Tag Archives: GENCON

A Story about My Mom, Haiti, and Irresistible Math

As I write this blog, Worldbuilders has raised nearly $516,000.

That was going to be my big announcement today, that we broke half a million dollars.

But it turns out I actually have a much bigger piece of news to share.

Today, Heifer International is running a special event in conjunction with Giving Tuesday. For one day, all donations made to Heifer will be matched and put toward their work in Haiti.

There’s two reasons that this is a big deal for me.

The first reason has to do with my mom. I don’t talk about her a lot on the blog, though I think of her constantly.

Marge and Patrick at Beach 1-1

(Here she is. With her little boy, long ago.)

You see, years and years ago, my mom went to Haiti.

It’s a long story, but the nutshell version is that she moved down to Haiti for two weeks to help run an orphanage in Port au Prince. This orphanage took care of babies that people abandoned at hospitals, usually because the babies were really sick, or they had permanently debilitating medical conditions. The parents left the children because they were desperately poor, and had no way to pay for their care.

Marge 1 068 (2) - Copy

But the hospitals couldn’t afford to care for the kids, either. Because the government in Haiti doesn’t pay for that. And the orphanage wasn’t in the nice part of town, so the government wasn’t giving them any money either. As a result, this wasn’t one of those posh orphanages like in Annie. They didn’t have beds for the kids, for one thing. But that doesn’t even begin to paint the picture for you. Huge swaths of Port au Prince don’t have any infrastructure at all, so the orphanage didn’t have luxuries like, say, running water.

Imagine that. Imagine taking care of these poor disabled babies and not having any running water. And I don’t mean that they couldn’t take showers regularly. I mean nothing came out of the faucets. They got water out of a cistern that was open to the air. They hoped for rain to re-fill it, and they had to boil every drop they drank and cooked with.

As a result, my mom came back from Haiti with a parasitic infection that took her years of serious medicine to get rid of.

She also came back with stories.

Marge in Haiti

I could tell you a lot of stories about the time my mother spent there. But the truth is, if you’ve read my books, you already know some of them. When she was there, my mom met an old barefoot man who took care of orphan boys with physical and developmental problems. A lot of times the boys were dangerous to themselves or others.

I saw a picture of him once. My mom said he was barefoot all the time, and she suspected he might have been a Trappist monk at some point in his life.

Sound familiar?

The stories my mom brought back from Haiti gave me my first glimmering realization that not everyone’s life was like mine. Not everyone could microwave a burrito when they got hungry. Not everyone had clean water to drink. There was an entirely different world out there where people were so poor, they had to abandon their babies if they were born sick.

So. That’s the first part of the reason I’m excited about Heifer matching donations today and all the proceeds are going to projects in Haiti. Because the roots of Worldbuilders go all the way back to my mom’s experiences there. The stories she told me.

The second reason I’m excited is when we caught wind of Heifer’s event last night, we gave them a call and did our very best fast-talking. And because Heifer is full of cool people, they’ve agreed to let our fundraiser take part in their event.

This means, that for the entire day, every dollar you donate on the Worldbuilders team page will be matched. (And you’ll be entered in our prize lottery.)

This is great news for us. Huge news. And I can’t thank Heifer enough for being willing to work with us on such short notice to make this happen.

But even so, something hasn’t been sitting right with me. I’ve been up all night rolling this around in my head. I’ve been looking through old pictures and thinking about my mom.

Marge 1 001 (3) - Copy

If my mom was still around, she would be moving heaven and earth today for this fundraiser. She’s be baking cookies and making quilts and talking to people at church. She would be filming goofy stretch goals and helping us package up orders in Tinker’s Packs.

And she’d do more than that. She’d put her money where her mouth was.

But here’s the thing. At the start of this year’s fundraiser, I’d decided that I wasn’t going to donate any more money to Worldbuilders. I’d talked myself out of it. I’d already given a bunch of money to charity this year, (Syrian Refugees, First Book, etc.) I’d done my part. I was going to be done.

