels.  To my surprise, the sweetest was the end-of-con panel on writing sex and gore.  People had serious questions, and we attempted serious answers, with a great deal of laughter and more than a little colorful metaphor.

And all that BEFORE the supermoon eclipse.

Oh and hey, look… the world hasn’t ended.

I hope your weekends were as good as mine.

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