Tulkon AAR…

Made it back last night. I was whupped…

Friday noon to three on Sunday is a workout. We lost a few panels due to some scheduling and room issues, but for a fairly new con, it was well run!

First of all, KUDOS to Jonna and Kortnee for the great booth set up they did in the dealer’s room!

Prepping and signing books for the display-

And the finished product!

We had books for everybody in the North Texas Troublemakers, plus stabby things Bjorn’s Blades! And classic books, courtesy of Tully!

They also had a gaming area, the local SCA folks did an exhibit outside, including sword fighting, and there were cosplayers! So a little something for everyone.

Pretty much everyone in the group ended up on at least one panel, either writing, con history, history of fandom, cooking, and of course we did a panel on the Ghosts of Malta Anthology! (Guess who was hung over)… And it wasn’t me!

And there was a ‘Big ass book launch party”! But 50+ people crammed into one of the suites as a ‘bit’ overwhelming!!! 🙂 I left early, so I apparently missed getting dragged into another anthology… LOL

Moderating panels is always interesting, but I got a ‘special’ panel, apparently after some other folks backed out!

As a moderator, you always want to have a few questions ‘preloaded’ and discussed with the other panelists. I had four questions prepped…

The panelists were David Weber, Sarah Hoyt, and David Carrico talking about Science Fiction and Fantasy as sandboxes for ideas on politics and society! They were gentle with me, and let me get a question in edgewise occasionally, ‘usually’ after they had already answered it!  Sigh… And we did get through THREE of the questions, which was much better than I figured we’d do (Honestly, I thought I might get the first question in and the three of them would be off and running)!

It was great to see old friends, and have a chance to talk to readers and other authors, usually between panels for one or the other of us. The hotel staff and Tulkon staff were both excellent, going out of their way to get things done as needed. The only negative was the hotel is still recovering from the whole WuFlu things and the restaurant was really only open for breakfast, but there were other places to eat within walking distance.

I never cease to be amazed by the quality of questions and comments during panels, and I heard one comment that I’ve never heard before! That was in a discussion on Indie writing, and a lady in the audience said words to the effect that “You need to be careful about what your book’s title is. It could be embarrassing if somebody like me happened to be reading it in public and others could see the title/cover, especially if it could be misconstrued.”

I had never even thought of that, but I could see her point in certain genres…

I’d give Tulkon an 8 out of 10. Worth it, and sure to improve next year! Also it is reasonably priced to attend, and they do get ‘con blocks’ at the host hotel, which does save the attendees $$$!

 

 

Comments

Tulkon AAR… — 11 Comments

  1. Didn’t see North Texas Troublemakers action figures out for sale. Were they all sold out by the time the pictures were taken?

    Link to Bjorn’s Blades? For those of us who couldn’t be there to look at stabby things in person?

  2. Sounds like a great time! Regarding the comment from the lady about titles–why do you think erotica took off so quickly after e-books became a thing? No cover or title showing when you’re on public transport or otherwise in public.

    • There are a few books that come with reversible dust covers for this reason….

  3. Did the Zoom panel on Hollywood cowboys ever get posted on youtube?

  4. I thought “someone” was swearing off all con booze…

  5. Hereso- LOL, rubber ducks yes, action figures no…

    JMI- Thanks!

    MC/Jon- Good points, and I wasn’t aware of that!

    Carlton- I haven’t got it yet. As soon as I do, I’ll post it!

    LL- It’s a ‘bit’ different… LOL

    Kermit- So he said!

    CP- Still the same one, just getting whiter… sigh