And besides, I’ve kinda been saving up to build a house out in the country.

And besides, I already give a bunch of my time and energy to the fundraiser, right?

And then I think about my mom. And I think about kids in Haiti.

So here’s what we’re going to do.

If you donate to Worldbuilders today. I’m going to match your donation. Then we’re going to take ALL that money to Heifer and they’ll match both of us. So if you chip in today, your donation will be doubled, then doubled again.

I’ll match up to 100,000 dollars. I’ll let you do the math on that.

Come on, folks. Let’s be awesome together.

Here’s your link.

[Edit: Hey guys, Amanda here! I’ll be in the comments answering questions all day, and we’ve had a fair number come in already, but you can always email us at questions [@] worldbuilders.org as well]

Posted in babies, mom, Worldbuilders 2015 | By Pat68 Responses

Geekery for Gamers

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

Today’s blog centers around one of my favorite types of geekery: Gaming.

It’s no secret that I’ve been a gamer from way back. I played PC games back when they were only text. I played D&D in the days of the red box and dice you had to color in yourself with crayon.

And, of course, my prowess in Catan is legendary. I have never been beaten at Catan.

*Note: Some people claim to have beaten me at Catan, but let me assure you that these are nothing more than fever dreams or elaborate fantasies constructed by sad individuals.

Here’s the tricky bit. Everyone has a particular flavor of game that they’re partial to.

For example, some people would love to win, a set of handmade copper dice. (Details below.) While other folks don’t really need to roll damage for a heavy flail very often and would much prefer to win the Collector’s edition of Mists of Pandera, signed by 40 members of the Blizzard development team.

So, rather than leave things to random chance, we’re auctioning off today’s items. That way everyone can have what they like best. (You can see a full listing of all current Worldbuilders auctions here.)

And, as time is tight, I’d take it as a great kindness if you helped spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested in the following.

Now, on to the show.

  • Play some Four Corners Tabletop with Pat Rothfuss at GenCon.

Last year, as an experiment, I ran a game at a small con and auctioned off the seats for Worldbuilders.

It went over surprisingly well. We had a good, geeky time and raised some money for charity.

But I also realized something. I’m not great at running a one-shot game. I’m more of a long-rambly-journey-of-self-discovery sort of GM.

Luckily, I happen to know someone who’s a much better GM than I am.

So this year I’ve roped my long time friend and gaming buddy Todd. He’s going to run a game at Gencon. It will be set in the University, and I’m going to play Kvothe.

You can and play too, if you like.

To our infinite delight, GenCon is giving Worldbuilders their official support. They’ve given us a room at the con, and will be giving away 4-day badges for the folks that win seats at the gaming table.

The game will be Friday August 16th. It will start at 1pm and run for 4 hours. This auction does NOT include travel or hotel arrangements for the event.

Game system will be determined before Gen Con and pre-made characters will be provided so we can get to playing more quickly. (Rest assured, Todd and I will be in contact before the convention to find out what sort of character you’d like to play before generating the characters.)

For more information, or to bid on the chance to game in the Four Corners, auction 1 is here, auction 2 is here, auction 3 is here.

Last year when I was at GenCon, King of the Internet and all around hoopy frood Wil Wheaton introduced me to True Dungeon.

It was magical. I’ve been meaning to blog about it ever since, but I never got around to it. Suffice to say that it was among the coolest, most enjoyable gaming experiences of my entire life.

We went through with a team of other geeks, including John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, and Robert Gifford.

Okay. I don’t look like I’m loving it there.  That may be a bad example.  But we were running through the puzzle track, and honestly that room with the anvil puzzle fucking baffled me.

I can’t believe the other folks figured it out. Some of that shit was *hard.*

There.  That’s better.  You can see the awesome here. We’d just whooped ass all over a dragon.

After playing, I got in touch with the folks that run True Dungeon, mostly so I could gush about how much I loved it. And at the end of things, they offered to donate a dungeon run to Worldbuilders.

