Appearances

LibertyCon 32 Schedule

April 30, 2019 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

Hey Friends! I’m super excited about attending LibertyCon 32 in June! Here’s my tentative schedule, but keep in mind, these things can (and do!) change up to the minute. 🙂

Fri	01:00PM	Luck is Not a Factor: More Stories from the Four Horsemen Universe
Fri	02:30PM	The 4 Horseman RT Mass Autograph Session
Fri	03:00PM	Terra Nova: What’s New from the Carreraverse
Fri	04:30PM	Terra Nova Mass Autograph Session
Fri	05:00PM	Opening Ceremonies
Fri	07:00PM	Noir Fatale Roundtable
Fri	08:30PM	Noir Fatale Mass Autograph Session
Sat	10:00AM	Freehold: Resistance Roundtable
Sat	11:30AM	Freehold: Resistance Mass Autograph Session
Sat	02:00PM	Baen Traveling Roadshow and Prize Patrol
Sat	04:00PM	Chris Kennedy Publishing – The Year Ahead

LibertyCon is one of my favorite conventions, and I can’t wait to see many of my friends and chosen family there!

Much love,

FantaSci AAR

March 27, 2019 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

Maybe two? years ago, I first heard about FantaSci. Mark Wandrey sent me an excited IM and said that there was going to be a new con, a successor to Honorcon, and it was going to have a focus on the Four Horsemen Universe (4HU). I was excited about being part of the 4HU, and the idea of a “4HU Con” was incredibly cool. So as soon as I could, I reached out and asked to be considered as a featured panelist. To my intense delight, I was accepted, and so were a TON of my friends!

Wednesday

Not only was I invited to be a featured panelist, so was my dear friend and completely badass coauthor Marisa Wolf. So she flew in to my local airport on Wednesday, and I knocked off work a bit early to go pick her up…aaaaand the shenanigans started pretty much immediately.

Okay, so real talk? Marisa Wolf cannot open her mouth without making me laugh. Those of you who watched our gigglefest Facebook live know what I’m talking about. She’s fantastic, and I knew that the weekend was off to a fantastic start.

Thursday

Thursday morning, Marisa and I got up early and hit the road. We managed to miss most of the DC morning rush hour on our way down to pick up Jason Cordova and Philip “Doc” Wholrab. For the record, despite what Jason may be telling you, I’m not a total incompetent. I checked (via two GPS programs) whether it would be faster to pick him up first or pick Doc up first. Both Waze and Google agreed. It didn’t matter; six of one, one-half dozen of another. So we jetted over to get Jason and then headed to Doc’s, and I didn’t pay attention to any of Jason’s verbal directions because I know better. 😉

Besides, I was already detouring 3 hours out of the way to pick him up. Was 20 min really going to make a difference? I just wanted to see my friends!

We drove through some serious rain and even a little snow, but eventually we acquired the guys and headed south to Durham. The Blue Ridge Parkway was a lot of fun to drive, and I don’t think I scared my passengers too much. I’m a bit of an assertive driver, but we made it safely, so it can’t have been TOO bad. (insert “but did you DIE?!?” meme here…)

Road trip complete, we arrived at the con hotel, which was the beautiful Hilton DoubleTree Raleigh-Durham Airport. What a great facility! The wide, welcoming porch and cozy, comfortable lobby was a sign of good things to come. Especially because some of our favorite people in the world were waiting for us right inside.

I ignored all of them. I was highly caffeinated and overhydrated and I had an urgent appointment to see a man about a horse. But once I handled that business, it was fantastic to meet up with Mark and Joy Wandrey, Chris and Sheellah Kennedy, Kevin Ikenberry, Jon Osborne, and too many more people to mention. It was like we knew everybody already! We hugged and chattered and giggled… and eventually got settled into our rooms.

Our hotel room was quite comfortable. We couldn’t adjust the temperature down, and our toilet tank had a tiny leak (that was fixed with a quickness as soon as we discovered it), but the room itself was perfectly situated away from the noise, next to an outside door, and had two very comfortable beds in it. I would stay there again, for sure.

After we got all checked in and settled, Marisa and I headed down to the hotel restaurant to meet up with Mark, Chris, and Kevin for a 4HU Core Authors’ meeting. We discussed <redacted> and <redacted>, and fans of the series will be super excited to know that <redacted> will be teaming up with <redacted> to perform the critical task of <redacted> the <redacted><redacted>. So… get excited for that! 😉

The meeting ended, but the discussion and fun continued in the bar, until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. The drive and the week leading up to the con had taken its toll, and I was tired. Marisa and I said our good nights and we both headed off to bed.

Friday

Cover art of Hunter, by Kacey Ezell and Marisa Wolf. A ratlike alien called a Veetanho holds a weapon and looks scared in a jungle, while an ominous felinoid shadow crosses his path.

Friday morning, Marisa’s sister (codename: Sister Karen) and brother (codename: Sleepy Wolf) flew in to town and joined us at the hotel. We hung out for a bit, and then Jason, Doc, Speaker, and I headed out to Baen HQ while Marisa hung with her siblings for a bit.

Baen was a lot of fun. I got to see Christopher Ruocchio, Tony Daniel, Jim Minz, Grace whose last name I don’t know, and Marla (whose last name I know, but won’t publicize because she’s not a writer or editor). Plus the office cats. We talked about books and podcasts, got to meet Jacob Holo and his lovely wife (whose name I forget, I’m sorry!) and ran into Steve White once again. Steve was in town to be a special guest of FantaSci, and I was excited to see him and get to meet his super funny, beautiful wife Sandy.

Plus we went to lunch. There were sweet potato fries. And ice cream. It was delicious. Thank you so much, Baen!!

After lunch, Doc and I headed back to the convention and a few panels. I had “Surviving the Apocalypse” at 5pm. Speaker moderated that one, and as ever, did a fantastic job guiding the discussion. Afterwards, we attended opening ceremonies for the con, followed by “Dating Game with Books” at 7pm.

For “Dating Game”, I cosplayed Evelyn Adamsen, my WWII-era psychic character from Minds of Men. It was a lot of fun, but believe you me, Evie was NOT comfortable with some of the questions asked! Nor was she comfortable with some of the answers provided by “Tamir Alcuin”, portrayed by Marisa Wolf. It was a riot of a time, and it only got better in the second round, when bawdy bachelorette “Jolene” (played by Con Chair Joel Lyons) grilled three fictional bachelors as played by their authors (David Weber, Mark Wandrey, and Chris Woods). It was hilarious.

After that, there was dinner (I think!) and more hanging out with a ton of people at the bar. Which was fantastic, especially because WE GOT AN ORANGE TAG!!!

HUNTER, by Marisa and I, released on Friday, and by Friday night, we were the #1 Hot New Release in Action and Adventure Literary Fiction on Amazon! I don’t want to speak for Marisa, but I was bowled over, flabbergasted, incredibly honored and so, so, so psyched that people liked the book! We really had a great time writing it, and it felt amazing to celebrate the launch surrounded by friends and chosen family. So not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, I will say thank you, FantaSci, for an incredible experience.

Saturday

Saturday was my birthday. 🙂 I turned 42, which as everyone knows, is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. However, in my head I’m still a kid of 7 or so, who finds it necessary to trumpet the news of my birthday from every convenient rooftop. So when we got up and around that morning, I was greeted by a flurry of “Happy Birthday!” wishes. I couldn’t have asked for more. It made my inner 7-year old’s heart so glad, and made me feel so loved. Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, FantaSci, for celebrating with me.

Programming started bright and early at 9am with the Baen Books Slide Show & Travelling Prize Patrol. This panel is a perpetual favorite for several reasons:

1. They give out free books.

2. They show off new (and old but still beautiful and amazing) cover art and

3. Sometimes I get a chance to talk about my work.

This was one of those times. I got to tell the room about Noir Fatale, and how amazing and cool all of the stories in it are, before I had to leave early to get to my next panel. As always, Jim and Tony D. were incredible presenters, and I wish I’d been able to stay for the whole thing.

But at 10, I had Alternate History Change Points. I ended up being appointed moderator on the spot, and I think we had a pretty good discussion about the nature and definition of alternate history, what makes a good point of departure from the actual timeline, and why we tell various types of alt history stories.

When it was over, I had time for a quick lunch break before hopping into a panel on Alien Races. This one was a lot of fun, too, in part because Marisa and I both got to be on the panel. Once again, I moderated, and I managed to get about halfway through the panel before we started talking about interspecies sex. 😉 What can I say? It was a fairly rollicking good time, and I may have even succeeded in making Steve White blush. Achievement Unlocked!

After that, we rolled right into the Chris Kennedy Publishing: The Year Ahead panel. Here, Chris gives an overview of his publishing schedule for the year, and the panel and I got to see a very special preview of some seriously badass cover art. Those who were at FantaSci know, but I’ll wait until Chris gives me a green light before announcing it in any more detail. Let me just say that I think you’re all going to like it.

At 3pm, Kevin Ikenberry, Marisa, and I broke off to go talk about the Peacemakers of the 4HU, and what they do and how they do it. That was a fun panel, too, and we had the opportunity to talk a bit more about how we actually make this “shared world” thing work.

Once that was over, we had an hour or so to get ready before the first ever 4HU Mercenary Dining Out. I’d come up with the idea to do a Merc Dining Out about a year ago, and had volunteered to put it together. Truth be told, due to Joel Lyons and his excellent staff, all I really had to do was come up with a script and program, and get people to play their parts. It was really quite easy, and that’s only because everyone working on it was such a pro. Thank you all.

Marisa and I both cosplayed Depik characters, and the ever amazing Wendy W. did some gorgeous cat makeup on us both. Then I played Madam Vice to Kevin Steverson’s Mr. Vice, while Kevin Ikenberry (as Peacemaker Six) served as Sergeant At Arms. Marisa (as Dama Tsan of Whispering Fear Clan) was our expert grog demonstrator, along with Chris Kennedy (as Nigel Shirazi). Mark Wandrey played Jim Cartwright III and presided over the mess, but we were all upstaged by Sheellah playing Alexis Cromwell and Joy playing Sansar Enkh. The ladies looked STUNNING, and when joined by the ever-radiant Sharon Rice-Weber (as Grand Duchess New Montana) and Sandy White, really made the head table shine.

