At the last minute before the awards banquet I broke down and bought two books from the AD&D reading list. I got them from Marty Massoglia who also raved about LosCon, a Thanksgiving weekend con up in Los Angeles, right by LAX. If you’re interested, note that the price goes up after October 31.

I also bought Jack Vance’s^• Rhialto The Marvellous^•, which probably would have been on the reading list if it had been published before AD&D. I picked it up from Paul Kennedy. Both dealers had some nice old paperbacks.

I had a great time, and Greg Ketter of Dreamhaven almost has me convinced to go to the Brighton con in 2013.

The World Fantasy Convention is a world apart from the San Diego Comic-Con. They still have a banquet for the awards ceremony, and I talked to some great fans there. I wish her awards talk was on YouTube, but you’ll have to settle for her opening ceremonies introduction.

The panels were small and the readings accessible. I heard a current draft of Willis’s next book, a great non-reading by Steven Boyett, and an amazing reading by Peter Beagle.

There are authors who write great books and writers who make great speakers; at this WFC, they had both Connie Willis and Neil Gaiman—sometimes at the same time—which made this inspiring. One of the things I talked about at the banquet is the high ratio of writers and writer fans. I’ve vowed to both read more and write more in the coming year. Which is a pretty good outcome given that I bought a bunch of books and have just started a new one of my own!

Steven Boyett flourishes.

“Why yes, officer, I do play Dungeons & Dragons. Why do you ask?”