I’m filling up half the party with geeks I know and love, and we’re auctioning off the rest of the places in the party to you.

Right now, our celebrity geeks include authors Mary Robinette Kowal, (Who has been my guest on Storyboard.) and Jim Hines (Who wrote Libriomancer.) They’ve also both won Hugo Awards, now that I’m thinking of it, which makes me feel rather small.

Other geek guests will be added as I hear back from people about their schedules.

The game will be Saturday, August 17th 2013 at 2:00pm and last for 2 hours.  This auction does NOT include travel or hotel arrangements for the event. Unlike the last auction, this one does NOT come with badges to GenCon – you need to get those yourself!

You know you want this. Auction 1 is here, auction 2 is here, auction 3 is here, and auction 4 is here.

A while ago, we were contacted by a lovely lady named Jessica.  Here’s what she sent us:

“This  year PAX registration for 3 day passes sold out in a day. Luckily, I was alert and managed to register for 2 passes before this happened. Not so luckily I found out soon after that I would not be attending the convention. As I was about to login and cancel my registration it occurred to me that hey, maybe I can put these passes to good use!”

Jessica could have gone online and tried to sell them to the teaming masses trying to get into this fabulous sold-out event. But she didn’t. She donated them to Worldbuilders. Because she’s awesome.

Again, please note that this auction does not come with travel or hotel arrangements.

To bid, head over here.

  • Pathfinder Books: Core Rulebook & Inner Sea World Guide (both signed by Paizo staff), Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, Nightglass, City of the Fallen Sky, and Death’s Heretic signed by James L. Sutter.

I’ve only recently started to dabble with Pathfinder, but I have to say that what I’ve seen has impressed me. A lot. Some of the advice in their books has changed the way I’ve thought about running a game, and even influenced my storytelling somewhat.

This pack has everything you need to get started and then some. PLUS, two of the books are signed by the folks at Paizo.

To see more pictures, or bid on the this auction click here.

  • Eclectic gamer pack: Millennium Falcon Haynes manual, signed Mistrunner Core Rulebook, Champions Complete rulebook, and a copy of the Dwarven Cookbook.

Here’s why you want this: 1. Millennium Falcon. 2. Mistrunner is post-apocalyptic steampunk fantasy. 3. Champions is HERO system, which also happens to be my favorite gaming system, which means it’s the best system. 4. This cookbook looks awesome.  Seriously.

We’ve got two of these sampler packs. You can bid on the first one here. Or the second one over here.

  • Auctions: Copper Dice: A set of three & a set of two.

Tait and Lorren, who made my copper knife I blogged about, sent us some cool stuff this year.  They sent the copper rings that sold out in the store, and they also sent us awesome gaming dice.

We’re auctioning off two different sets of these dice. We’ve got a  two-die set you can bid on if you’re a D&D type, and you need to roll damage for, say, flaming sphere.

Or, if you play in Hero system like me, then you can bid on the set of three.

  • Auction: World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Collector’s edition.  Signed by Blizzard staff. Also comes with Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden.

In addition to being hand-signed by over 40 members of the Blizzard Staff, this Collector’s Edition of Mists of Pandaria includes the full  version of the game on DVD-ROM and contains the following exclusive  bonus items:

  • Behind-the-Scenes DVD and Blu-Ray.
  • Collector’s Edition Soundtrack CD.
  • 208-page hardcover tome featuring never-before-seen art from the  expansion.

Also included is a copy of Rise of the Horde signed by the author.

To bid, head over to the auction here.

  • Auction: Diablo III collector’s edition and Moon of the Spider by Richard A. Knaak.

Pat’s note: I once played Diablo II for a month straight rather than prep for my GRE.

The auction is here.  Bid to your heart’s content.

  • Auction: Starcraft Battle Chest and the Wings of Liberty expansion pack.

Back in the day, I was able to beat the original Starcraft while playing against three computer AIs turned up to their highest difficulty setting. True story.