Overall, I’d call the Inaugural Merc Dining Out a success. We had a grog and many toasts, and a lot of fun and noise. The food was delicious, and we got to welcome Jon Osborne to the ranks of the 4HU Core Authors. Once again, thank you, FantaSci, for making the evening so fantastic.

The core authors of the Four Horsemen Universe — The Core Authors of the Four Horsemen Universe.
(Photo courtesy Jon Osborne)

After the Dining Out, I was tired. But we still had a launch party planned in the consuite for Hunter. So you can imagine my surprise when Mark grabbed me and informed me that we had to plot about the sequel to Weaver RIGHT NOW. I’m sure I looked confused, but I figured he must have had an idea or something that he didn’t want to lose and figured that I could roll with it.

So we sat down for about 10 minutes and worked our way through some ideas we’d had for the second Tortantula novel in the 4HU. The ideas were good, and I was excited about the book, but I could feel my energy flagging and I knew that if I wanted to do more than put in an appearance at my own launch party, I had better get moving. So when Mark announced “okay, I think that’s it, thank you.” I took that as a dismissal and headed upstairs to the consuite.

Little did I know, I was supposed to wait for him.

As I walked down the hallway toward the consuite, someone giggled and slammed the door shut. I blinked, but figured that maybe something was going on, and maybe we were meeting up in the other half of the consuite (it was split over two rooms). I poked my head in there, but I didn’t see any of my friends, and so I started to wonder. I walked back out into the hallway, and Kevin Ikenberry appeared.

“Come with me,” he said, and put his arm around my shoulder.

“I don’t know where our friends are,” I remember saying. I probably sounded like a lost little girl. I get a bit whiny when I’m tired. #confessions

“It’s okay,” he said, and opened up the door to the consuite.

It was dark inside. I took a step in, and then it dawned on me.

“SURPRISE!” they yelled, and the lights came on, and all I could see was balloons, and streamers, and a cake, and my beautiful, wonderful, amazing, too-cool-for-this-world coauthor Marisa Wolf with a shit-eating grin bigger than her home state of Texas.

She threw me a birthday party. I had no idea.

There was amazing cake, with the cover art from HUNTER on it. Joy gave me a gift that nearly made me cry: a hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind, crocheted Depik that I named Cahli, after the Governor in the book. There were my friends singing to me and laughing with me and hugging me and I have rarely felt so loved.

I’m running out of words, so let me just say this. I am so very, very blessed to have these people in my life. Thank you all.

Dama Kacey receiving a handmade gift while friends look on and applaud. — See that delight on my face? See that amazing friend applauding behind me? This is what an awesome birthday party looks like!
(photo courtesy Sheellah Kennedy)

We stayed in the consuite until it was time to close it down, and then we cleaned up and headed back down to the hotel bar. We hung out there for a little while longer, but after awhile, I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and headed to bed. I didn’t want the day to end. What a fantastic birthday. Again, thank you, FantaSci.

(And especially you, Marisa. Words fail me.)

Sunday

Sunday morning, we both slept in. It was glorious. When we eventually got up, we had breakfast in the hotel, and then headed to Chris Kennedy’s author table for our signing. We signed and sold several copies of HUNTER, so many that I was barely able to keep one for myself. I think Chris only had two left, and Marisa only one (hers!). So… that was pretty successful, too!

After the signing, Marisa had lunch with her mom and brother (not Sleepy Wolf) who came in to town for that purpose, and I grabbed food with Doc and Jason, and then hung out with Kevin Ikenberry and his buddy Mark for awhile. We plotted a little, but mostly just talked about the con and the universe and all the great stuff on the horizon. FantaSci was starting to wind down, and while it’s inevitable, it’s always a little bit sad.

After that, Marisa, Sister Karen, Sleepy Wolf and I joined Joy on the Uncomfortable Couch in the hotel lobby. (Seriously, that couch sucks. Everything else about the hotel was on point, zero complaints… but that couch needs to GO!) where she was taking a break after tearing down her dealer booth for Spinner’s End Studios. Eventually, my dear friend and fan Bubba also joined us, and we had a very pleasant afternoon. At some point, Mark Wandrey grabbed Marisa to plot about their novel, so that’s exciting, too.

It was warm and cozy, and I started getting sleepy, so I got up to walk around. I wandered out onto the back patio, where it was absolutely gorgeous with the sun and a spring breeze. I decided to grab my laptop from the room and do a little writing out there. I got a few words down, not as many as on a non-con day, but not nothing either.

The work goes ever on.

Marisa and Mark broke up their powwow so that Mark could attend the FantaSci Guest dinner with Joel. Marisa, Bubba, Doc, Jason, Sleepy Wolf, Sister Karen, and I decided to go grab some highly rated hibachi before the Wolf siblings had to head to the airport. I kinda thought it was going to be a Benihana-style steakhouse with the chef and the grill and the flaming onion volcano, but I was wrong. It was a fast-food style order-at-the-window-and-pick-up-when-your-number-is-called kind of place… but the food was DELICIOUS! Seriously, I’d go back there in a heartbeat! Yum.

Marisa took my car to make an airport run to drop off her brother and sister, and so Doc, Jason, Bubba and I walked over to Cold Stone for birthday milkshakes. Because it turned out that Bubba’s birthday was that week too! And everyone deserves birthday milkshakes. You know I’m right. 🙂

Marisa found us there and then we headed back to the hotel to hang out with the rest of the crew for just a little bit longer before admitting that it was over and falling, exhausted, into bed.

Monday

Monday was a long day. The drive with Marisa, Doc, and Jason was delightful. Getting home to see my eldest was heart-soothing. For all the fun and all the love I experienced, I’d missed my husband and girls. EZ was still out of town with the little one, so I had to wait an additional day before hugging them, but my teenager was excited to see me.

That’s a victory if there ever was one. J She’s a good kid, and I’d really missed her. She gives good hugs. Oh, and my two cats were also happy that we were home. So that was nice, as well.

Overall Thoughts

For a first year con, FantaSci ROCKED it… no, scratch that. For ANY con, FantaSci rocked it. It’s kinda mind-blowing that this is their first year. I would never have guessed that if I hadn’t already known. Everything was so smooth and well organized and communicated. I’ll be encouraging all of my author friends to give this con a go. What a great time! Congratulations to Joel Lyons and all of his staff and volunteers. Y’all did this. Well done.
Sister Karen and Sleepy Wolf are AMAZING con minions! I didn’t give them much airtime above, but they basically spent the entire con running errands for Marisa and me, and getting things done for us so we didn’t have to. Thanks to them, we had programs for the Dining Out, and scripts printed out, and a cake and decorations for my party, and all kinds of stuff. They’re really cool people, and I cannot thank them both enough for everything.
I love my 4HU family so much. Not just my brothers and sisters in the author corps, but all the fans of the series. All you crazy mercs out there who lined up in DROVES to join the brand new fan group, all you wonderful people who bought HUNTER, who reviewed it online, who shared our social media posts… thank you so much. You’re all amazing, and I’m humbled to know you.
If I were a betting woman (and I kinda am) I’d say that FantaSci will likely expand at a prodigious rate. I’d recommend getting your tickets for FantaSci 2020 now. I’m sad that I won’t be there, due to moving to Japan, but you’d best believe I’ll be back someday… and I really hope I see you there!

FantaSci 2019 Schedule

March 20, 2019 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

Hey Friends!

I’m super excited to be spending this coming weekend at FantaSci in Durham, NC! If you’re planning on going, here’s where you can find me:

Friday, 22 March:

5-5:50pm Surviving the Apocalypse
6-6:50pm Opening Ceremonies
7-7:50pm Dating Game With Books

Saturday, 23 March:

9-10am Baen Book Slide Show & Traveling Prize Patrol (note, this is a 2 hour panel, but I have to leave early to do my next panel at 10)
10-10:50am Alternate History Change Points
1-1:50pm Alien Races
2-2:50pm Chris Kennedy Publishing: The Year Ahead
3-3:50pm Peacemakers: One Against The Galaxy
5-9:50pm Four Horsemen Merc Dining Out
10pm-whenever I fall over HUNTER launch party!

Sunday, 24 March:

11am-12pm HUNTER signing with Marisa Wolf at the CKP Booth in the Dealer Room!
12-1:00pm Closing Ceremonies

FantaSci is shaping up to be an incredible con! I really can’t wait. If you’re going to be in the area, please come by and say hello!

Take care!

-kc

DragonCon 2018 AAR

September 5, 2018 by Kacey Ezell 2 Comments

DragonCon 2018 After Action Report

Prologue:

The week leading up to DragonCon was quite busy… scratch that. The *month* leading up to DragonCon was quite busy. For those of you not familiar, DragonCon is a 5-day (well, 4, officially) science fiction, fantasy, and pop culture convention held in downtown Atlanta over Labor Day weekend. It is the best convention I have ever attended. It is 85,000 of your closest friends partying 24hours a day, for 5 days over 5 hotels. It is my Superbowl, my Mardi Gras, and my New Year’s Eve all in one. It is my favorite week of the year. Yes, I said week.

See, the thing of it is that DragonCon has grown from a standard weekend convention into an entity all of its own. It is entirely fan-run and fan-organized, and so it focuses entirely on the fan experience. And the same fans come back, year after year to see their favorite stars and their chosen family members.

Several years ago, people started showing up early on Friday to see their friends and hang out before programming officially got started on Saturday. When I first started going, DragonCon was officially a Saturday-Monday convention. But more and more people showed up on Friday, and started the costuming and the party early. But then as the con got more and more popular, the tracks started scheduling programming on Friday as well. Until finally, con-goers started showing up on Thursday to hang out, etc. This prompted the phrase “Thursday is the new Friday”.

Well, fast forward to now. This year, we showed up on Wednesday to a party already in full swing. Tuesday, it seems, is the new Friday, and if that’s the case, then DragonCon runs from the Tuesday before Labor Day, through the Monday holiday itself.

Thus, DragonCon Week: my favorite week of the year.

Here’s how it went down in 2018:

“Y’all… this is WEDNESDAY!!”

