This was our first book con, and it was wonderful. Dave and I have been to lots of media cons for Star Trek, Highlander, and Babylon 5, but it took Ith's pestering to get us to a book con.
When I started investigating it, I learned that they also ran a writer's workshop. Glo. and I siezed on that as aa great way to force ourselves to start our novel (we both need deadlines), and a few days later our checks were in the mail.
It turned out that our workshop session was on the last day, so we spent the first two trying to pay attention to anything other than the butterflies in our stomaches. Luckily the panels were great--entire rooms full of writers, aspiring writers, and readers all discussing things like "How Do I Create a Believable World" to "Telepathy: The Ultimate Aphrodesiac or Contraceptive?"
There was a lot more audience participation than I'd ever seen before, and it worked well because everyone was well-read and well-spoken. It's amazing how different the crowd is when there aren't any actors on the guest list--it's an entirely different atmosphere.
If you're in San Jose in May, BayCon's the place to be. Check out their official website for details.
Now on to the pics I took at the con.
The
few, the proud, the barflies