If you can’t say the same, you might want to Bid over here.

  • 5 copies of A Dwarven Cookbook.  Signed by Stephanie Drummonds and Daniel Meyers.

And, because I can’t let an entire blog go by without putting *something* into the lottery. We’re going to throw in five copies of the Dwarven Cookbook.

You have to read this book description:

The Dwarven Cookbook: Recipes from the Kingdom of Kathaldum provides a look into the often ignored world of Dwarven cuisine. Carefully translated from the original manuscript, this book contains recipes interpreted for the modern kitchen. The editors have striven to remain true to the original intent, but some dishes have been updated to make them more accessible to the modern palate. While reflecting the traditions of Dwarven culture, the text also displays a rich diversity in flavors and spicing.”

*     *     *

Fair warning time: Worldbuilders ends January 18th, so if you want in on the lottery make sure to make your donation on the Worldbuilders Team Page. For every $10 you pitch in, you get another chance to win thousands of books and DVD’s.

There were tons of auctions in this blog, and we have even more running. You can view all of our current auctions over here.

If you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to our main page.

If you have enjoyed the experience of this blog, why not share it with your friends?

Share and Enjoy,

pat

Posted in a billion links, Worldbuilders 2012 | By Pat40 Responses

Upcoming appearances, and the woes of biography

I have trouble with simple things sometimes.

For example: I’m going to be Guest of Honor at Gencon this year.

That isn’t the hard part. Truth is, being Guest of Honor is a pretty sweet gig. I had my first taste of it up in V-Con last year.

When you’re GOH, the convention typically does lovely things for you, like pay for your hotel room and your flight out to the convention. Usually an author has to pay for all that out of their own pocket, which means it’s really expensive to hit two or three cons in a year. Let alone the five or six I usually try to attend.

This year, through a weird confluence of events, I’m going to be Guest-of-Honoring at four different conventions. Details are over on the Tour Page, if you’re interested.

One of these conventions is only a couple of weeks away, down in Madison. I’m sorry I haven’t posted up the info about Oddcon sooner, but I’ve been busy writing, and I was called in as a last minute pinch-hitter GOH to replace Tobias Buckell. He had to bow out on account of his wife being super-pregnant. If you’re interested, they’ve extended pre-registration until Friday because of the change of plans.

Anyway, in exchange for having our expenses paid, the GOH has certain responsibilities. The main one of these is to do stuff for the convention. We do more than the usual number of readings, signings, panels. Etc.

I don’t have a problem with this. This is why I go to conventions. I like talking about stories. That’s what I’m all about.

My problem was with something much simpler. As I mentioned above, I’m going to be the author GOH at Gencon this year. So they asked me to write a bio they can put in the program book….

This should be easy. It’s short. 150 words. When I was born. Where I’m from. What I’ve done. Stuff like that.

But I overthink these things. It’s a problem I have.

So I write a regular bio. Names. Dates. The Name of the Wind. Sold in 27 countries. Simple.

But then when I’m finished, I read that bio and it seems really dry and boring.

So I write a new bio. I want it to be better. Different. A little funny. I want it to be cool. Sexy even.

But then I read that one and it seems desperate, whorish. It’s stupid and corny.

So I write a new bio. I tone it down, try to be subtle, understated, professional.

But then I read that one and it seems boring again, plus stiff and awkward. Plus fakey.

So, finally, I get fed up and write something like this:

Patrick Rothfuss sprung fully formed from Marge Rothfuss, his mother, in Madison Wisconsin. In a mere three months, Pat grew to the height of a man while teaching himself to read and write using only a shovel and a dead cat.

When the voices told him to, Pat left home to attend college in at University Wisconsin Stevens Point where he joined Slytherin house and had many wonderful adventures. After graduating, Pat evolved into a being of pure light and energy. Then he went to grad school and evolved even further into being composed entirely of bile, anger, binder twine, and sweet, sweet, methadone. After grad school Pat joined forces with five plucky Japanese schoolgirls to form a giant robot that fights crime.