One of the benefits of living close to a major metropolitan area is that it’s really easy to find a direct nonstop flight to Atlanta. My husband EZ and I boarded a plane early on Wednesday morning, and arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson just before noon. From there, it was an easy Marta trip to downtown, and a walk through pleasantly cooling rain to our hotel: The Westin Peachtree Plaza.

Every year I sing the praises of the Westin, and this year will be no different. The staff is always incredibly professional and helpful, the rooms are lovely and comfortable, and you really can’t beat the views. Though this year we stayed on a lower floor than in years past, but it’s still a good vista over the city of Atlanta.

We checked in with no problems and quickly decided to go find some food. We knew we would probably get the luscious truffled mac&cheese from Meehan’s once our friends the Wolfpack arrived, so we opted to walk over to Peachtree Center mall and check out the food court.

This year, the food court was under construction, which severely limited the available floor space for seating. HOWEVER, mad kudos to the Peachtree Center staff and to their liaison with the con, because honestly, it *felt* less full than it has in years past. They did a really great job of delineating traffic areas that were not to be blocked, and it was truly not any harder to find a seat than it was in years past… though we did opt to get take out quite a bit, due to the construction.

In any case, EZ and I had lunch, and then I asked him if he wanted to walk a 5K with me while we waited for our friends to arrive.

See, I had signed up for the RunDisney Virtual Shorts series, which is a series of 3 virtual 5K races to be done in the months of June, July, and August respectively. But August was super busy, and I hadn’t gotten my race done yet. The races can be run or walked, and while I ran the first two, I knew that walking was going to be my best bet if I wanted to get it done that day.

So, my beloved, amazing husband agreed, and we proceeded to tour all the DragonCon host hotels and refamiliarize ourselves with the ins and outs and secret (not really) passageways that lead from one hotel to the other. We also took the time to locate where badge pickup and most of my programming would be, as I was participating in four tracks this year, plus the Dragon Awards. As he said, he never would have expected that the first thing I wanted to do when I got to DragonCon was a 5K, but there you have it.

I’m full of surprises.

In the course of the 5K, we stopped by and picked up some beverages from the traditionally overpriced liquor store next to the Sheraton, as well as some room snacks from the CVS in Peachtree Center mall.

By the way, Mad Props to the staff of that CVS. As the main entrance to the food court was closed for construction, they had a steady stream of people using their store as a thoroughfare. And yet they were always pleasant and helpful, and restocked nightly to provide con goers with necessary drinks, snacks, and whatnot. Since their inception, that CVS has definitely had a positive impact on DragonCon, in my opinion.

Shortly after we finished our epic 5K, our friends the Wolfpack arrived. The Wolfpack consists of my coauthor, Marisa Wolf, and her entourage. In this case, her entourage consisted of her husband, Jeremy (whose last name isn’t Wolf, but he isn’t a writer or con pro of any kind, so I’m not going to tell you what it is). They got all checked in, and we decided to head down to Meehan’s for the aforementioned mac&cheese.

It was delicious as always, as were the beverages my party consumed. I rather think we might have been “that table” as we got louder and louder, especially after two of my other dearest friends arrived. Cassie&Casey hadn’t attended DragonCon in 5 years, due to real life military commitments, but this was their triumphal return. They met us at Meehan’s, and the party just kept going.

Eventually, someone (it may have been EZ, I’m not sure) kicked out the idea of a hotel bar crawl, and the rest of the group enthusiastically agreed. We paid our bill at Meehan’s, and headed down to the Hyatt bar for round 1.

At the Hyatt, we found Kevin Ikenberry and Quincy Adams, as well as our friends Danielle and Charlotte and some other folks. I think EZ’s buddy Seth joined us there as well. He joined us at some point, at any rate. We enjoyed hanging out with them for a bit, and then headed onward to the Marriott via the sky bridge.

And the Marriott was already lit. I mean, the floor wasn’t as crowded as it would become on Friday and Saturday nights, but there were legit costumes to be seen, and people to see and hang out with. Around this time, Marisa coined the phrase that would be our rallying cry for the rest of the evening: “Y’all… this is WEDNESDAY!”

Indeed. Which meant that there were many, many more days of con goodness to enjoy. We continued on from the Marriott bar to the Hilton bar, where we learned about the price of tapwater and the importance of speaking to the manager when things aren’t quite right.

By then I was done, so we headed back, and I crashed out, excited about the prospect of the 5 days ahead.

“Thursday = Recovery Day?”

One of the benefits of not drinking alcohol is that I require significantly less recovery than those who do. 😊 Thursday morning, I woke up relatively early (before 0900, I believe) and texted Marisa to see if she wanted to hit the pool with me. I like swimming as a form of exercise at a con. It’s relaxing.

She agreed, and so we went through the labyrinthine procedures required to get to the Westin rooftop pool. It’s a lovely facility, and we enjoyed a relaxing swing and chatting with some fellow pool enthusiasts for about an hour. Then it was back to the room to clean up, grab the husbands, and decide what to do next.

I’m pretty sure we headed back to the Hyatt bar for lunch. Honestly, I’m not really sure. I know we spent most of Thursday hanging out with our various friends: Cassie and Casey again, as well as Mike Massa and his wife Lorna, Griffin Barber, Rob Hampson, Philip Wholrab, and Christopher L. Smith up in Speaker’s Speakeasy, as well as Bridget and Larry Correia. We also ran into Chris Kennedy and his wife Sheelah, Mark Wandrey and his wife Joy, Jon Osborne, and Christopher Woods and his wife Wendy. Oh, and John Ringo, of course. I’m almost positive I saw all of those individuals at some point on Thursday, but it really is a blur in my memory. I just know that I was hanging out all day and it was fun. It was like the DragonCons of old, before I started doing panels and other programming.

Originally, the plan was that Thursday would be a day of recovery, but not so much for this hard-going crew. We may be too old to push it up every weekend like we did back in our 20s, but damn if we can’t push it up for one week a year. 😊

We went back to Meehan’s for dinner, and this time, they put us in the back room. Which was awesome, because we continued to be rowdy and fun. We started applauding wildly whenever our server walked into the room, and whenever new people were seated back there with us. Another rowdy table joined in, and before you know it, we were singing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of our lungs.

Which, if you’re keeping track, makes this two years in a row for Queen sing-a-longs at DragonCon. 😊

After dinner, I think we went up to Speaker’s Speakeasy for more hanging out, but I don’t really remember.

I went to bed at some point. I’m not sure when.

“Friday. Game Face Time”

Friday morning started off with an 1130 panel for the Alt History track. It was a panel designed to be a track kick-off event, and I was honored to sit beside S. M. Stirling on it. I’ve met Steve before, but this year we had a number of panels together, which was a lot of fun. The man has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of a great many subjects, and he’s a real blast to talk to.

After that, we grabbed lunch, and I headed to Military Sci-Fi Writers & Creators in the Military SF Media track. This was a fun panel consisting of several talented creators, including my friend Van Allen Plexico and new friend Amy J. Murphy. I always love meeting new people.

Friday night’s dinner was… more food court? I’m not really sure. I’m pretty sure we met up with the CKP writing factory folks at the Westin Bar and hung out there for awhile. Again, I don’t really remember what all we did that night, but I know we walked around a fair bit and did a lot of hanging out and socializing.

After dinner, we headed down to the Fantasy Lit track’s new event: the Fantasy Gather. This was the brainchild of the new track director, Cisca Small, and it was a huge success. Fantasy writers came together in a ballroom with small tables to hawk books, hang out with fans and each other, and just really network and have a good time. Marisa and I bonded with the other members of our CKP family, and got to meet some new folks as well. I also got to see and give hugs to Monalisa Foster, Jody Lyn Nye and Todd McCaffrey, which was cool. It was a very well attended event that was a lot of fun. I hope the fans all gave it great feedback, so that we’ll see it return next year.

Oh! Friday might have been the day when Marisa and I went with Bridget, Brandy, and Cathy to buy corsets and fun hats. We shopped at Timeless Trends and my all-time favorite milliner, The Blonde Swan. Bridget got an amazing red and black corset that she wore on Sunday night, and she looked jaw-droppingly gorgeous in it.

There are many, many beautiful things to be acquired at DragonCon if you have the cash. It is known.

“Saturday. The Busy Day”

Saturday was my heaviest day, programming wise. I started off with “Amazons and Assassins,” which was panel about using history as inspiration for fiction. I was late, thanks to running to the wrong room in the Hyatt at first, but the other panelists were gracious about it.

From there, I headed back to the Westin for an Apocalypse Rising panel called “Alternative Apocalyptic Weapons & Armor”, which (to my initial surprise) I moderated. This was actually one of my favorite panels. We had a fairly packed house, and both panelists (Mike Massa and Michael Z. Williamson) are good friends of mine. We spent about an hour talking about improvising survival gear (not just weapons and armor…oops!) with what you have around you. The crowd was interactive and it was a really good time. Kudos to Hans Eckman for running a great show.

After that, the Mikes and I hustled back to the Hyatt for the Baen Books Travelling Roadshow and Prize Patrol. The roadshow is always an amazing time, with Toni Weisskopf, Jim Minz and the Baen crew show off new cover art and give out free books. They also announce the winner of the Readers’ Choice Award for the Year’s Best Military and Adventure Science Fiction. The finalists are chosen from short stories released throughout the previous year and collected in an anthology edited by David Afsharirad. I was honored to have my story “Family Over Blood” included this year.

And it won. 😊

I was flabbergasted. I didn’t know what to say. I gave MadMike Williamson a hug, because I was sitting next to him, and because he was the editor of FORGED IN BLOOD, which is the National Bestselling anthology set in his Freehold Universe where “Family Over Blood” first appeared.

Then I went up, and David presented me with the plaque and prize, and I completely babbled into the mic because I couldn’t figure out what to say. Toni laughed at me and told me that was enough, and I went and sat back down. I felt foolish, but I seriously had no idea what to say.

So I blushed and went back to my seat, and enjoyed all the gorgeous art that happened next. I also enjoyed Dave Butler’s impromptu Witchy Eye singalong. And I got to talk about NOIR FATALE with Larry Correia, so that was awesome as well. The entire Roadshow was really cool, and I was a little sad when MadMike and I had to leave to go grab food before heading to a signing in the dealer room.

