I have successfully returned from FantaSci and mostly recovered.

Actually, that’s not true. I’m not recovered. I’m also not recovered from GaryCon really. Frankly, I’m beat and FantaSci was a perfect example.

First, I had a great time, when I had the gumption. However, I just didn’t have enough to stay going late into the night as is my wont. I went to bed before 11 most nights, which meant I missed much of what I went to FantaSci for.

Of course, I didn’t really plan FantaSci well. In fact, I didn’t do anything right. Here’s a lesson, kids. When you go to a con, pre-register, register for a hotel room, and send a message to the programming folks. I didn’t do any of that. Fortunately, thanks to a variety of people, things worked out great, but I completely dropped the ball.

I rode out with David Birdsall, who is in Paladins of Valor. He’s new to the author business and I was pleased to see him get some great experience at the con.

We got out to the hotel Thursday afternoon. A bunch of us went to dinner and I finally had a chance to hang out with Chris for the first time in a while. Then came the only night I stayed awake for any length of time. I had a good time, even finally getting a chance to chat with Kevin J. Anderson. We talked Rush and IPAs, two thing we’re both fans of.

Friday morning I completed the New Mythology portion of the CKP presentation. Then I rested until my first panel.

Sharp readers will have caught that I didn’t register for panels, but Chris got overbooked so I took two of his. Plus, there was the CKP Year Ahead, What’s Happening in the 4HU, and the Paladins of Valor release panel so I ended up speaking in five, which is about right.

Anyway, the first panel I was on was “Hey, Do You Remember When?” This panel talked about older TV shows, and ended being a fun reminiscence of our favorite cool things about a number of great shows. If a panel isn’t necessarily about how to be a writer, it should be this sort of thing that celebrates what’s great in SF/F. A really fun time.

My next panel was “Is The Book Always Better?” Obviously, the answer to this is, “No, the movie is sometimes better.” To me, the book is usually better but there are times, usually revolving around some aspect of the cinematography or, more often, a truly memorable performance, like those in The Princess Bride. Rarely, as in The 13th Warrior, is the movie simply better than the book all around.

The last panel of the day was the CKP Year Ahead. Here we talked about a number of things, including the news that I’m opening things up for more novel/trilogy submissions from June 1-10th. More details at chriskennedypublishing.com/2024/04/25/new-mythology-open-call/.

Saturday was mostly centered around selling at the author’s alley, which is graciously provided by the con. During this, I popped in to talk about The Feasting of Vengeance, the conclusion to the Foresters story. I swear I’ll have it done in the fall.

Then came the Paladins of Valor release panel. We had David Birdsall, Edie Skye, Jon R. Osborne, Hailey Gregor, David Shadoin, and Nathan Balyeat there.

Not present, sadly, was Dave Butler, but Chris DeBoe had brought some giveaway copies In the Palace of Shadow and Joy, the first Indrajit and Fix novel. Indrajit and Fix are the only characters to have appeared in all 7 anthologies thus far put out by New Mythology Press. Dave’s a delight to work for, so it was awesome we could give out some of his books.

Anyway, we announced that, for now, this was the last Valor anthology. We’ve had a fantastic run, achieved all my goals, and I’m really proud of what we did. However, both Chris and I want to focus on longer form stuff. With the hiatus in FantaSci, which was announced by the con at closing ceremonies, it seems a good time to turn our attention away from the Valor anthologies.

Does this mean New Mythology won’t do anthologies in the future? Not at all, just that we’re aiming more at getting novels on the release schedule in 2025 and going forward.

I spent the rest of the day socializing as much as I could, but I just didn’t have a ton of energy and went to bed 11ish.

Sunday was another stint on the author’s alley, then I got to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while: visit Baen Headquarters. It’s a really neat place. A dangerous place for someone who loves SF/F. Thanks to Jason Cordova for the invite and the care package!

After that, I had lunch with my aunt. It was great to see her, but it was tough because it’s the first time I’ve seen her since my uncle passed away. I’d like to see her more often, but North Carolina is a hike.

Finally, I spent the evening hanging out with folks in the lobby. It was a relaxing, fun time to just chat. I’ve said it before, the best time of cons is the night before things start and the night of the dead dog. These are the times where the pressure of going hither and yon are gone, so you just chat. And plot. Great stuff.

On Monday at 4:45am, David and I got back on the road. By leaving that early, we missed traffic in Louisville and most of the traffic in St. Louis. I dropped him off at 5:30pm. I anticipated getting a hotel along the way, or at least getting power naps, but David drove across most of Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, so I was far fresher than normal.

I made it home late Monday/early Tuesday and here on Thursday I’m starting to get back into the groove. Despite the fatigue, I’m always more enthused and excited about work after spending time with Chris.

Anyway, there’s my FantaSci AAR. Time to get writing.