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GenCon Schedule and Info

  • Aug. 13th, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Me!
I leave tomorrow morning for GenCon. So naturally the battery warning light in my car came on this morning as I was driving to work. What fun! So tonight, in addition to packing, fixing the trunk latch of the car (don't ask), visiting the parents for birthday pie for my mother, and making sure I have all of my notes and directions, I also need to stop by the auto shop and get a new battery. (I think this one is about five years old. I'm far from an auto genius, but I'm guessing after five years this is a dying battery.) Still, better to know today than to find out tomorrow in the middle of downtown Indianapolis, right?

For those of you who might be attending, I've pasted my schedule beneath the LJ cut. Please feel free to stop by and say hi. (Please also make sure to tell me who you are, especially if your LJ username doesn't necessarily match up to your real life name :-)

Thursday
2:00 - 3:00 pm, Author's Alley
7:00 - 9:00 pm, Read & Critique

Friday
10:00 - 11:00 am, COMBAT: Small Scale Fights to Massive Battles
11:00 am - Noon, Fight Another Day
2:00 - 3:00 pm, Nonstandard Ways to Build Your Craft
3:00 - 4:00 pm, Avoid Cliches Like the Plague
6:00 - 7:00 pm, Reading (with Lawrence Connoly)

Saturday
11:00 am - Noon, Author's Alley
1:00 - 2:00 pm, Worldbuilding -- Make it Your Own
2:00 - 3:00 pm, Hey I've Got a Day Job
3:00 - 4:00 pm, Making the Leap

Sunday
8:00 - 9:00 am, Short Fiction Markets
9:00 - 10:00 am, How to Buff, Polish, and Make Your Manuscript Shine
11:00 am - Noon, Author's Alley

I'm one of the few people I know who often ends up getting more sleep at a convention than I do in day-to-day life. Thanks to a sick 3-year-old who's been up coughing for the past two nights, I suspect GenCon will follow that pattern. This will be good, as I'd like to get my brain back. But I feel bad about leaving my wife with a sick boy for four days. Hopefully the apple pie tonight will help him to start feeling better...
  • Mood: sleepy

Comments

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[info]elven_wolf wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:17 pm (UTC)
Mrr, I couldn't manage to go to GenCon. Maybe next one. :)
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:18 pm (UTC)
No worries. There's always another con...
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[info]michaeldthomas wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:22 pm (UTC)
At least it's only a battery, and it happened before you were on the road.

I'm so sorry about the illness in your house. Pie does, however, make everything better. :)

Mmmmm....Pie......


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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:31 pm (UTC)
Yep. I'm looking at this as a good thing, as opposed to having trouble 24 hours from now.

And I'm told he's feeling a little bit better this morning. Hopefully that trend continues...
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[info]charlesatan wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:35 pm (UTC)
Have a safe trip and enjoy!

May you play lots of games and roll 20's on your die.
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:43 pm (UTC)
Thanks! You know, this is a little embarassing, but I hadn't even thought about bringing along the dice or joining in a game or two. I mean, it's not like I'm going to a GAMING CONVENTION, right?
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[info]charlesatan wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:50 pm (UTC)
Well, it does look like you have a busy sched. But hopefully there'll be a pick-up game you can join...

Don't worry about the dice, I'm sure there's a vendor there somewhere who'll only be too happy to sell you premium dice. Maybe they'll have one made by goblins...
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:56 pm (UTC)
Goblin dice would be sweet!
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[info]zen_kitty wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:38 pm (UTC)
We haven't decided if we're going to go visit family in Indy and stop by GenCon on Saturday. If we do, I'll definitely look you up. By any chance, is your Saturday 1 to 4 pm schedule workshops/panels?

PS. One of these days, I'm going to have to have you sign one of the books I have. *grins*
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:45 pm (UTC)
Saturday afternoon is all panels.

Let's see here ... Author's Alley is me sitting around with books, trying to make eye contact with passers by. Then there's the reading, and I'm not entirely sure what the read & critique is on Thursday night (presumably we read and critique stuff, but I don't want to make any assumptions). Everything else is panels.

I hope you can make it. And of course, I'm happy to sign just about anything people put in front of me :-)
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[info]lindajdunn wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:53 pm (UTC)
I'm an Indy native so if you have other car problems, let me know.

The SU works downtown Indy. I work on the NE side.

I will not be at GenCon. I'll be driving 3 hours north to a fencing event Friday and then going to fencing practice Sat.
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 01:57 pm (UTC)
Thanks, Linda. I suspect it should be fine once I swap out the battery.