The signing was at The Missing Volume, the online/con bookstore owned by my friend Glennis. It was awesome to see her and her husband Tom for a few moments. Even if it was only a few minutes.

After the signing, my husband caught up with me, and we did a little shopping. We also got some food with the Wolfpack. After that, Marisa and I went up to the Marriott top floor for a reception for the Dragon Award Finalists. That was really fun, and it was awesome to hang out with my fellow finalists and some of the past winners.

Unfortunately, I had to leave *that* early, too. Because I was moderating a panel called “Temporal Temptations” for the Alternate History track. On this late-night, adults-only panel, the lovely Tamsin Silver, Marisa Wolf, and I read some naughty scenes from various time periods. We shared a lot of laughs with a really great audience, and it was an awesome time.

The last panel of the night (starting at 0100, if you’re keeping track – I told you Saturday was busy!) was a really interesting panel on the decadence of Weimar Berlin. Very cool discussion, and I got to hang out with Steve Stirling again, so that was fun.

And after that, I fell exhausted into bed. My husband, on the other hand, went out. And stayed out till 0600. He’s awesome. 😊

“Sunday – The Dragon Awards”

Sunday morning, I woke up and headed across the street to Pittypat’s Porch to enjoy the annual Baen Brunch. I got to hang out with Jim Minz and David Boop, as well as Marisa, Griffin, Bridget, Chris… and just a bunch of my Baen family. I also had the honor of meeting Toni’s gentleman caller, who we’re calling “Handsome Devil”. The food was delicious, as always, and it was a really great time.

After that, I headed back to my room and changed, then met up with some of my CKP family in the Hyatt bar. We hung out there until it was time to go to the Dragon Awards in the Hyatt. The Dragon Awards were a lovely ceremony, MCed by the masterful Chuck Gannon. Though I didn’t win, I was super psyched to congratulate Sarah A. Hoyt and Kevin J. Anderson for their win with UNCHARTED.

Afterwards, I got to chat with Laurell K. Hamilton and her husband Jon for a bit. They’re a super cool couple, and she sent me an amazing story for NOIR FATALE, so it was good to catch up with them and their awesome assistant, Shawn.

But then I had to head over to another panel on the fine distinctions between Magic, Psychics, and Superpowers. Another really cool discussion, with an engaged audience and some very cool panelists.

From there, I headed down to the Four Horsemen Universe panel, moderated by my buddy Speaker. This was a fun panel where we got to talk about how Mark Wandrey and Chris Kennedy took a cool military SF idea and turned it into an unstoppable phenomenon. That was a blast. We had a great time talking about the universe and showing off cover art, and then we all headed upstairs for the Corsets&Kilts party. Chris Kennedy decided to sponsor the party this year, and it was the standard rip-roaring good time.

And then it was time to head to Cruxshadows. It had been five years since I last jammed at that concert with my friends Cassie and Casey, and it was really great to be there beside them once again. At 0100 on Monday morning, the concert is always the harbinger of the end of the Con, but it’s also one last chance to really turn things up and (as Marisa would say) RAGE!

And then we had Waffle House, and then went to bed.

“Monday – The Last Tomorrow”

Despite Cruxhadows being the harbinger of the end, I actually had two more events on Monday. The first was an Apocalypse Rising survival Q&A panel. It was lightly attended, but still a lot of fun. Then I had a signing with John Ringo at Glennis’s at 1500. That was good, because I had an opportunity to chat with John about our upcoming collaboration with Chris Smith: GUNPOWDER AND EMBERS. It should be out sometime in the Fall of 2019, I believe, so that’s exciting!

Afterwards, all that was left was to pack out of our room, have a last really fun lunch with Griffin Barber and Doc, and head up to Speaker’s to say a last few goodbyes before heading to the airport in the afternoon.

Our flight home was delayed until quite late at night, and when we did get home, I fell, exhausted and happy, into bed.

“The Summary”

This was the best DragonCon I’ve had in years. And here’s why (in no particular order)

1. Arriving on Wednesday gave us two days of old-school just hanging out before programming started, which was ideal. It was like the way I used to do con, before I got the opportunity to sit on panels.

2. Cassie and Casey were there! I have missed them so much, and it was so fantastic to party with them once again.

3. Our group was big enough and diverse enough (and adult enough!!) that we could split up into multiple pairings and go and do the things we wanted to do without anyone getting butthurt. Which was great.

4. The traffic flow was fantastic. I can’t remember ever feeling totally crowded as I have in the past.

5. The programming was phenomenal. Special thanks go to the Alternate History, Fantasy Literature, Sci Fi Literature, Apocalypse Rising, and Military Sci-Fi Media tracks for all of their hard work. Thank you so much for letting me be part of your program. I hope you were happy with what you got. 😊

As always, we’ll be back next year, unless The Day Job™ has dramatic plans for our family. But until then, remember, you gotta keep DragonCon in your heart. 😉

Kc and David A — Me (cosplaying Bad Janet from The Good Place) with David Afsharirad, editor of The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF anthology.

DragonCon 2018 Tentative Schedule!

August 3, 2018 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

Hey lovelies!

As promised, here’s my tentative schedule for DragonCon 2018! I say “tentative” because all schedules at DragonCon are tentative until after the event has already happened! 🙂 For best results, I highly recommend the DragonCon app, which updates daily with the schedule changes.

But, for your situational awareness, here is what I’ve got so far:

——————-
Title: Chronos: A Beginner’s Guide to Time Travel Fiction and Media
Description: More than a 101 for Alternate History or Steampunk, this primer is a very brief survey of the topics covered in our track. Alternate History and Historical Fiction, Steampunk, Time Travel media, and much more. This all-ages panel is for those who wonder, “What if?” and, “Where do I start?”
Time: Fri 11:30 am Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Kacey Ezell, S.M. Stirling)

——————-
Title: Military SciFi Writers and Creators – Media Edition
Description: A roundtable with military science fiction writers and artists–whether in tie-ins or independent worlds–to discuss the genre, trends, real-world accuracy, and working within the complex worlds of Military Sci-Fi.
Time: Fri 04:00 pm Location: Chastain DE – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Van Allen Plexico, Keith R.A. DeCandido, Georges Jeanty, Kacey Ezell, Amy J. Murphy)

——————-
Title: Fantasy Gather
Description: Celebrate the start of the Con & meet the voices of Fantasy literature. Authors will be here to meet you & sign books. Who knows what surprises & treasures you will find?
Time: Fri 08:00 pm Location: Hanover C-E – Hyatt (Length: 4 Hours)
(Tentative Panelists: )

——————-
Title: Amazons and Assassins
Description: Using elements of history and changing them in Fantasy novels, from the classic castle to genies and demons.
Time: Sat 11:30 am Location: Embassy EF – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Eric Flint, S.M. Stirling, Hawkings Austin, Kacey Ezell, Jason Cordova)

——————-
Title: Alternative Apocalyptic Weapons and Armor
Description: In an apocalypse you will need to make or forage for weapons and protection. Our experts will lead the discussion on what to look for, replacements for defensive items we have today, and how to create your own tools.
Time: Sat 01:00 pm Location: Chastain F-G – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Kacey Ezell, Michael Z. Williamson, Mike Massa)

——————-
Title: Prepping Lessons from Combat Veterans and First Responders
Description: “No plan survives contact with the enemy” is a long-standing military quote. This panel is your chance to find out what works and what doesn’t from people who have served and survived during military and domestic conflicts. A practical and tactical discussion not to be missed.
Time: Sat 10:00 pm Location: Chastain F-G – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Kacey Ezell)

——————-
Title: Temporal Temptations: Erotica of Alternate Eras
Description: Authors and fans share some of their favorite seductive prose from history or their own imaginations. From samples of history’s raciest writings to original works, this one is sure to be quite the bodice ripper. Come with your smelling salts and your fans to ward away the vapors.
Time: Sat 11:30 pm Location: Augusta – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Kacey Ezell, Eric Renderking Fisk)

——————-
Title: The Decadence and Liberation of Weimar Germany: An Explicit History Revue
Description: Much more than Berlin Babylon, the history of the Weimar Republic is one of sexual liberation, decadence, and depravity in the face of post-war economic collapse. Learn about the perverse, grotesque, alluring, and appalling times that are sure to shock and amaze from our fans of erotic history.
Time: Sun 01:00 am Location: Athens – Sheraton (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Austin Sirkin, S.M. Stirling, Kacey Ezell, Rox of Spazhouse)

——————-
Title: Third Annual Dragon Awards Presentation
Description: The winners of the Third Annual Dragon Awards will be announced.
Time: Sun 01:00 pm Location: Centennial I – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Larry Niven, Bill Fawcett, Tim Powers, Dr. Charles E. Gannon, Eric Flint, Richard “Lord British” Garriott, Mike Capps, Katherine Kurtz, Steven Barnes, Peter Kelamis, Lou Ferrigno)

——————-
Title: Magic, Psychics, and Superpowers–oh My!
Description: There is magic, then there are superpowers and mutants. What is genetic–and is it still fantasy, or is it really science?
Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: Embassy EF – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
Moderator / MC for panel
(Tentative Panelists: Myke Cole, Kacey Ezell, Cody Martin, Shawnee Small, Robert Jackson Bennett)

——————-
Title: The Four Horsemen: A Roundtable Discussion
Description: The Four Horsemen is a popular independent series with books & anthology taking place in a dynamic shared universe. The authors discuss the books, story, & how it all came to be.
Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: Embassy AB – Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Robert E. Hampson, Kevin Ikenberry, Chris Kennedy, Mark H Wandrey, Kacey Ezell, Jason Cordova)

——————-
Title: For Survival: Open Jam
Description: If you didn’t find the exact survival panel you wanted or didn’t get all your questions answered, a mix of our experts from the weekend return to answer your questions one last time. Open Jam is the 100% audience generated Q&A session on everything survival that you always dreamed of.
Time: Mon 11:30 am Location: Chastain F-H – Westin (Length: 1 Hour)
(Tentative Panelists: Michael Z. Williamson, Hans Eckman, Kacey Ezell)

LibertyCon 2018 AAR

July 4, 2018 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

Marisa Wolf and I in front of The Bubba Truck from ASSASSIN (yes, it’s real!) Photo credit the amazing Oleg Volk

Tuesday:

Yep, you read that right. I started my Liberty Con journey on Tuesday. As some of you may know, I’m working on a new trilogy with John Ringo and Christopher L. Smith. Since John lives in the vicinity of Chattanooga, I decided to head down a few days early to work with him on the project. So Coriel and I hopped in the car and made the 12 hour drive. Aside from a speeding ticket (damn speed trap on 81 got me) and some raging thunderstorms (RAAAAAGGGEEEE) we arrived safely and checked in just in time to get some food and sleep.

