This was my second year attending CONduit, Utah’s largest science fiction and fantasy convention.
Friday
The first panel I went to was “The Future of War.” I guess because it was the first panel of the day, and people were still trying to figure out where everything was, for a while I was the only audience member, and L. E. Modesitt, Jr., was the only panelist. So he asked me what I was interested in about the subject, and we began talking about the future of infantry. Modesitt had some very interesting points to make about the economics of war and how that might affect things in the future. (For example, consider the costs of outfitting an entire army with powered armor a la Starship Troopers.) Eventually other audience members arrived, plus panelist Carl Timmerman, who is in the Army Special Forces. He had some great insights.
I also attended Lee Modesitt’s reading. He read a short story that was recently published in an anthology, Slipstreams. “Slipstream” is the term for stories that cross multiple genres, and this story fit the bill: an alternate history futuristic ghost/zombie murder mystery.
In the evening, I ran into James Van Pelt, an author who has written some very good short stories. (His collection The Last of the O-forms is one of the best short story collections I’ve read in a while.) We talked for a bit and then Lee Modesitt joined in. We had quite a long conversation about politics, writing, and other subjects.
Saturday
I spent most of the day attending readings and signings. Brandon Sanderson read from Alcatraz, the very funny YA fantasy novel he’s sold to Scholastic. Jim Van Pelt read from Summer of the Apocalypse, his forthcoming novel. Ken Rand read a couple of his spec-fic western stories. I got some books signed by Lee Modesitt, Newbery Honor author Shannon Hale, Brandon Sanderson, James Dashner, Julie Wright, and Howard Tayler.
Sunday
I did a reading in the morning. I read “Upgrade,” “Bird-Dropping and Sunday,” and “Spectacles of Death.” They seemed to go over pretty well. A big thank you to all who attended.
After my reading, I attended several readings, all of which I very much enjoyed. Jessica Day George read from her forthcoming YA fantasy, Dragonskin Slippers. Julie Wright read from her YA fantasy The Thirteenth Month. James Dashner read from his YA novel Mazerunner.
I had lunch with James Dashner and illustrator Mike Dringenberg, from whom I learned some very interesting stuff about the art world. (For example, did you know that the richest artists in the world are in Japan? Some manga [Japanese comic books] artists are billionaires.)
I got a book and a magazine signed by Jim Van Pelt, after which it was my turn to do a signing. Also signing at that time was Dan Willis. Unfortunately, neither of us did any actual signing at our signing, but we had a nice chat.
I was only on one panel during the convention, and it wasn’t until 4pm on Sunday. But it was a good one, on the Fermi Paradox. (Basically, since the galaxy has been around long enough that intelligent life could have formed in another solar system over a billion years ago, and such a race would ahve had plenty of time to expand to fill the galaxy, why don’t we see any sign of that?) The other panelists were Sam Longoria, Laura Swift, and Helge Moulding.
At the closing ceremonies, I discovered to my surprise that my story “Times Infinity” had won first place in the fiction contest, and “Waiting for Raymond” had received honorable mention. (The reason I was surprised is not that I didn’t think those were good stories, but rather that the finalists were supposed to be notified a week in advance, and I wasn’t.) I also got $1 as first runner up in the annual microfiction contest, which limits stories to three sentences (plus a title.)
Overall, the con was a great experience. In addition to all the above, at various points during the convention I got to hang out with Eric Swedin (and his family), Kathleen Dalton Woodbury, Robert J. Defendi, Brandon Sanderson and his fiancee Emily, Howard and Sandra Tayler, James Dashner, Julie Wright, Shannon Hale, Jessica Day George, Scott Danielson, and more.
I look forward to attending Conduit XVII: Shadows of Conduit next year.
As a bonus for reading all the way through this post, here’s my winning microfiction:
“A Typical Night at the Bar of Personified Concepts”
When Occam’s Razor asked his drinking buddies, General Relativity and Immovable Object, who the beautiful woman walking through the entrance was, they both turned to look.
Without stopping, the woman walked straight to their table, slapped Immovable across the face, and walked away.
As the other two looked at him for an explanation, Immovable sighed and said, “Irresistible Force and I have met before.”