ArmadilloCon Recap: the People

One of the best aspects of ArmadilloCon was the friendliness of all the people. Writing is a pretty solitary endeavor, so getting out to talk writing with other people is a bit of a high for me. Everyone I spoke to was super enthusiastic—I felt right at home among them.

The people I was most looking forward to seeing were the other three people in my critique group who came to the con, and in that respect the weekend most certainly did not disappoint. We had a wonderful time going out to dinner on Friday night and spending time catching up at other moments as well. Ico, Kendra and Steve—you guys are great!

I was also excited about catching up with Patrice Sarath, who was one of my instructors last year. I've read her two books (Gordath Wood and Red Gold Bridge) over the past year, and I'm really hoping to see more of her writing soon, particularly after going to her reading on Sunday.

I met some fascinating new people this year. Katharine Beutner was on the Mythology panel on Sunday morning, and she was kind enough to spend the hour after the panel chatting with me about her book, Alcestis, and about some of the mythology I'm using in my writing.

I also got a chance to meet Anne Sowards, senior editor at Ace/Roc, who, in addition to being a very interesting person to talk to and working with awesome people like Jim Butcher and Steven Boyett, also wins the award for best accessory at the con—her purse made of seat belts was seriously fun. (Unfortunately my picture of it doesn't quite do it justice.)

Runner up for cool accessories would have to be Julie Kenner with her cute purple glasses and soda tab bracelet. I met Julie last year and was flattered to find that she remembered me. I read her YA Good Ghouls books after meeting her at the last con and really enjoyed them.

And finally (for this post, though there were quite a lot of other people I met and really enjoyed spending time with), I chatted a bit with Stina Leicht. I'm a little in awe of Stina and all the hard work she puts into making the workshop happen. I've said it before, but I can't say it too many times: thank you so much for what you do, Stina! And congratulations on selling your book!