Wednesday:

Woke up with Coriel and used the gym at the Chattanooga Marriott. We had a good little workout and got to spend a little time together. Then we got cleaned up, met up with Nico who traveled in, and got in touch with John. I abandoned Coriel and Nico to go to work with John, and I think the two of them took a stroll in downtown Chattanooga together.

Meanwhile, John and I went to Rembrandt’s, which is a really cool coffee shop in the Art District of Chattanooga. We ate and talked while he sprinkled magic fairy dust over what Chris and I had written so far. After the heat and the sun started to get to us, we changed venues to Chattanooga Billiard Company.

Yep. The secret’s out. John Ringo writes books in a pool hall. 😊

In seriousness, it’s a very cool pool hall, and the patrons and staff I spoke to were really great people. We had a productive session and made a lot of progress.

Afterward, we met back up with Nico and Coriel and John took us on a walking tour of downtown Chattanooga. It’s really a very cool town, and one I’d like to check out aside from a Con.

Thursday:

Nico, Coriel, John and I met back up and went to City Café for breakfast. The one near the hotel was closed, so we headed out to another location across town. There I got my much anticipated waffles with ice cream. We also got trapped by a series of storms, so I jokingly directed John to pull out his laptop and get to work. To my surprise, he did, and I unknowingly started one of the jokes of the weekend. Apparently, I’m quite the taskmistress when I want something done. Who knew? 😊

In any case, I ran Nico and Coriel back to the hotel and just missed seeing Speaker by about 5 minutes. Then I headed back to City Café and picked John up. We then repaired to his bunker/office for more work. I got to say hello to the lovely lady Miriam, which was amazing. John and I got more work done and decided to head back to the hotel at around 5pm.

And we walked in to DragonCon.

Okay, not really. But bear with me for a bit. For several years at DragonCon, Thursday was known as “the new Friday”. Meaning that the wise and/or lucky con goers would arrive on Thursday to hang out and pregame with their friends before programming began on Friday. Last year at Dragon, programming began on Thursday, and EZ and I joined the legions of smart and/or lucky congoers arriving on Wednesday… which has officially been dubbed “the new Friday” at DragonCon.

But DragonCon has 70K attendees over 5 hotels in Atlanta! Liberty is limited to one percent of that in one hotel in Chattanooga! And yet…

Thursday was definitely the new Friday this year at Liberty Con. Because despite the flooding storms that still poured down over Chattanooga and played havoc with people’s travel plans, nearly EVERYONE arrived on Thursday. Old friends, new friends, friends we hadn’t yet met… it was overwhelming and insane and really, really cool.

I met up with Coriel, Nico, and Marisa Wolf. We had our “Push Up Badass” dinner with Cathe Smith and her fiancé Mike, Toni Weisskopf, and Christopher Ruocchio. We got to see Toni’s amazing sword room, which was 100% worth every breath of hype.

Afterwards, we headed back and socialized with so many people. I saw Speaker, finally. And EP and Doc and Jeremy (aka Stitch) and his new bride Emily (aka Lilo… seriously guys, they’re perfect together!), Joseph Capdepon and his lovely Bonnie, Jamie and Michelle Ibson, and Chris and Madi Smith arrived. We spent a few minutes hanging out with Griffin Barber and Chuck Gannon in the hotel bar, as well as Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey with Keven Ikenberry and Jon Osborne and Chris Woods… and so many others I cannot possibly list them all. Please don’t be offended if I’ve left your name out. There was much mingling and saying hello and roaming around to see different people. I think I went to bed around 1am, but I honestly don’t remember.

Friday

I remember waking up at 0730 and wondering why on earth I was awake so early! But I got up and got some breakfast with Marisa and Nico, I believe. My first panel was at 1pm, and it was a blast. We talked about the future of the Black Tide Rising series, and John and his co-editor Kelly Lockhart hammed it up as usual, and John first started telling people about me keeping him chained in the basement while he worked on our project. 😊 The panel was followed by an autograph session, which was a ball as well.

After that, I assume I ate lunch, but I can’t really remember. I do know that the next event was the Homo Stellaris panel, where Les Johnson and Speaker talked about their upcoming anthology that addresses the question: who do we have to become in order to colonize the stars. I have a small story with Doc in that anthology, and it was fun to sit together and talk about our contribution. Unfortunately, that meant I missed my friend Nico’s reading, since it was scheduled opposite.

Following that, I got tagged to sign a bunch of 4HU books for sale, and so was tied up for a while until it was time for first dinner. Marisa and I had a late 4HU dinner planned, but we knew we were going to need something before 2115 that night, so we grabbed a bite in the hotel bar with John F. Holmes and his lovely partner Karen, along with Doc. It was great to see them, and we made a new friend as well. Paul Sparks found himself at our table and joined in the conversation, so that was cool.

That’s part of what makes Liberty the great con that it is. Random strangers become good friends. It happens ever year. I hope it never stops.

That night, Jamie Ibson hosted the BADASS party (Books and Drinking, Authors Signing Stuff) along with Nathan Balyeat’s Completely Random Cocktail Hour. Marisa and I put in appearances at both parties before we had to head off to the Galactic Governors dinner for the supporters of the 4HU Challenge Coin Kickstarter Campaign. That was really great as well, and fun to meet and spend time with a few fans of the runaway series.

After that, more circulating and hanging out. I may have sung “Possum Kingdom” a capella into a microphone and done makeshift karaoke to NIN’s “Closer”. No big deal. Griffin and Karen Barber, Marisa, Mike and Lorna Massa, and Jim Minz won’t tell on me. I think… 😉

At some point, I went to bed again.

Saturday

Saturday’s panels started off with the Four Horsemen Roundtable, which was a blast! We got to award red shirt coins to the people we killed off in our stories and answer questions about what we’ve written and what’s going on in the future. Following that, I sat in on the panel called “All The Shades of Noir” with Larry Correia, Cedar Sanderson, and Ed McKeown. I had a particular interest in this panel, since I am co-editing a Noir anthology with Larry for Baen books. I ended up running a microphone for the large crowd’s questions.

After that, I had to go try to give blood. I had a 1315 appointment, but they were so backed up with their processing that I didn’t get a chance to donate before I had to head off to my next panel. Maybe next year.

My next panel was the Baen Roadshow, which is a centerpiece of the con in many ways. After LibertyCon last year, Monalisa Foster approached me about cosplaying a member of Tom Kratman’s Amazon Legion, and between us we hatched a plot to ambush him and present him with a Balboan flag at this year’s Roadshow. Thanks to our inside woman, Toni Weisskopf, and to my fellow Amazonas: Monalisa, Emily, Tara Urbanek, Melanie Boyd, and my daughter Coriel. We were able to pull off what Tom himself described as “Well that’s just fucking cool”. 😊 There’s video floating around, so if someone wants to post it in the comments, that would be amazing. (Thanks to Gerry and Jamie and all the videographers!)

But it turned out that Toni had more than one surprise up her sleeve. As soon as the Amazonas marched back to our staging area behind the air wall, Toni called me back out again and revealed the preliminary sketches for the cover art for NOIR FATALE! I confess, I squealed and jumped up and down like a little girl. Not exactly the military image the Amazonas are known for, I confess. 😊 But still, it was an amazing moment, and having cover art revealed at LibertyCon was a bit of a dream come true for me. 😊 Achievement Unlocked!

After the roadshow, we had the Sha’Daa:TOYS roundtable. I was able to read a part of my story with Marisa Wolf called “Underneath”. Unfortunately, I had to bail early, because I had to change and get ready for the next commitment: the Baen dinner.

Every year, Baen generously puts on a dinner for its writers/artists and editors. This year, I had the opportunity to meet artist Guest of Honor Jon Picacio. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hang out with him as much as I would have liked, but I hope we’ll meet again.

I did meet up with my self-proclaimed BFF Bridget Correia. We hung out together until I had to run down to do a reading for Tom Kratman’s Carreraverse anthology. The reading was well attended and, I think, produced some enthusiasm for the project as a whole, which is excellent.

Next up:

My book launch party!

Did I mention that I launched a book this weekend? WEAVER, cowritten by me and Mark Wandrey, released on Friday. It’s the story of a pair of unwanted beings who found love and purpose in one another. It’s a deep dive into the life of a Tortantula/Flatar pair, and another look at the Mercenary Life that underpins the structure of the Galactic Union in the 4HU. Initial reviews are favorable, so if you haven’t read it yet, please consider picking it up. I hope you love it!

So, yes, I went to the book launch party. It was packed and a lot of fun. Mark and I gave a signed copy of WEAVER to David Weber. I hope he enjoys both the story and the signatures, which were meant in the spirit of fun. 😊

I hung out with Griffin some more, as well as Massa, John Ringo and Kelly Lockhart, and the one and only Jack Clemons. Oh, and the lovely Jenny Ringo! Who I was so excited to see.

I think I went to bed around three. Again, I don’t really know.

Sunday

Once again, I woke up early. I have no idea why. I was scheduled for the Kaffeklatch, but Rich Groller told me that I should feel welcome to skip it if I needed to, since I had a particularly heavy programming schedule. So I did, and got breakfast with Marisa and Nico in the hotel buffet.

Then Risa and I headed off to the Chris Kennedy Publishing Year Ahead panel, where we talked about our various projects with the members of our CKP family, witnessed Jason Cordova finishing a book, and Risa talked up the Dragon Awards.

Then I had two hours of Author’s Alley scheduled. During which time I tried not to hit Dan Hoyt with my rack (😊), was photographed (along with Marisa Wolf and superfan Brian “Bubba” Gnad) by the supremely talented Oleg Volk, and sold and autographed a ton of books. That was a lot of fun, and apparently everyone but me sold out of copies of ASSASSIN. Good weekend! 😊

By 3, the con was over. I missed the closing ceremonies because I had to clean up my Author’s Alley. Once that was done, I damn near collapsed in Speaker’s suite surrounded by my chosen family. I rallied to go to the traditional “meat faucet” with Coriel and everyone, but not before I stole 5 min to talk magic and magic systems with Dave Butler.

