Hey Everyone! Long time no see! I am finally falling back into a rhythm after being at the LTUE convention last weekend in Provo, Utah.
I can hear you asking, what they heck is LTUE? It’s the: Light the Universe and Everything convention. So basically a super cool fantasy, sci-fi and horror convention for writers and readers and just plain gamers!
I’d never been before, this was my first year, but it was totally cool. I met some of the most wonderful and friendly authors out there. I was having a total fangirl moment when I heard Tracy Hickman was going to be there! Dragonlance was the first set of Fantasy Books I ever read. I even wanted to name my son Tanis!
David Farland was there!!! I’ve been on his newsletter list for about 2 years and it’s packed with great information! I was supposed to be on a panel with him but due to technical difficulties I had that morning, I didn’t make it. I could have just died!
I was also able to meet some of the coolest authors out there!
Tanglwyst de Holloway – An amazing person and wonderful Fantasy Writer.
Michaelbrent Collings – The coolest, funniest and scariest Horror Writer I’ve had the pleasure to meet.
Christy Dorrity – The sweet and most wonderful Celtic Fantasy writer. And her talented husband Devon who sculpts dragons I wish I could hang in my house, makes the best book covers ever!
S.A. Butler – This woman writes the coolest badass chicks around and the series she is currently working on is going to be twists on fairytales that even I couldn’t have come up with! I just can’t wait!!
I also had the pleasure of being on panels for almost all of them as well. On the DMing panel with Tanglewyst we had tons of fun talking about the best ways to keep your players from killing you. She also informed me that the hardest campaign to start with as a new DM is Ravenloft. Which would explain why when I chose that as my first campaign to DM at the age of 17, I failed miserably!
Michaelbrent was a fountain of knowledge on our Screenwriting panel as well as the Writing Magic panel. If you want the truth about getting into screenwriting and what it will really be like, talk to this guy! He has workshops on his website. Seriously, he knows it all. In a good way.
S.A. Butler and I had a blast on the Fantasy Writing panel and Mugging the Brothers Grimm panel trying to help new writers figure out where to go with their stories. S.A. is a huge believer in making things your own and doing something totally original.
I enjoyed my panels on what is on TV in the Sci-fi – Fantasy genre and which movies are coming out in ht enext 3 years in those genres as well. There are some great ones on the way!
All the panels were chocked full of fun information and great writers. I haven’t had that much fun at a convention ever, and I go to quite a few. I am looking forward to going again next year. I’ve never met a more inclusive group of writers and readers, even though I was the odd woman out because my books all had romance covers instead of fantasy or sci-fi or horror or comic books.
So if you are looking for a laid back fun convention to go to with people that love the same stuff all of us geeks do, then check out LTUE next year and come join us!
Also! A HUGE Shout out to DawnRay Ammon for getting it all together!!