Thoughts from Capclave - Attending in-person at Long Last

It was a bit surreal being at an in-person con again again for the first time since the Pandemic began.

I was really happy being at Capclave, my local con earlier this month, which featured Peter S. Beagle and Eric Flint as Guests of Honor.

I found myself not interested in sitting in sessions, but instead sitting down with people, authors and genre fans and, well, just catching up. I went to more author readings at this con than I ever had. On the first day I went to Lawrence Schoen’s reading, which was part of his Barsk series. If you’re not familiar with it, the universe is populated by elephant people rather than humans. I’m now the proud owner of a signed copy of the hardback first book of the series.

I went to a reading of Sarah Pinsker’s. She read an excerpt from her second book. I went to a book launch of a horror novel by Martin Berman-Gorvine, which he wrote under Sam Haines. It takes place on a small fictional barrier island in the Chesapeake Bay. Martin read a few pages which were so vivid I could see the story. I also learned how diverse Martin’s interests and creativity are. His books included cartoons, not graphic novel or what I'd call comics, but something along the lines of what I thought looked like what my Dad used to refer to as the “funny pages.”

It was reconnecting with people that I think I craved the most over the weekend, sitting down with people all over the hotel. I also spent a good amount of time in the convention’s Dealer’s Room, where I bought books, supporting other writers and book vendors, and some gifts for my daughter who is into Dungeons & Dragons and also loves short stories.

I really missed some people who didn't attend, who I hope to see at other conventions this fall and winter. In my conversations, it's clear all of us have had our struggles during the Pandemic. Some of what I missed has to be due to all isolation. What I learned from my interactions is a number of people have faced illnesses, even lost jobs due to the economic upheaval caused by the Pandemic. But all of us are still committed to our writing or volunteering as part of our love of science fiction and fantasy fandom.

Oh, I didn’t miss the opportunity to get Peter Beagle’s autograph. If you don’t recognize the name, he wrote the Last Unicorn, and the animated Lord of the Rings movie decades ago… and the original Star Trek episodes which featured Spock’s parents, Sarek and Amanda, seeking to attend the conference on Babel, and the Star Trek Next Generation episode where Picard meets Sarek.

I’ve met Eric Flint before. He's know for his 1632 series, which Capclave hosted, I guess, you’d call it a "1632 series mini-con." It offered sessions and insights into the history and cultures of the period for the vast number of authors writing books and articles in the series and there many fans. I’ll be seeing Eric again in February, when I’m at the Superstar Writing conference, of which he is one of the founders. It is a business of being a science fiction and fantasy writer conference in Colorado Spring. Eric has taught “how to read your contract” sessions over the years, which I’ve found very valuable. You can learn more the conference here.

In terms of connecting with people at Capclave, I spoke with Allan Wold, who used to offer writing workshops at the con—which I attended for a number of years and found very helpful. He and I spoke a number of times. We talked about why we write, which is not about spending our time writing and promoting our books—but about writing our stories, which when someone enjoys them is, I guess, is best expressed by saying it’s “Manna from Heaven” to us. We love what we write and live for those moments when someone says that a particular book or story has meant so much to them.

A highlight for me as I mentioned earlier was getting Peter Beagle’s autograph… Years ago at Capclave I got George R. R. Martin’s autograph, but I'll say this for Peter. He took a moment to speak with me with such interest that the autograph from him became rather special. Yes, I geek out at such moments. There are moments I’ve gotten to show the authors that I appreciate what they’ve brought to the world. And, if I’m lucky, I get a moment of conversation as I did with Peter. It’s a lesson to me in how I should always treat my own fans.

Finally, I have two free novellas this month: The Dragon’s Curse, and Last Knight (prequel to Knight of the Broken Table) featured in the group promo in Advance into Fantasy. Knight of the Broken Table can be found in Fall Fun Science Fiction & Fantasy in Kindle Unlimited.

My novels Highmage’s Plight and Dare 2 Believe are featured this month in Jump into Kindle Fantasy.

Dare to believe,

D.H.