Good luck at the match on Friday!
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[info]temporus wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:01 pm (UTC)
Haven't been to a GenCon in years. I wonder if I can convince my wife that I need to do so to further my writing career....oO(plots impishly)

I hope your son gets better quickly.
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:05 pm (UTC)
They do seem to have an impressive writing track, not to mention all of the (ahem) big name authors ;-)
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[info]temporus wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:08 pm (UTC)
Yeah, I was looking at that schedule you have, and was kind of surprised. I don't remember Gencon having anything like that when I last attended. Granted, that convention was my whole gaming group attending en masse, and it was during the time I'd given up on writing, so perhaps it was there and I just didn't notice.

Then of course, my luck would be I get to go, and that'd be the year the cool people (like yourself) I'd love to meet in person wouldn't make it.
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[info]wishwords wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:07 pm (UTC)
I have icon envy. I rarely have icon envy, but wow, that's an impressive one.
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[info]temporus wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:27 pm (UTC)
Thank you, it's from a picture I took in Luzern Switzerland of the side of a building. This was an enormous mural. (That figure in the original was probably about 7-8 feet tall!)
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[info]wishwords wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:33 pm (UTC)
You're kidding. Wow, I can imagine how impressive that is as a mural.
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[info]temporus wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 04:13 pm (UTC)
Indeed. Luzern (Lucerne) if you ever have the chance to visit has many spectacular murals on the buildings. Particularly in the old city, they seem to love doing these tromp-l'oeil and other wonderful stuff there. Some seem perennial, others seem to get completely redone with whole new creations every time I visit.
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[info]wishwords wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:08 pm (UTC)
Aw, wish I could be there. One of these days I'll do cons and get to meet all these cool people I talk to on-line.

Good luck with your car and keep safe.
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:12 pm (UTC)
I hope life eventually calms down for you guys, and you'll be able to do a bit more con-hopping and other fun stuff.
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[info]wishwords wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:34 pm (UTC)
Thanks. One day I will.
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[info]brigidsblest wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:29 pm (UTC)
*takes stalking notes*
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:41 pm (UTC)
If I was more organized, I'd list some of my fellow panelists to help you multitask with your stalking. Unfortunately, I don't have the full schedule on hand right now.
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[info]brigidsblest wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 02:52 pm (UTC)
Well, I checked the author list on the GenCon website, and since I do have books by some of them (Anton Strout, Jean Rabe, etc.), I've packed them to be signed. But some of the authors I've never heard of before.

I'm hoping I can get into some of the writing workshops/seminars. I wasn't able to sign up for anything beforehand, but according to the schedule, a lot of events aren't at full capacity yet. I've never been to a con before where I had to sign up for things beforehand (with the exception of writing critique groups run by authors).
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:32 am (UTC)
I'm glad the stalking worked out :-) It was nice getting to say hi in person. I hope you had a great time at the con!
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[info]brigidsblest wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:47 am (UTC)
I did, although I'm not sure my budget will recover in time for Christmas. Ouch.
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[info]kelly_swails wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 06:42 pm (UTC)
Looks like we're on the day job one together. Rockin'!
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:34 am (UTC)
It was a lot of fun getting to meet and chat with you! And may I say I was quite impressed with your Argon skillz? ;-)
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[info]kelly_swails wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 01:28 am (UTC)
It was great to finally meet you, too! And my mad Argon skillz have nothing on the dude who won, but thanks!
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[info]melissajm wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 10:17 pm (UTC)
Have a good trip, and I hope the apple pie cure works!
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:42 am (UTC)
The apple pie, not so much. But the steroids the doctor gave him seem to have done the trick. He's all but recovered today, which was awfully nice to come home to.
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[info]melissajm wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:56 am (UTC)
Very.
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[info]laughingfalcon wrote:
Aug. 13th, 2008 11:46 pm (UTC)
I hope your son has had a full recovery! I was just blogging about Kim Harrison's Hollows series. If you are filling time at the signings I recommend picking up her "Dead WItch Walking". It's not my normal style as it's set in modern day but it reads like an old pulp fiction novel and is fun. Almost as fun as Jig's adventures. ;) Wish you well and hope to catch you again on the convention circuit! -Lucky #41
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[info]hyptosis wrote:
Aug. 14th, 2008 03:45 pm (UTC)
Warg, sorry about your kid. X_x Hope you have a good time though. Good luck with all.
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[info]miss_s_b wrote:
Aug. 17th, 2008 04:12 pm (UTC)
PSA: You've been shortlisted for best general blog in my blog awards, which will be decided by public vote. Just so as you know.
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[info]jimhines wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:30 am (UTC)
Cool, and thank you!

Oh, wait -- I'm up against Wil Wheaton? Well, it was nice to be nominated, at any rate :-)
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[info]miss_s_b wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2008 12:34 am (UTC)
Innerbrat thus far has about double of Wil's votes... Currently you are languishing at the back, but I'm sure if you were to encourage your f-list to support you that might change... ;)
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