So, I meant to have this written for last week. However, there was so much to do in Indianapolis that I never touched the computer. For that I apologize, though I had so much fun I didn’t lose any sleep over it.
This was my first time to Gen Con, or really any Con for that matter, and it was a blast. So much to see and do, I don’t feel 4 days is quite enough. I probably did 18 laps walking around the merchant hall, and I was still finding things I’d missed on my previous passes. Weapons and armor were everywhere! Like, 100% would have bought and walked around as a full knight if I had the money. And thank God I don’t have the money, otherwise I would have come back with 3x the stuff I packed. That place is dangerous…
The writers symposium was an awesome experience. I got a bunch of stuff out of the panels that I feel I need to apply to my life as a writer. To be completely honest, I felt I had hit a snag in my work and just being around the other writers of all levels made me feel like I could do it again. More so when I heard a best selling author on a panel saying they’ve gone through exactly how I was feeling. However, I think my biggest take away was that I should start doing outlines. I just wing it when I write and, while that’s gotten me this far, I hit walls all the time. Some good cases were made for outlining your work, and my next step is to do one for Therapeutic Smoke going forward.
My only complaint about the whole week is that it was so freaking hot outside! I know that has nothing to do with the event itself, but man. The hotel we were at was probably only a 10 minute walk from the convention center, and everytime I did it I thought I was going to die. However, that was nothing compared to the hour Amanda and I did on a paddle boat on the canal. My legs felt like they were going to fall off afterwards, and just dropping with sweat. It was fun, but I’ve never downed a bottle of water so quickly.