Afterwards, I really did collapse in Speaker’s suite. I was exhausted on every level, but I felt so full of love for the endless parade of friends and family. I’m sure I was not fit company on Sunday, as I couldn’t really form coherent words very well, but I appreciate my cabal for taking care of me. We laughed and played games and shot nerf guns in Speaker’s suite until about midnight, when I finally gave up and went to bed.

Monday

Drove home. 11 Hours. No ticket this time, though. So that’s a bonus. 😊

Final Thoughts.

I now know what my upper limit for programming for a single weekend is. 😊 I had such a fun doing all those panels and round tables and whatnot, but damn… I was spent.
LibertyCon 32 sold out in less than 6 hours. 6 HOURS, y’all! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. LibertyCon is The. Best. Networking. Con. Around.
My kid is awesome.
My friends are awesome.
My coauthors are awesome.
My publishers are awesome.
I love you all. See you next year!

LibertyCon 31 Schedule

May 26, 2018 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

So Summer is almost upon us. After this past winter, I wasn’t sure we’d ever get here. 🙂 But sure enough, it’s turning muggy and hot in in the DC area, and my thoughts are turning to “how long before I can get into a pool??!!””

Besides swimming pools, summer is my favorite time of year for another reason… it’s CON season! Although, to be fair, some really great cons occur in the autumn, winter and spring as well. But in my head, summer = cons = LibertyCon!

For those of you who don’t know, LibertyCon is an intentionally small (locked at 750 members!) SciFi/Fantasy Lit convention held in Chattanooga, TN at the end of June. It is, by far, the best networking Con I’ve been to, and has rapidly become a highlight of my year. I went for the first time in 2015, and I’ve been back every year since. I won’t miss it if I can help it!

Memberships are sold out for this year, but if you’re going, here’s my schedule. Please come say hi, get an autograph, or buy a new book! 🙂 I really love meeting all of you, and catching up with those of you I already know. Brandy, the ConChair for Liberty, likes to call it “our family reunion”, and that’s really what it is. I can’t wait! 🙂

For my full schedule including descriptions, please visit LibertyCon’s awesome website. But for now, here’s a preview:

Day

Time

Name of Event

Fri

01:00PM

Black Tide Rising Roundtable

Fri

02:30PM

Black Tide Rising Mass Autograph Session

Fri

03:00PM

Homo Stellaris: Becoming the People of the Stars

Fri

05:00PM

Opening Ceremonies

Fri

07:00PM

What’s New From Copper Dog Publishing

Fri

09:00PM

TBI & PTSD from the Observers Point of View

Sat

10:00AM

The Four Horsemen Roundtable

Sat

11:30AM

The 4 Horseman RT Mass Autograph Session

Sat

02:00PM

Baen Traveling Roadshow and Prize Patrol

Sat

04:00PM

The Sha’Daa: TOYS Roundtable

Sat

05:30PM

Sha’Daa: TOYS – Mass Autograph Session

Sat

06:00PM

Baen Dinner

Sat

09:00PM

Copper Dog Publishing / Moondream Press Book Launch/Room Party

Sat

09:00PM

Seventh Seal Press & Chris Kennedy Publishing Book Launch Party

Sat

10:00PM

Readings from the Carreraverse

Sun

10:00AM

Kaffeeklatsch

Sun

12:00PM

Chris Kennedy Publishing – The Year Ahead

Sun

01:00PM

Author’s Alley (Burkhead, K. Ezell / Chris Smith, Gibbons, Leacock, Lowery)

Sun

02:00PM

Author’s Alley (Allen, K. Ezell / Chris Smith, C. Kennedy, S. Osborn, Schantz)

Last but not least, special thanks to Brandy Spraker for giving me permission to use the amaaaaaazing LibertyCon artwork for this post. This is the caliber of stuff you’ll find there, folks. It’s definitely a con for the bucket list!!

New Nonfiction Article and General Update!

May 16, 2018 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

Hey Friends!

I know it’s been awhile, but I have some exciting news! I’m honored to announce that my nonfiction article “Character of the Female Warrior: An FAQ” has been published on Baen.com! This one was a lot of fun to write, in part because I teamed up with a phenomenal officer and leader, Lt Col Jen Whetstone. In the article, we discuss what makes a female warrior character realistic or unrealistic, and why we’re drawn to such characters. I hope you’ll check it out. Let me know what you think!

Other than that, it’s been crazy busy around here, but in a good way. Along with work and family stuff, I’ve been doing a ton of writing. I recently finished the first draft of a super secret project with my friend Griffin Barber. Additionally, fans of the 4HU will be pleased to know that Mark Wandrey and I finished Weaver and turned it in last week. I’m really excited to bring this one to you guys, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. I’ve also finished cowriting a short story for an anthology edited by Les Johnson and Rob Hampson, as well as a story for Michael Z. Williamson’s second Freehold anthology (which, incidentally, was cowritten by Rob Hampson! We just really like working together, apparently!)

On the convention front, I’m planning for both LibertyCon and DragonCon this year. I really can’t wait to see everyone and catch up. Let me know if the comments if you’re planning to attend either or both of those cons, or what fun plans you have for the summer!

MarsCon 2018 AAR

January 19, 2018 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

As usual, I stayed up too late the night before. I was at work, doing an overnight shift, and I played around on my computer until past 0100. I will never know why I feel compelled to do this to myself. I feel like a little kid who is afraid she’ll miss something if she goes to bed.

For the record, this is happening right now. It’s 0129, and I know it’s going to hurt to wake up in the morning and drive to BWI to get Risa.

But I’ll do it! Because Risa! WOOOOOOOOO!

Yeah, getting up sucked. 🙂 One of these days, I’ll learn not to do that to myself.

In any case, I woke up on Friday and eventually made it out the door and onto the road to drive to BWI to pick up my friend Marisa. The timing worked out really well, because all I had to do was drive up to the curb and she hopped in. It was like we’d planned it or something. 😉 Then we headed back to my house, because in my infinite wisdom, I’d forgotten a jacket and some other necessaries. So Risa and EZ got to hang out for a bit, which is not to be missed. EZ may be my soulmate, but he’s definitely Risa’s partner in comedy crime.

Jacket and necessaries acquired, Risa and I set off for a 3 hour road trip down to Williamsburg VA. The drive is usually a pretty one, through some of Southern Maryland’s rural and Amish country. It was pretty this time too, but in an otherworldly, etherical way. For whatever reason, thick fog banks draped large swaths of the route, and it looked like something out of Silent Hill whenever we crossed a bridge and disappeared into the featureless white on the other side.

But we made it, got checked in, and headed to the Con.

First on the agenda: getting badges. My first impression was that MarsCon is a very well organized convention. It was super easy for me to get badged as a pro, and Risa easily purchased her membership onsite. We met up with Chris Kennedy for a few minutes, and then it was time to dive right in to the panels.

I will say this: this was the busiest panel schedule I’ve had yet. 10 panels over the course of 2.5 days. And they were frequently an hour apart. It was exciting and the topics were enjoyable and interesting… but it was busy.

My favorite panel of Friday night might have been the “Ready, Set, Flash!” panel, where the audience supplied the details and my fellow panelists and I had to compete to tell a story in 5 minutes. Hilarity predictably ensued, and I won one of the rounds thanks to the creative and blatant use of profanity in the very first line.

Friday night, Marisa and I headed back to the hotel relatively early, and then proceeded to stay up till 0200 talking about politics and plotlines, etc. Because, you know, slumber party!

Saturday morning, Risa met up with a friend for breakfast and I made my way over to the Genre Blending panel at the crack of eleven. We had a really good time there, and Chris Kennedy did a great job moderating. I confessed out loud to being “genre fluid”, as in, I just can’t pick a genre to play in… they’re all so great, I want to play in them all! I also had the pleasure of sitting next to Guest of Honor Carrie Vaughn, who was extremely nice. I really enjoyed chatting with her during the panel and in the green room afterwards.

Marisa joined me in the green room shortly thereafter, as did Drew Avera. Drew was one of the other panelists on the “Ready, Set, Flash” panel, and he told us that he had a new idea. He wanted to do short, two-minute interviews with various authors to find out why they started writing and what their process is. He’s calling it Author Mechanics, and it’s super fun. Both Risa and I interviewed for it. You can find Drew’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw10Jav-mHgYheGsIiHrp5g Go check them out. 😊

I had a total of six panels on Saturday, but the highlight was the Baen Books Travelling Roadshow and Prize Patrol. Hosted by Baen Empress and High Priestess Toni Weisskopf, the Roadshow has a long tradition of irreverent commentary, beautiful artwork, and free books. 😊 What’s not to love? I got to give away a signed copy of Forged In Blood, (which, by the way, just won the 2017 Preditors & Editors Reader Poll for Best Anthology!) and talk about the projects I’ve contributed to. I also got to talk about D. J. Butler’s Witchy Eye, because I nearly bounced out of my chair when Toni brought up the slide. 😊 I recently read this masterpiece (yep. I said it. It’s a MASTERfreakingPIECE!) and relished the opportunity to share my enthusiasm with the crowd.

After the Roadshow, Marisa and I met up with Jim MInz and our friend Erin at an Italian place called Maurizio’s for dinner. There, we proudly claimed the title of “that table” as we proceeded to laugh long and hard at one another’s stories and quips. The food was to-die-for good, too, as were, I’m told, the pomegranate limoncello margaritas.

One more panel on Westerns in SF and Fantasy, and then Risa and I met up with Chris and Mark for some 4HU/Assassin strategy talk. We were joined by the lovely Sheelah and Joy, as well as by Erin. We proceeded to talk about alligators and headbutting them, geese and getting smacked by them, school and work and travel… all the things, as Risa says. Definitely all the things.

But more importantly, we brainstormed and discussed the future of the Depik race and the 4HU as a whole… and I think you guys are really going to like where this is going. So buckle up, fans. We’re going for a ride!