Through all of this Pat has read fantasy, watched fantasy, and written fantasy. Some academics have suggested that Pat eats, sleeps, and breathes fantasy, but this is simply untrue. The truth is that Pat eats burritos, sleeps like a drooly baby, and breathes a white-hot plasma composed of molten gold and rage.

And you know what? I like this bio the best. If I’m going to spew out bullshit, I’d rather have it be pure, unadulterated bullshit.

By the way, a lot of you have been asking who’s been doing my illustrations for the blog. It’s not me. I can’t draw worth a tinker’s damn. My illustrator’s name is Brett Hiorns, and he is awesome. You can say howdy to him in the comments, if you like.

That’s all I’ve got for now. More news soon. Cool news. Stay tuned.

pat

Posted in appearances, BJ Hiorns Art, conventions, my dumbness | By Pat93 Responses

Tales from the Con: Reading in Indianapolis

So when I was attending GenCon out in Indianapolis last month, I had several adventures.

For one, I got to eat at a Stake and Shake, which was pretty cool. This may not seem like a big deal for most of you, but… well… I don’t get out much.

I also did a reading at the local library.

I love doing readings. But this one was especially fun, as I got to hang out with the folks from “…and Sewing is Half the Battle.” They’re the ones that won the photo contest from a couple months ago.

They all came dressed in their costumes and did an intro to my reading, talking about what cosplay is, why folks do it, and how to dabble if you’re interested.

I have to say that it was pretty cool showing up for my own reading and having a bunch of the characters from the book in attendance.

As a whole, I was too bemused to take a lot of pictures. But I got a huge kick out of this:

I don’t remember writing a hippie into the book. But then again, I don’t remember NOT writing a hippie into the book. Trapis, nice guy that he is, seems to be reserving judgement.

Haliax, as you might have guessed, is a big hit with the ladies. Why do they always go for the dark types?

Here’s one I snapped of Haliax when he didn’t think anyone was paying attention. Apparently when there aren’t any chicks around he summons some sort of glowing orb, practicing to destroy his enemies. I can’t say I’m surprised.

Ladies, let this be a lesson to you. Sure, cowls are sexy. Everyone loves a bad boy. But when you’re dating evil, it’s only a matter of time before you get the glowing orb.

Here’s everyone. From top left to bottom right you have: Elodin, young girl (see below) Haliax, Bast and Urchin, Ambrose, glowing death orb, Hippie, Trapis, Denna, Kvothe and Fela.

I won’t bore you with the whole story of the reading, but here are the high points.

  • A 10 year old girl made fun of my handwriting.

She looked down at the book I was writing in. “Authors are supposed to use cursive,” she informed me.

“Not me,” I said cheerfully, scribbing away.

“Is that your name?” she asked.

“Yup.”

She kept watching in disapproval, then said. “Authors are also supposed to have better handwriting than a third grader.”

“You’re fat,” I said.

I didn’t really. She was adorable. Plus, I was on an adulation buzz by that point and nothing could bring me down. I long ago came to grips with the fact that my handwriting looks like a psychotic grade schooler’s ransom note. She wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know.

  • At some point during the Q & A period, I used a terrible phrase.

I used to do improv comedy. This is a good thing. I know how to work a crowd and think on my feet. Public speaking doesn’t freak me out. I’m relaxed. I make jokes. It’s a good time.

The down side is that I’m not exactly working off a script. And that means sometimes I’ll say awful things.

I’m not talking about cussing. I cuss all the time. It’s not a big deal.

All humor is rooted in transgression. That means that most things that are genuinely funny also have the potential for being really offensive, or weird, or creepy.

I can’t remember the exact context for this phrase, but I was answering a question. I think I was making fun of the fact that since I hit the NYT bestseller list, everyone seems to think I’m all rockstar famous.

As I said, I can’t remember the exact context. But I do remember the phrase I used.

It was: “Come Ride the Rothfuss Train!”

