Dragon*Con is one of the largest science fiction & fantasy conventions. Its focus is more on media (i.e., TV shows and movies) than on written fiction, but it does have a writing track.
I actually went to a Dragon*Con back in 1998 or so, when I lived in Virginia and it was only a few hours drive. (In those days I wasn’t writing, but I went to a lot of media-oriented conventions.) This year, though, I decided to fly out to the convention, and I’m glad I did. It was a lot of fun, but it was also a good professional networking opportunity.
The con was held in three adjacent hotels: the Hyatt, the Marriott Marquis, and the Hilton. I did not stay at any of those hotels, because I decided to save money by staying somewhere cheaper. That turned out to be rather tiring, as I had to lug the books I wanted autographed around with me all day–and with the events spread out among the three hotels, I did a lot of walking. (According to my pedometer, I walked over nine miles one day, but that includes walking over a mile from my hotel to the convention. I took cabs to and from my hotel after that.)
Friday
I arrived in Atlanta late Thursday night, so my first day at the con was Friday. Since I hadn’t pre-registered, I had to make my way through the registration line. Fortunately, when I arrived the line was very short–I probably waited no more than five minutes after weaving my way through the empty, um, line thingies. (You know, those things that are set up to make lines of people wind around.) Later during the con, I saw people standing in a huge line, so I count myself lucky.
I met up that afternoon before the “Frankenstein Wastes An Hour of Our Time” panel with some of my friends from Codex: James Maxey, Edmund Schubert, Alethea Kontis and Steve Savile. After lunch with them, I went to see Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta at their book signing.
By the way, if it seems like I do a lot of name-dropping in these con reports, there’s a simple explanation: it’s because I’m doing a lot of name-dropping in these con reports. It helps me to remember who I met.
I also got autographs from one of my favorite space-opera authors, Elizabeth Moon, after attending a panel called “Reminiscing with Elizabeth Moon.”
In addition to panels and author signings, Dragon*Con had various dealers’ rooms selling a wide variety of science fiction and fantasy (and other) merchandise. They also have an area that they call the Walk of Fame. That’s where the TV and movie actors were signing autographs.
I’ve been to a lot of conventions and have a thick stack of autographed pictures from a lot of different stars of my favorite shows. But Dragon*Con’s Walk of Fame allowed me to get a bunch of new ones. On Friday, I met and got autographs and photos with:
- Clare Kramer, who played Glory, one of my favorite villains on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- James Leary, who played Clem the friendly demon on Buffy.
- Andrew Hallett, who played Lorn the demon karaoke bar owner on Angel.
- James Callis, who plays Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica.
- Kate Vernon, who plays Ellen Tigh on Battlestar Galactica.
- Bill Dow, who plays Dr. Bill Lee on Stargate SG-1.
- Cliff Simon, who plays Ba’al on Stargate SG-1.
In the evening, I met up with the Codexians, which by this time included Helena Bell, Oliver Dale, Gray Rinehart, and Ada Brown. Also there were Jason Sizemore, editor of Apex Digest, and Shane Berryhill, an author of young adult science fiction.
Saturday
Early in the morning, I went to get my picture taken with several actors who were not allowing pictures to be taken on the Walk of Fame:
- Don Davis, who played General Hammond on Stargate SG-1.
- Rachel Luttrell, who plays Teyla on Stargate: Atlantis.
- Tori Higginson, who plays Dr. Weir on Stargate: Atlantis and played Beth Kittridge on TekWar.
I then went over to the Walk of Fame and stood in line for the only two actors who had a really long line for autographs: Alan Tudyk and Summer Glau, who respectively played Wash and River in Firefly and Serenity.
I met up with some Codexians and Apex-Digestians for a late breakfast that turned into an early lunch because the breakfast buffet did not appeal to most of us. Best-selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon (a friend of Alethea) and some of her family joined us. Alethea made all of us swear never to reveal to her father how much she paid for a sandwich that she did not finish.
Several of us went to see Kevin and Rebecca give their talk about “Things I Wish a Pro Had Told Me When I Was First Starting Out.” I’ve been fortunate to hear them give this advice at the Writers of the Future workshop a few times, but I learn something from it each time.
I went to see the panel “Farenheit 1984: Politics in SF,” mainly because I wanted to get author John Ringo’s autograph. (His official autographing session was scheduled for Monday, by which time I would be flying back to Utah.) John did a good job of defending the conservative position, and I got the autographs I wanted.
I got most of the pictures with actors I had taken the previous day autographed.
I went to fellow Phobos winner Eugie Foster‘s reading and had her autograph a few of her writings.
At some point in the afternoon, I ran into Kevin, and he asked if I was going to the banquet that evening. I said I wasn’t sure, and he gave me a ticket. So that’s how I ended up sitting at Kevin’s table during the banquet. Steve and Alethea were also there, and Denise Crosby ended up sitting at the table as well. It was a fun evening.
Sunday
Early Sunday morning, I got my picture taken with Nicholas Brendan, who played Xander on Buffy. I then headed over to the Walk of Fame and got my final autographs for the weekend:
- Kevin Sorbo, who played Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
- Gary Jones, who plays Sgt. Harriman on Stargate SG-1.
- Richard Hatch, who played Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica and plays Tom Zerak on the new one.
- Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Dean Haglund, who played Richard Langly, one of the Lone Gunmen on the X-Files.
- Tahmoh Penikett, who plays Helo on the new Battlestar Galactica.
- Aaron Douglas, who plays Chief Petty Officer Tyrol on the new Battlestar Galactica.
- Erick Avari, who played Kasuf in both movie and TV versions of Stargate.
I also chatted with Erin Gray (whose autograph I already have several of) about how she had been reading Harry Potter at her autograph table at a convention several years ago, and it was her recommendation for the books that had helped convince me to read them. So she gave me another book recommendation: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
I had lunch with several of the Codexians at a diner, then had to brave a downpour to get back to the hotels. It took me a while to dry out.
Several of us went to the “Editors on Editing” panel. After the panel, there was a stampeding herd of desperate writers who wanted to meet the editors, particularly the editors from Tor and Ace.
Two years ago, when I first attended the Writers of the Future workshop, Kevin J. Anderson told me and my fellow writers of the future that he would be willing to introduce us to editors at conventions. He is a man of his word. Kevin introduced me to Paul Stevens, an associate editor for Tor, and to Anne Sowards, an editor at Ace. (Kevin especially wanted to introduce me to Anne, because she’s the only Mormon editor he knows of in New York.) He even went so far as to introduce me as “one of my students from Writers of the Future.” That’s definitely better that just being one of the crowd of desperate writers.
I talked to Anne for a few minutes after the panel. I don’t know the names of many editors at major publishers, but I actually knew of her because she’s a friend of Isaac Stewart, who is in one of my writing groups.
I ran into Anne a while later, and we had a chance to sit down and talk for almost an hour before she had to go off to meet some people for dinner. It was a fun conversation, because it turns out we have rather similar tastes in TV shows and books.
The Codexian group got together for dinner at the Steak and Ale. As we waited to be seated, I had the opportunity to talk with Ed Schubert, the new editor of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, about the ending of a story that he wanted me to rewrite.
That pretty much wraps up the con report, because I left to fly back to Utah early the next morning.
All in all, it was a great experience. I may have to go again next year.