Just got back from Limestone Genre convention in Kingston (July 24-25) and loved it. It was small, but that translated as intimate: lots of opportunities to talk with people I normally only exchange email with, and to meet people completely new to me. Totally impressed by Jen Frankel who in turn insisted I go hear Kit Daven, whose books I had bought on Kindle before she even finished her reading. I’ve met Suzanne Church before, but always a pleasure to see her in action, and Marie Bilodeau did a great performance, and Derek Kunsken was fabulous moderator on his panel and Derek Newman-Stille was as insightful as ever, and on and on with so many great people. Brandon Crilly and Ira Nayman were people I knew but never met. So many great conversations, and new authors for me to read.
Five Rivers pitch session went well with something like 17 pitches. Great way to discover new authors outside my usual catchment area.
The panels were surprisingly good. After 45 years of going to conventions, I’ve pretty much heard it all. But that was not the case at Limestone Genre, because panels consisted mostly of people I haven’t met or heard before, so lots of new insights for me. Refreshing! Panelists took their roles seriously, moderators actually ran the panels (instead of trying to monopolize commentary themselves) and the structure of questions and answers actually worked really well. The only problem was this one old guy in the audience who kept putting in his two cents worth at every panel he attended even though obvious his information was hopelessly out of date. (Oh wait, that was me.)
Nice dealer’s room: again, chance to meet and talk with authors (and a couple of publishers) I didn’t know.
All and all Liz Strange and her team did a fabulous job.