Yeah. I even pronounced it with the exclamation point, which is something I very rarely do. It was one of those things that seems brilliant before you say it, but goes horrible as soon as it leaves your mouth.

There was a half-second of quiet, then I said. “I’m never going to say that ever again.”

THAT got a laugh. A big laugh.

So later, when I was signing books, everyone wanted me to write something about the Rothfuss train. So the story has a happy ending.

  • I got to hang out with the “Sewing is Half the Battle” crew.

After the reading, we all hung out, and I treated them to dinner as part of their prize for their epic win in the photo contest.

Eventually the restaurant closed, so we went to… you guessed it. Steak and Shake. My second trip in as many days. It was there that a talented artist who will remain nameless drew this on a placemat for me.

Yeah. It’s the Rothfuss Train. Hop on. Ride it. You know you want to….

Later all,

pat

Posted in contests, conventions, small adventures | By Pat30 Responses

DragonCon

In less than ten hours I’ll be leaving for DragonCon. I’m trying to look forward to it, but honestly, right now it’s hard for me to see the convention as anything other than a pain in the ass.

Part of the problem is that I over-scheduled myself this month. Four conventions and a family vacation in August means that I’ve spent 9 days at home this month, everything else has been travel.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had some good times, (more stories will be forthcoming) but it’s easy to have too much of a good thing.

Adding to my lack of enthusiasm about the con is the fact that I’m not going to be on any of the programming. One of the main reasons I go to conventions is so I can sit on panels and discuss writing, worldbuilding, and stuff like that. At Worldcon I did 6 or 7 hours of panels, autographings etc. At Gencon, I did 11 hours, not counting a reading and signing at the nearby Indianapolis library.

Dragoncon? 1 hour. I have a reading at 1:00 on Saturday and that’s it. (So if you’re looking to catch me at the con to get your book signed, that would be the easiest place to do it.)

And now, looking at the Dragoncon page, I see that for some reason I’ve actually been removed from the list of official guest authors. Oh totem spirits of the con, what have I done to anger you? Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves, and instead use our combined powers to usher in an age of peace, enlightenment, and fluffy bunnies.

That said, angry spirits, if you chose to stand against me, be aware that I have terrible powers at my disposal. Should conflict arise, I will destroy you as easily as Optimus Prime would tear the stuffing from a one-armed Muppet with a learning disability.

Humorous hyperbole aside, I am looking forward to the con. This will be my first Dragoncon, and I hear it’s a hoot. It will be nice to just be able to stroll around and look at things, as opposed to rushing from one panel to another.

Plus, I’m thinking of wearing a kilt. That might be tricky, if I was doing a lot of panels. Panelists tend to sit up in front of the audience, and I’m not used to keeping my knees together….

For those of you who are going to be in the neighborhood, but don’t want to brave the convention crowd. I’m going to be making a stop at the Decatur book festival while I’m in town. I’ll be on a panel about Fantasy with Peter S. Beagle from 12:00 – 1:00 at the Decatur Library Stage, wherever that is.

Yeah. That’s going to be cool. I’m also hoping to hang around a bit with Peter at bit at the convention. Now that we’ve already met once, hopefully I can be a little more relaxed.

If you happen to see me at the con, feel free to come up and say howdy and ask me to sign a book if you have one with you. I’m down with that.

That’s all for now folks. Wish me luck,

pat

Posted in appearances, conventions, my terrible wrath | By Pat20 Responses

Conventions, Forwards, and Jetlag.

So right now I’m in LA. I’m in the eye of the storm, schedule-wise. I was at Worldcon last weekend, and I’ll be at GenCon in a couple of days. Right now I’m helping out a little bit with the Writers of the Future workshop.

And when I say, “a bit” I mean just that. The workshop is run by Tim Powers, who (whom?) I’ve mentioned before on the blog, albeit briefly. He’s one of my favorite authors. And not only does he have an amazing grip on the craft of writing, but he’s a great teacher to boot. That means, for the most part, I feel my best contribution to the workshop is to nod and occasionally chime in with an emphatic “hell yes.”

