So, World Fantasy Convention. What a whirlwind.
This year’s convention theme was Secret Histories, and I’m sorry to say I missed a good chunk of the programming because of my flight schedule. What I did manage to catch was, with one exception, amazing. My next few weeks of blogposts will recap some of my favorite panels I attended, and also the panel I moderated.
The S.O. and I got in to San Antonio early in order to visit with family. We mostly drank beer and ate pastries and watched Stranger Things, which was super fun. It was good to catch up with people we hadn’t seen for a while, and to get to know the city a bit more. We caught a Día de los Muertos celebration Sunday, and ate pan de muerto at a local bakery. I was super impressed by the blending of culture I saw in San Antonio, honestly. It gave me some real perspective on American identities that I felt like I haven’t had for a while. Most of our traveling over the past two years has been predominantly in Appalachia, with some forays into the deep South and Vermont. Each time I travel in the US, I get totally different cultural flavors, overlaid on the familiar. I feel like I learn more about my country every time.
On Wednesday, my brother dropped us off at the Wyndham. The S.O. and I had plans to bike the missions – there are five mission in San Antonio, including the Alamo, and they are connected by biking and walking trails for the intrepid traveler. Unfortunately, the S.O. came down with a bad cold, so he spent most of the day in bed. I was left to my own devices Wednesday and Thursday, though he did come out and visit folks for dinner. We saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones. We also caught my brother for drinks Thursday night, in between all the networking, at a literary themed bar called The Last Word. I saw Martha Wells speak and got Raksura stickers!
Friday night was the big book signing, so after a quick dinner we hurried back for setup. I had a small pile of books to sell, and I happily sold five of my six! I think people didn’t want to take my last copy.
It was a great week, and being back at the grind fulltime feels absolutely strange.
This week, check out the recap of the Cities in Fantasy Settings panel, followed by some discussions from other panels over the next few weeks!
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Amanda J. McGee, Author 
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