ArmadilloCon 33

And now for the daunting task of condensing a truly epic weekend into a few simple paragraphs.

This was my third year at ArmadilloCon. I really debated about whether to go this year. With the plane tickets and not sharing the hotel room this time, the cost was a bit high. But I really didn't want to pass up the opportunity. And I'm so glad I chose to go, because this may have been the best year yet.

The awesomeness of ArmadilloCon comes down to two things: the workshop and the people.

ArmadilloCon consistently attracts some very high quality authors to the workshop. This year the guest of honor was Paolo Bacigalupi, and he participated in the workshop as well. Turns out he's that brilliant sort of person we all wish we could be who is not only a compelling writer but who is also incredibly well-spoken.

Now I personally didn't have him in my workshop group, but that was alright since I had some other pretty high-powered instructors. Scott Lynch was one of them, and not only was he truly funny, but he gave me some really cool ideas to think about for my book. Martin Wagner, who writes reviews over at sfreviews.net, and Stina Leight, whose first novel just came out this past year, were my other instructors, and I learned quite a lot from them as well. And the other students in my group made me feel really good about my work.

So my workshop experience this year was as positive as it's been the past two years. But what made this ArmadilloCon better than the last two was that my relationships with the people have evolved over time.

And honestly, as much as I feel dragged down by the weight of social media sometimes, I think I can attribute a lot of that evolution to the ability to stay connected even from a distance. It means the difference between interacting with people as once-a-year acquaintances and feeling like I both know people and am known.

In particular I want to thank Rosemary Clement-Moore, Patrice Sarath and Marshall Maresca for all their encouragement. I admire all of them, and I really appreciate the individual attention they've given me.

And finally, one of the best parts of ArmadilloCon was, as always, seeing some of the people in my critique group. You guys are so much fun. I'm really excited about the potential new members we picked up this year as well. Long live the Pirates of Moo!