Worldcon was cool. I sat on some panels talked about writing, and generally avoided making too much of an ass of myself. That’s about as much as I can hope for, overally.

I got about 30 people for my reading, which was nice. I read some poetry, a couple humor columns, including one of my old favorites about guinea pigs, and a tiny piece of book two. Not even hardly a taste, just a tease.

I also had my first experience of randomly seeing someone reading my book in public. Unfortunately, it was at a convention, so it only counts for half points, but it was still pretty cool.

I think I freaked out the woman who was reading it though. I walked up to her and said, “That’s my book!” She looked up at me with mingled surprise and horror. Understandable really, that’s how I’d feel if I looked up and saw some freakish hobo-muppet crossbreed grinning down at me.

Next weekend I’ll be at Gencon, doing all manner of panels, readings, and signings. I’ll also be making appearance at the local library, accompanied by the awesome costumers who won the photo contest. A good time will be had by all.

And in related news, I’ve written my first-ever introduction. It’s for the new Order of the Stick collection.

Gech. Stupid hotel computer. I can’t make it display the cover of the book. You’ll just have to follow the link, I guess.

If the comic sounds familiar, it should. Rich Burlew was the cartoonist who did the lovely tribute to Gary Gygax that I linked to a while back.

It was fun writing the forward for the book, as I really love the comic. Plus Rich drew a comic version of me which is pretty dead on. If you’re interested, the book will be available for sale at Gencon, and can be ordered off Rich’s website.

That’s all for now folks,

Pat

Posted in conventions, hodgelany, recommendations, side projects | By Pat34 Responses

Back from Indy….

Well everyone, I’m back from Gencon. A good time was had by all, or at least by me.

I brought back all sorts of interesting stories, some cool swag, and an exciting disease. So all in all, I guess I have to consider the weekend a success.

On a related note, I’ve received a MUCH bigger response than I’d expected from my recent blog where I offered to sign people’s books if they sent them to me. I’ve had a couple dozen e-mails so far.

When I was down at Gencon, I mentioned how my plan to reduce the number of book signing requests had kinda backfired on me. One of the more experienced authors mentioned that I should really get a post office box, rather than use my home address all the time.

I waved the warning aside at first. Then she looked at me and said, “How are you going to feel when the first person shows up on your doorstep? Or looks in your window?”

Now personally, my feeling is that anyone who looks in my window is probably going to get exactly what they deserve, a profoundly traumatic experience followed by years of therapy. But more importantly, I tend to think that my book is cool and, by extension, the people who like it have to be cool too. In fact, it seems to me that the people who liked it the most would be the coolest people, and therefore hugely unlikely to try to give me the love knife or the full-blown Misery treatment.

And I have to say that in the several months since my book has come out, I haven’t had a single bad experience with a fan. Generally speaking, everyone has been lovely. Nobody’s done so much as call my house without e-mailing first, let alone give the impression that they’re getting ready to go all stalkeratzi.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that all it would take is one social maladjust showing up at my house to seriously weird me out and ruin my day. So I went out to to get a P.O. Box.

But apparently it’s easier to buy an assault weapon than rent a PO box these days. I need two forms of ID with current address and photos. But I just moved, so my driver’s licence is out of date. And if I’m going to go get a new licence, I should really get a haircut first. Right now I look like the unholy paring of John the Baptist and a certain Hogwarts gamekeeper brought to life by the Henson Company. Not really the look I want my official ID to have for the next umpteen years….

So things are taking a little while to sort out, but eventually you will be able to send in your books to be signed. I promise.

In a couple days, when I’m up for it, I’ll post up the highlights of the convention for those of you who are interested. There are a few interesting stories to tell…

And now to sleep,

pat

P.S. The disease I brought back was just a cold, for those of you who were wondering.

Posted in appearances, conventions | By Pat14 Responses
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