Mountain-Con 4 Wrap Up

Mountain-Con 4 concluded this past weekend, and I was able to attend all three days. All in all I can say it was a pretty good con. Every convention like this has its pros and "cons", and for a fledgling, read forth year, science fiction fan convention, its doing pretty good.

The Davis Convention Center was a great place to have this convention. Mainly because its built for this type of event; big rooms, large hallways, big bathrooms, close to restaurants, and most importantly, free wireless internet. Inevitably there is down time between panels or presentations, and its always fun to jump on the Internet and see whats happening.

There were plenty of things to do. Plenty of things see. Plenty of people to meet. Saturday is usually the day most people attend in their costumes. You can always count on Storm Troopers and Darth Vaders. Not so many Star Trek costumes this year. Not sure why.

Brandon Sanderson was there, the author tapped to finish Robert Jordans last book in the Wheel of Time series. That must be a daunting and stressful task. While there are always plenty of celebrity guests, I get a kick out of meeting all the lesser know, or unknown, authors and attendees. I always add to my rolodex at conventions like these. Heck, that's how I met Jeff Norris of iscifi.tv, and Paul Genesse, author of the Golden Cord.

I have to say a couple of things before I end. Basically wished for next year and beyond. I love to see the gaming room controlled better. Gamers had more space than anyone, and it was wasted. I would have like to see the dealers, more dealers, in the gamers room and move the gamers into the dealers room. Great opportunity missed to have rockin game demos, or significantly more dealers.

I would also ask to reconsider the cost of the Banquet. I would attend, but nothing is worth that kind of money except maybe my wife on a significant occasion. The event sounds fun but is out of reach for most people.

I would also hope your have secured guests for next year. You know as well as I do these people book way out. If your not first, you don't get prime guests, which draw more attendees.

Good job to everyone who volunteered. I know the amount of work that goes into putting on events. Sleep for a few days. Then get on next years event. Please.

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World Horror Con 2008 Wrap Up

Unfortunately I had some health problems that kept me away from the convention Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. I'm very disappointed because I was having a blast getting to know a lot of writers, editors and attendees.

I want to thank Charlie Harmon for putting together a wonderful convention. I know that its a pretty big deal to host an international event. I also want to thank everyone who volunteered for the WHC.

I'm a sucker for a good book and there were plenty of those at WHC. Here are the ones I walked away with:

(These books are linked through my Amazon affiliate. If you would prefer not to click through please search for the author or title.)

I also picked up a couple of convention only books; a short story called Little Boy Blue by James A. Moore, a convention only anthology called Desolate Souls, and an anthology called Love and Sacrifice. I also picked up a convention shirt; kind of like going to a rock and roll concert and getting a T.

I want to thank nightshadebooks.com for the excellent FREE T-shirt; can't wait to see the pics.

There were also some pretty interesting publishers in attendance like Bloodletting Press and Bones and Casket Press. I also saw some pretty interesting book titles which I would not share with anyone, even in a dark alley.

Some of my final thoughts

• There were plenty of panels and there seemed to be a good mix of topics
• The Hotel was very nice and had FREE WiFi, which is very cool, no code needed
• The dealer room was exceptional
• The art gallery was terrific; lots of great paintings, photos and drawings
• There were plenty of volunteer staff and they were easily spotted
• There were so many guest authors I felt overwhelmed
• Registration was a snap, and they had my pre-registration information

Things that weren't a big deal but a tiny bit annoying

• Some of the panelists were a little obnoxious and detracted from the topics
• It would have been nice to see someone shooting video of the sessions and the crowd
• There were too many Stoker and HWA events in the middle of the time blocks, making
  it difficult for those not attending the Stoker awards or not an HWA member to stay engaged. At least that's how I saw it
• I know the conference volunteers have no control over travel issues with guest speakers, but there were times when the speaker didn't know he or she was supposed to be presenting. Frustrating for the audience

I guess you could say I had a really good time. I know this is a once in a very long time event in Salt Lake City, and while I'm not a huge Horror fan, I think WHC 2008 was a great success.

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World Horror Convention Day One

Yesterday was day one of World Horror Con 2008 (WHC), in Salt Lake City, UT. One of the first things I noticed at this convention was the large amount of art work being displayed. I've been to conventions in the past and there was some art work, but this convention actually has an art gallery, with some incredible paintings. drawings and photographs.

I managed to get in a couple of panels (seeing how the dealers room closed before I got to the hotel), like How To Work With Editors and Why Manuscripts get rejected. Most of it is personal preference of the editors and publishers and not nearly as much on the ability of the author to sell the story.

I picked up a couple of books (actually several in the shwag bag, which I'll link to later), that seem to be pretty interesting. I also managed to take some photos. It's late and I'm having a problem keeping my eyes open, so I'm calling it a day.

 

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Sam Weller's Bookstore Hosts WHC Signings

World Horror Con starts in a few weeks and the schedule for authors who will be available for book signings has been released. This list is subject to change and I'll update if that happens.

Sam Weller's bookstore, at 254 South Main Street, in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been gracious enough to host the book signings. This is a great chance to meet some world renowned authors.

Dennis Etchison

John Jude Palencar

Simon Clark

Michael R. Collings

Jeff Strand

Mort Castle

Michael Shea

Lynn César

Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem (THE MAN ON THE CEILING)

Heather Graham (DEATH DEALER)

Sarah Langan

Picture courtesy of Marion A.

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World Horror Convention Coming To Salt Lake City

World Horror Convention is coming to Salt Lake City March 27-30th. I'm not really into the Horror genre but I think it's a fantastic opportunity to meet more writers, watch some great indie movies, and basically have a scary time. Come and join the fun.

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Mountain-Con 4 Scheduled For September 2008

The guys at MountainCon have announced that the fourth event will be held this year, September 19-21, 2008, at the Davis County Convention Center (that's Ogden for those of you not familiar with the area.)

For those not familiar with Mountain-Con, it's a Science Fiction and Fantasy convention. It's a convention for fans. Here is a small description from the official web site:

We acknowledge that individuals and groups have the right to determine which aspect of fandom brings them the most amount of fun. This could include roleplaying games, reading boooks or comics, acquiring & displaying various collectables, anime & cosplay, writing professional or fan stories, performing community service, enjoying TV & movies, live-action role-playing, collecting autographs & meeting guests, collectable card game tournaments, creating fan films, joining fan clubs, filk singing & music, assembling & wearing costumes, traditional wargaming & miniatures, creating fanzines & websites and anything else we may have failed to mention...

One of the really cool things at this convention is a costume parade that is held one evening during the convention. The idea is to have people dress up as their favorite fictional character and walk through the convention hall. It was pretty cool.

The convention has local and regional authors, artists, cartoonists and celebrities. I was excited to attend the 2007 convention because Garrett Wang was one of the special guests. Garrett was Ensign Harry Kim on the show Star Trek: Voyager (my favorite trek series by far.)

This convention has an eclectic mix space discussions, writing advise, a dealer room where you can buy the latest in books and games, to author signings and movie viewing's. Its a great three day event.

The group is offering a weekend pass to the event for $25 if you purchase before the end of February 2008. This is a great deal. Get your tickets now. I bought months in advance last year and I'm glad I did.

They are taking applications for guest and presenters. If you are interested in participating visit the web site and download the applications.

I'll post more as this event gets closer. I'm really excited there will be a fourth event. Thanks guys.

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