Loose thoughts from Ad Astra

Next to the elevator in the hotel there was a sign that said in large letters “Upon discovery of fire” followed by smaller print detailing evacuation plans. Howard pointed out the sign and declared his desire to tape a new message underneath the bold inscription so that the sign would read: “Upon discovery of fire, invent civilization.”

I spent all weekend talking to people who are very focused on writing fiction. There were lots of discussions of writers block, and daily word counts, and sneaking time to write. Usually this kind of discussion is both inspiring and guilt inducing. I come out of a convention weekend full of ideas and ready to tackle new stories. That did not happen this time. I do not have time to schedule writing into my life right now. If a free moment and inspiration strike at the same time, then I will write, but otherwise I will not. This is okay because there will be a time in my future when I can schedule writing time. Just because I am not writing now, does not mean I will never write again. Failing to write is not a tragedy so long as I choose something more important to me. The writing will be waiting for me when I emerge from this busy time in my life.

The “Education Benefits of Video Games” panel veered into the territory of good parenting. There was a thought I did not get the chance to express in the panel, but it is a good thought which I don’t want to forget: If my children never choose to do something that makes me uncomfortable, then I have failed as a parent because they have not learned to think for themselves.

I got to attend parts of two book launches during the course of the convention. Both launches featured convention games where attendees ran around finding clues to solve puzzles and win prizes at the launch party. I’d never seen that done before and it was a neat way to do it. It probably works best when the book launch is part of a convention, although I suppose it might be possible to run the game online before a non-convention launch. I don’t think it is something I will ever do though. I am too over-stressed with book shipping, and party arranging, to put the effort into running a game as well. Both of the Ad Astra book launches were in a presentation/book signing format. Ours have been more of a party/open house format. I suspect we’ll mostly stick to the latter because it requires fewer functioning braincells and those are in short supply when I’m exhausted from a shipping event. I do think we’ll try to have party prizes of some sort though. That was neat.

In the dealer’s room, there was one artist who had simply gorgeous painted sculptures of fantasy creatures. The phoenix and the dragons particularly caught my eye. I talked to her for a minute or two about her process. She’s just graduated from school and is making ends meet with the income from her art. I hope she continues to be able to do so. Her work is simply beautiful, you should go look at it. www.creaturesfromel.ca