Sunday morning’s 1100 panel came a hair too early, thanks to our late night on Saturday, but we made it. The panel was titled Theogony Books and Beyond, 30 Books in 2018. There, Chris Kennedy shared the future of his various imprints, including Seventh Seal Press, which publishes the Four Horseman Universe. Though the panel was but lightly attended, it was very exciting. I can’t wait to see everything come to fruition in 2018.

Not the least of which is Assassin! Chris announced at the panel that Assassin will launch on 23 February, 2018. Just over a month from now! So, if you’re excited to learn more about the catsassin race, get ready! 😊

Overall, I really enjoyed Marscon. The programming was a lot of fun, even if I felt completely slammed with panels. One suggestion I have for the staff: I prefer when a panel has a predesignated moderator, who can prepare questions and sort of steer the discussion. Every panel I was on had someone step up to moderate (including me, once), but I do think it’s better if the moderator can prepare in advance.

Other than that, though, everything was really well organized and ran so smoothly, it didn’t seem as if the con was crowded at all. I was amazed when I heard what the attendance numbers were. Either those numbers (1500?) were way off, or the flow was just that good, because it felt as if a fraction of that many people were there.

Thanks again to Crystal Smalling and all of the staff at MarsCon for putting on a kickass event. I was so pumped to go, and I’d love to return again next year! I highly recommend this con to anyone looking for a break from the midwinter blues. 😊 Great time.

MarsCon 2018 Schedule

January 5, 2018 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

WooHooo! I’ll be at MarsCon 2018 in Williamsburg, VA next weekend. (12-14 Jan 2018) Here’s my schedule (next to the lovely sunset pic for attention! ):

Kacey Ezell

6pm Fri Large Auditorium Opening Ceremonies

7pm Fri Room L An Introduction to Alternative History

9pm Fri Room L All Nerds are Socially Awkward and Other Myths

11pm Fri Room 7 Ready, Set, Flash!

11am Sat Room 7 Genre Blending

1pm Sat Room 8 Them’s Fighting Words…

3pm Sat Room 8 Evoking Emotions, Provoking Readers

4:30pm-6pm Sat Room 6 Baen Books Traveling Road Show

8pm Sat Room 8 There Can Be More Than One…

9pm Sat Room 8 Westerns in Science Fiction and Fantasy

11am Sun Room 6 Theogony Books And Beyond: 30 Books In 2018

If you’re planning on attending the Con, please say Hello! It should be a blast, and a welcome break from mid-winter mundania! 🙂

PS. I’m dragging my coauthor, the fabulous Marisa Wolf along. 🙂 So you’ll get to meet her, too!

The Fedora Chronicles Interview!

September 26, 2017 by Kacey Ezell Leave a Comment

So, at DragonCon, I had the opportunity to meet a really terrific gentleman named John Pyka, who also goes by the moniker Big Daddy Cool. John is an authority on all things Dieselpunk, and he invited me to take part in a podcast run by himself and his friend, Eric Renderking Fisk.

Thus, I had the opportunity to join them for an episode of The Fedora Chronicles. 🙂 Please go check it out, we really had a blast talking about Minds of Men and all things Dieselpunk. It was really a lot of fun.

Special thanks to John Pyka aka Big Daddy Cool and Eric Renderking Fisk for the chance to hang out!

Dragon Con 2017 – After Action Report

September 6, 2017 by Kacey Ezell 1 Comment

DragonCon 2017

So I went to my first DragonCon in 2001. I skipped ’02 and ’03. Went to ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08. Skipped ’09 and ’10. Went to ’11, ’12, ’13, and ’14. Skipped ’15, went to ’16 and now ’17. That’s 12 years of cons, which kinda blows my mind.

The Amazon Warriors – one of the phenomenally funny group cosplays I saw this year.

As an event, it’s grown exponentially in the 15ish years since I started attending. I went to that first con in 2001 with my best friend from pilot training, Tammy Archuleta. I’d wager that our experience as first-timers was pretty common: that is to say, we had no idea what we were walking into. Unbeknownst to both of us, we were about to come home.

And that’s a feeling that has never changed. Despite all its faults, despite all the hordes of people. Despite the occasional asshole or groups of assholes. Despite my original “con family” slowly having to decrease their attendance due to real life, totally valid reasons, when I walk in through the front doors of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta and see the logo projected onto a floor teeming with Stormtroopers, Hogwarts students, Na’avi, and scions of House Lannister… I’m home.

Wednesday, 30 August 17

The rumors are true. Wednesday is, indeed, the new Thursday. We hopped a flight from Baltimore at some ungodly hour of the morning and arrived in Atlanta some time around 10am. The good news was that the MARTA was totally uncrowded, even with our luggage. We had zero problems getting to Peachtree Center Station, and emerged into daylight to see something that looked eerily like Tuesdays of years past. The Atlanta streets teemed with workday traffic, mixed heavily with people already rocking the cosplays. The party had already begun.

Once again, we stayed at the Westin Peachtree Plaza. Due in part to Hurricane Harvey, we had some cancellation questions with our reservation. After we checked in, I asked to speak with a manager to ask these questions. Shoutout to the manager, Casey Ladner, who not only answered my questions, but saw me reimbursed on the spot. He also FULLY refunded my friend Marisa’s reservation(including the non-refundable deposit!), since she couldn’t get out of Houston in time to come to DragonCon. Thanks for being a standup guy, sir. And thanks to the Westin for enabling him to make that call.

Even though we were a solid 5 hours earlier than standard check in time, our room was ready. Once again, the Westin went above and beyond and let us check in. So up to the room we went, and proceeded to kick off our “grown up vacation” in the best of styles.

By taking a nap. It was glorious. Those of you with kids and/or variable work schedules will understand.

After our nap, I got notification of some of our friends filtering in. We met up with Mike Massa and his lovely wife, who were staying in the room next door. He, along with Chris Smith, joined us for lunch/dinner (meals at DragonCon are often eaten at off times, it seems) at the incomparable Meehan’s. While there, our friend Seth (best man at my wedding six years ago!) joined us, and the party began to grow.

We wandered over to the Hyatt bar and met up with a few other friends, including my mentor and senior author, John Ringo. For those of you waiting with bated breath, yes, John, Chris, and I did discuss our upcoming work Gunpowder and Embers. I think you’re going to be happy with the result. More to come on that soon.

We had started talking on the Hyatt smoking deck, but an enthusiastic partier with a drum showed up and started to drown out our conversation, so we took the party upstairs to Chris’s room. There we hung out, talked books and plots and various other things until about 2, when we decided we should probably start pacing ourselves and go to bed. There were, after all, 5 days of con left to go. 😊

Thursday 31 August 2017

We slept in and I woke up on Thursday morning in the midst of a raincloud. Our room on the 63^rd floor meant that Thursday’s wet weather socked in our view, which was kind of cool. I hate looking at the inside of a cloud from the cockpit of my aircraft, but from a spot safe in my hotel room, it was pretty neat.

Usually, I go to DragonCon with the best of intentions. I bring running shoes and workout clothes that remain untouched for the duration, despite the Westin’s really nice workout facilities. But this year, I tried a different tactic. I only brought my swimsuit, and Thursday morning I did several easy laps in the Westin’s pool while the rain drummed down on the plexiglass ceiling above me. It was very relaxing and very zen, and I’m glad I met my goal of working out at least ONE day of con. 😊

After swimming, I went back up to the room to find EZ and Seth. They wanted to make a Publix run for some snacks, so after I showered and dressed, I elected to take that time and go give blood. Mike and Lorna Massa joined me for the first portion of that: the standing in line. I will say that the blood drive was one of the aspects of DragonCon that I thought didn’t go as well as last year. They moved from the basement of the Hilton to the conference center in the basement of the Hyatt. Their space seemed a lot more crowded than last year, and the lines for screening and actual blood draw seemed to take much longer. Sadly, I was only able to produce about a half of a bag of blood for them, despite my conspicuous consumption of water. I did get a cool t-shirt out of the deal though. But the whole thing took a full 4 hours, during which time EZ went to Publix, came back, and went to get his own badge. I met up with him afterwards and we got some food, then went to get my badge at VIP badge pickup in the Marriott. While there, we ran into my publisher, Chris Kennedy and his lovely wife Sheelah. I was able to introduce them to EZ, which I’d been wanting to do for a while.

After that, we met back up with Seth, and walked around for a bit, taking in all the costumes and revelry that was already in full swing. On Thursday. It was awesome and super fun. We ended up meeting up with quite a few friends to do dinner at Fogo de Chao in Buckhead, which was amazing as expected. Afterwards, we headed up to what would become BFC on the 16^th floor of the Hyatt for more hanging out and catching up before EZ and I headed to bed around 2ish.

Friday 1 Sept 2017

Friday morning, I met up with the lovely and talented Bridget Correia for breakfast/lunch. We met at LibertyCon 2016, at which point I informed her that I really thought we were destined to be BFFs. Despite this awkward and potentially creepy statement, we really have become quite close, and I was excited to see her again. She brought her husband, the International Lord of Hate, with us, and we had a lovely meal discussing kids and cons and the writing business, etc. Near the end of our meal, the lovely and talented Brandy Spraker and her equally lovely friend whose name I’ve forgotten (I’m so sorry!) joined us.

Friday was the first day of programming for me, and my first panel was one called “Here comes the Gener-AL” put on by the Fantasy Lit Track. Our original moderator didn’t show, so Myke Cole (whom I hadn’t met before) stepped in and did a great job leading a discussion about leadership traits in both real life and fantasy fiction. Shoutout to John Ringo, Speaker, Chris Smith, Jeremy Levitt and quite a few other friends who showed up to support me in my first panel at DC 17. And my husband, of course. Who always supports me. Because he’s a badass.

Many thanks to Charlotte, the track director of the Fantasy Lit Track, for including me on the panel, it was a lot of fun.

After that, I moderated a panel called “World at War: Alternate History in the Early 20^th Century” for the Alt History Track. As always, Dr. Q and his staff did a phenomenal job with their track as well, and it was a privilege to lead a really fun discussion about why the years 1914-1945 seem so ripe for alternate history and secret history tales. Plus, I got to plug my upcoming novel Minds of Men which is, (you guessed it!) an alternate/secret history set in WWII.

