OsFest 3: 2010 :
9:16am
Mmm, waffles.
Also, everyone at breakfast was out of costume and looked like a bantha just threw them up all over the place. Must have been a rough night for everyone.
It’s nice to know when your kitties are being looked after by a house sitter when you’re away, but I still miss them a bunch 
10:00am
Attended a panel called Digital Art by the artist guest of honor Mitch Bentley. Mostly an art history lesson, but Bentley was very engaging and quite funny.
11:00am
Attended reading by Robert J. Sawyer. Oh my god he is so incredibly smart. It didn’t matter what historical scientific or computer related event some nerd in the audience threw at him, he knew it and had a comment on it. It scared me how quick witted, silly, and smart he was. I could never entertain an audience with that much flair. Must check out his books.
12:00pm
Panel called Writing & The Internet with Travis Herrmann, Matthew Rotunda, Shelly Li, and Tyree Campbell. I had v. good questions for them. I don’t like to give bad press to anyone, but I was extremely put off by one of the panelists who equated e-books and e-readers to a passing fad he had never given the time of day to. Admitted he’d never even held an e-reader but had very strong opinions about how readers didn’t actually absorb what they were reading from e-books and how he hated Amazon and wouldn’t do business with them. Also admitted to not knowing anything about current technology, social media, or the internet to any major degree. While I don’t personally care that he’s not up on current publishing trends, but I found it grating that he was on a panel as a supposed expert on Writing & The Internet. >:-( <- This is my internet frowny face. Clearly the internet plays a big role in my life as a writer (also I love it as a reader), and I don’t like having it looked down at. The other three authors were very, very engaging and while they weren’t exactly on the cutting edge of internet publicity, publication, and networking, they were definitely a part of the future of publishing as shifting and unclear as it is. I liked that they approached it as authors who were navigating the uncharted waters with uncertainty and trepidation but also a keen sense of excitement and perseverance. Bravo panelists. I will post more about them and their books later.
1:22pm Pulse Check
In my hotel room, a little hungry but it is too hot outside to go wandering about looking for food. The humidity is sneaking into the panel rooms too. Yuck. More awesome people I haven’t seen in a long time. I’m a little unhappy with the lack of costuming. What I have seen is awesome, but there hasn’t been a lot. Off to check the dealer room, work on chapter 13 in the hotel room, and maybe attend a panel at 5pm that I’m wishy washy about. 6pm panel called Manuscript Preparation Workshop with Shelly Li and Tyree Campbell. They informed us last night it isn’t actually about Manuscript Preparation, but publication. It is 2 hours long so I’m not sure I’ll stay for the whole thing.
2:57am
Met a friend of my husbands. Hit the dealer room and purchased an expansion for the board game Last Night On Earth (YAY ZOMBIES) plus a comic signed by an awesome actor, more info later. (Hint: “Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!”) More costumes, but still not nearly as many running around as last year. The panels have been, for the most part, really really really well done. I’m very impressed with OSFest’s organization and panel set up this year.
Sommer
My name is Sommer and I'm a writer from the Midwest. I am currently working on a YA novel about superheroes, reading as much as I can, blogging, and saving the world.