World Fantasy Con: Days 2 and 3

I wanted to go to panels at this year's con. Really, I did. So far I've made only two. One was on fairy tales and whether one can write modern fairy tales or make up new fairy tales, a question that seemedto boil down to, what is the function of the fairy tale and do we still need that function in the modern world. The other panel was very interesting, but I was sleep deprived and couldn't follow what was going on.

As usual, the bag of books was large, and I've doubled my stash by frequent checks of the reject table. I was so excited to open my bag and find an ARC of Brandon Sanderson's newest novel. I had so much wanted to buy it , but it was $30 or $35, so I decided to wait for the paperback. Still lots of dark fiction this year, but perhaps not as much as usual. Several books I'm veru excited about reading.

I haven't been through the dealer's room yet. I'm hoping to find some cool small press books there. I also haven't been through the art show. I spent much of of Thursday ferrying friends from the airport to the hotel, and today I went up to Ohio Wesleyan U. to pick up my niece, who's interested in being a fantasy writer. I had some commitments today, including the evening mass book signing, so I sent my niece off with some young people I knew and she had a fun time.

I enjoyed the trips. I grew up only 50 miles from here, so the scenery is familiar and conforting. The bitter cold, though, reminds me of a major reason left and never moved back.

The book signing was fun. I chose a good spot and had a good number of people passing by. Several stopped, lured in by the candy, and I had some interesting conversations and met interesting people, including two surprise meeting with Madeleine E. Robins, whose two fantasy novels about a swordswoman in Regency England I love.

I finally finished my obligations about 11:45 pm and headed to some parties in search of chocolate. It was already gone. So now I'm about to go to bed to get a little sleep before I get up early tomorrow morning to start the cycle all over again.