This author’s note originally appeared in the February 15th edition of my newsletter. To sign up for my author newsletter, click here.
I’m writing this author’s note on Friday evening, after a long and wonderful day at Life, the Universe, and Everything (LTUE). Of all the science fiction conventions that I attend, I think LTUE is my favorite. It’s local to Utah Valley, so a lot of the regulars have become longtime friends of both mine and Mrs. Vasicek’s.
But the biggest reason I love LTUE is because it has such a strong writing track. Where FanX Salt Lake (the big local media con) is all about fandom and geek culture, LTUE is all about helping creatives to develop their craft, learn the business, and connect with the people who love the things that they create. It started as an academic symposium for aspiring science fiction writers, but in recent years it has branched out to other creative fields like art, film, gaming, etc, all with an emphasis on science fiction and fantasy.
There have been a lot of really great panels in the last couple of days. One of my favorites was on the future of Fantasy, where Peter Orullian, James A. Owen, Rafael Hohmann, and Charlie Pulsipher (who does a fantastic Velociraptor impression) discussed the rise and fall of Grimdark, the dawning of Noblebright, the push from the industry for the #ownvoices movement, and the indie explosion of LitRPG. Lots of really fascinating trends to keep an eye on!
I forget which panel it was on, but M. Todd Gallowglass gave some really prescient advice for aspiring writers: “You don’t make a writing career by being read; you make a career by being reread.” He was also on a great panel about whether or not it’s worth it to pursue a master’s degree, and he shared some very interesting points that run counter to what I’ve heard from everybody else: namely, that for a career writer it generally isn’t worth it. M. Todd Gallowglass is one of my newest favorite people at LTUE, and he’s always a blast to talk and hang out with.
The good folks from World Fantasy Convention are here at LTUE as well, and they gave a panel talking about all the wonderful things we can expect from attending World Fantasy 2020 in Salt Lake this year. It’s so close by, why wouldn’t we want to attend? I’m really torn on this: it’s a convention that caters more to the traditional side of the business, which isn’t the path that I’m pursuing, but I attended World Fantasy in 2009 and 2010, and it is a really great convention… also, it’s so close this year, practically in our own backyard… I don’t know. But even if I decide not to go, I will almost certainly attend the barcon.
The LTUE benefit anthology launch party was also a lot of fun! Lots of great stories from old-timers and regulars. I look forward to reading it! I also look forward to collecting as many signatures from everyone as I can. For last year’s anthology, Trace the Stars, I’ve gotten all but four of the author signatures. Also, I’m happy to report that next year’s LTUE benefit anthology will include a story of my own!
Brandon Sanderson wasn’t here on Thursday or Friday, but I expect we’ll be seeing him tomorrow. Kevin J. Anderson is here, as well as David Farland, Eric James Stone, and Tony Daniels, senior editor at Baen. Tony Daniels was also on a panel today with Mrs. Vasicek, where they discussed near future SF. Lots of fascinating things to think about, both from a technological angle and a social angle. I really liked Mrs. Vasicek’s “left field” near-future prediction: that AIs will eventually replace professors and every college student will have a personally tailored AI!
Speaking of Mrs. Vasicek, she gave a really fantastic presentation today called “Rage Against the Algorithm,” where she offered some insight into the Amazon hive mind, gleaned from their recent research papers. It appears that book covers are about to matter a whole lot more in the Amazon algorithm, and that they are putting a lot more emphasis on search and on the review system (which they are working to fix). Also, book categorization may start to become dependent at least partially on reviews. If you’re one of my author-fans and all of this sounds intriguing, let me know and I’ll email you a copy of her powerpoint.
On Friday morning, I moderated a panel on unconventional outlining techniques with Mackenzie Kincaid, Michael F. Haspil, and Els Curtis. That was a lot of fun. Mackenzie had some really great advice for productivity apps and hacking your own personal habits, and Michael and Els had lots of great insight into their own personal outling methods as well. Some really great questions from the audience really got the panel rolling, and I think it turned out quite well.
Friday night was the big mass booksigning, and it was a lot of fun! Definitely my most successful signing even so far. Caught up with a bunch of my old fans, and met a lot of new people as well, several of whom went on to buy a book or two. Also got into some really great conversations with other fellow creatives, including Emily Martha Sorenson, whom Mrs. Vasicek and I chatted with until almost everyone else was gone. It was really fantastic to talk with so many great people who share the same passion for geek culture and speculative fiction! Mrs. Vasicek and I both had a blast.
By the time this newsletter reaches your inbox, we will probably be on our way to the last day of LTUE. Mrs. Vasicek has a panel on computer hacking that looks really interesting, and I’m on a writing/publishing panel about how to avoid rookie mistakes—basically, how to learn from all of the many, many mistakes I’ve made over the years! Should be a lot of fun. If you’re there, be sure to come up and say hi! If not, maybe next year.
That’s my LTUE report for this year. It’s definitely shaping up to be one of the more memorable ones. Each year, it seems to get even better—may that continue for many more years to come!