After that panel, I’m pretty sure I ate something at some point. EZ ended up going back to the room early, not feeling great, so I started walking around with Bridget and Larry Correia, and we were joined later by Seth. This was Bridget’s first DragonCon, so it was a lot of fun to take her around and show her around the Marriott and the Hyatt to see the incredible cosplays and shenanigans. We joined a little dance party, as well as an impromptu singalong of Bohemian Rhapsody outside the Marriott smoking area.

Yes, you read that right. Me, the Lovely Mrs. Correia, the International Lord of Hate, my husband’s best friend Seth and about 100 of the closest friends we’d not yet met belting out Bohemian Rhapsody under the valet marquee of the Marriott Marquis hotel at about midnight on a Friday night. That, my lovely readers, is DragonCon for you. 😊

Afterwards, we headed up to BFC to hang out for a bit. ILOH had early programming in the morning (10 am is SO early at DragonCon!) so he headed back to their hotel. Bridget, Seth, and I remained in BFC hanging out and chatting for a good long while. Once again, it was probably two when we headed back. That’s one reason why I picked Bridget to be my BFF. That girl can hang. 😊

Saturday 2 Sept 2017

Saturday was my busy day at the con. Thanks to lessons learned last year, I skipped the parade in favor of spending time with my man, and I’m glad that I did. After a leisurely morning, we got up and found some food at the food court. This year, my clear food court favorite was the Indian food place next to the entrance by the CVS. I cannot remember the name of the establishment, but they had 2 samosas for $4, and almost never a line. It was phenomenal.

We got our food and headed to the Hyatt Regency V room for my first event of the day: The Baen Books Traveling Slide Show and Prize Patrol. If you’ve never been to one of these presentations, I highly recommend you catch one at a con near you. Among other things, you’ve got a chance to see really cool new cover art, and possibly get a free book.

In addition, Baen publishes an anthology called The Year’s Best Military and Adventure SF , wherein the editorial staff selects several short stories that have come out the year prior and compiles them into a single terrific volume. Readers can then vote for their favorite on the Baen website (www.baen.com) and the story with the most votes will net its author a $500 prize. Congratulations to Sharon Lee and Steve Miller on their win for “Wise Child”! Special thanks to David Afsharirad for selecting my story for the anthology. It was an honor to be included among such luminaries!

After the Slideshow, I hoofed it over to the Americas Mart and The Missing Volume booth for two back-to-back signings. First up was Black Tide Rising, then Forged In Blood, which is the new Freehold Universe anthology edited by Michael Z. Williamson. The anthology officially released yesterday (5 September 17) but Glennis had copies available for us to sign and for lucky congoers to purchase early. Both signings were a blast, thanks to the hijinks of my coauthors, and I hated to leave the table.

But I did, because I had to jet from the Americas Mart back across the entirety of the Con to the Sheraton for a 7 pm panel on NeoPulp and Dieselpunk. This panel was a blast, involved a lot of audience interaction, and I really enjoyed it.

After that, we had a quick break for some food and hanging out up in BFC prior to the “No Kidding… There I Was” panel put on by the SF Lit Track in the Hyatt. This was my first SF Lit Track panel, and while the microphones didn’t work, the Track staff did a great job as always. The panel consisted of me, John Ringo, Todd McCaffrey, and Mike Massa. I told a story about surprising marks on a friend’s back during SERE training, and how to relieve oneself in -30F weather. John told stories about nasty supply sergeants puking on a jump. Todd told stories of being a Cav scout during the Cold War. However, Mike Massa completely stole the whole show with the true story of a legendary BUD/s class.

I won’t repeat it here. If you were there, you know. 😊

After the panel, I met up with my husband and Seth and we hung out for a while checking out the cosplays and just generally enjoying ourselves. Our friend Jerry Phillips joined up with us after he ended up rendering first aid to a cosplayer dressed as Jessica Rabbit who got hit with a chair that some asshat threw from the 10^th floor balcony of the Marriott.

Look, one of my favorite things about DragonCon is the family nature of it. I’m not joking when I say that you’re partying with 77,000 of your closest friends. But, as in any group of that size, you’re going to have a few asshats. The key is to let them know that when they pull shit like that, they’re no longer welcome in the DragonCon family. Thanks to Jerry and the first responders, as well as the Atlanta Police Department, these particular asshats know that very well. Meanwhile, I’m told that Jessica and her friend are doing well, and plan to return next year.

After all that, the mood soured relatively quickly, and EZ and I went to bed. He was ready to party still, but I’ll admit, I was tired. Saturday was my busiest day, and the con wasn’t over yet.

Sunday 3 Sept 2017

Sunday morning started pretty early. Baen Books has a tradition of getting all the Baen authors at a con together for a meal, and this year we had brunch at Pittypat’s Porch. I had an opportunity to sit with David Butler, David Afsharirad, and Christopher Ruocchio. We really had a great time, with a lot of great conversation, some pretty kickass food, and a lot of laughs. I really enjoyed getting to know these three gentlemen, and hope to be able to hang out with each of them more in the future.

Afterwards, I finally got over to the Dealer’s Room in the Americas Mart to browse a little (very little!) bit. There was so much more I didn’t get to see, but I did get to hang out with Bridget a bit longer before we had to head over to the Hyatt for the announcement of the 2017 Dragon Award winners.

Congratulations to Larry Correia and John Ringo for their Best Fantasy win with Monster Hunter Memoirs: Grunge, as well as to all the other winners.

The International Lord of Hate accepting the Best Fantasy Dragon Award on behalf of himself and John Ringo for Grunge

Congratulations, too, to my friends John F. Holmes (a finalist in two! categories), Chuck Gannon, and Mark Wandrey. Both Mark and Chuck were finalists for the second year in a row, which is a hell of an accomplishment. Especially when the field includes the likes of Eric Flint and Harry Turtledove. I’m really proud of you guys.

I left the Dragon awards to make it over to my last Alt History panel for the weekend: A rip-roaring gameshow called “History or Alternate History”. This was a TON of fun, and not just because Dr Q. let me get away with telling a slightly risqué story about a naked gunner. Special thanks to Bill Fawcett and S. M. Stirling. It was an honor to be on a panel with both of you gentlemen. Thanks again, too, to Dr. Q and the whole Alt History track. You guys are the best.

After that piece of fun and revelry, I headed back to the Hyatt for “Playing in Someone Else’s Universe” with Chuck Gannon, Todd McCaffrey, and Griffin Barber. This one was super cool for me, since both Chuck and Griffin are great friends of mine, and Todd is the heir to the Pern universe that inspired… well… most of my life choices if I’m honest. We talked about some of the complexities inherent in collaborative writing, whether with a peer (like Griff and me!) or with a senior author.

My last panel of the night followed not too long after that one, and it was titled “Basic Military SF”. I was tempted to show up with Uggs and a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but I wasn’t sure anyone would get the joke. 😊 In this one, Mike Massa and I joined a distinguished group of mil SF authors and talked about some of the hallmarks of the genre. I probably talked too much. It’s kind of my thing.

And then, it was time to party. We started by heading upstairs to BFC to resupply drinks and whatnot, and ended up partying up there for a while. Then the crew, by which I mean my buddies Jack Clemons, Doc Wholrab, Chris Smith, Aaron Haskins, Speaker, Jeremy Levitt, Jenny Ringo, Kim the Doc and a whole host of others went down to the Cruxshadows concert. EZ, Seth, and I decided to join them, and then hit up the traditional Mariott rave afterwards. Both were extremely fun, there was much loud music and dancing, and once again, Jack launched me (and about 50 other people!) onto the stage for the last song.

One day that stage is going to break. I swear it.

Anyway, at about 0430, I realized that I was starving. Where does one go in the south for food at 0430? Why, Waffle House, of course! Rest assured that the pecan waffles and hash browns covered and chunked have retained their deliciousness since my pilot training days way back when. 😊

Monday 4 Sept 2017

Labor Day. Last Day of the Con. We slept in again and got up in time to start packing. I had a panel at 1300, but since it was located in the Westin, it wasn’t too much of a logistical problem to get there on time. This was my only panel for the American SF Media track, and it was me and author/USMC pilot Janine Spendlove talking about women in the military and how they’re portrayed in media. It went well, and afterwards, EZ and I checked out of the Westin and put our bags into storage before heading over to the food court for one last DragonCon meal. We met up with Griffin and his friend Mary once again (they’d come to the panel) and Griff had a really good insight. He suggested that the panel that I’d just been on would have benefited from the voice of an enlisted woman, and I agree. So if anyone from American SF Lit track is reading this, perhaps next year, hm? After food, we went up to the BFC suite, which was in the process of being shut down and packed out. I raided the caffeine and we chatted… and then I fell asleep on the couch anyway.

Luckily, EZ was there to ensure that no one exacted penalty on me for falling asleep in BFC (sorry Chris!) and we enjoyed hanging out until it was time to head to the airport. Thanks again to Jeremy Levitt for giving us a ride!

Final Thoughts:

This is really only the tip of the iceberg of things I did. At some point, EZ and Seth and I hung out in the Hyatt bar with my publisher, Chris Kennedy, his lovely wife Sheelah, Mark Wandrey and his lovely wife Joy. For the life of me, I can’t figure out what day that was. I also hung out with Griffin and Mary quite a bit, but it seemed to be for an hour here or an hour there. I even got to see my dear friend Amity and her family, and to meet baby Ember.

Dragon Con was a shifting kaleidoscope of encounters and fun.

It was also much more laid back for me than in past years. A large reason for this is because I made a deliberate decision that I was going to edit my commitments. Aside from my pro responsibilities, I refused to commit to any one event, instead declaring my intention to hang out with EZ and just do what he wanted to do. Of course, he didn’t care, much of the time, but not doing the parade, not throwing Corsets&Kilts… all of these things contributed to a much more satisfying “grown up vacation” than last year.

That, along with showing up on Wed, before the official festivities started, made the difference, I believe. This was easily the best con I’ve had in a number of years. No stress, no fuss. Just going with the flow and hitting my panels. Seeing old friends, making new ones, living it up with the love of my life and reveling in the feeling of finding my home planet that only DragonCon can provide.

Until next year, my friends!