We just got back from a busy week at Gen Con 51 in Indianapolis. Emily signed books and met readers in Authors’ Avenue, and I (Chris) spent time at the Gen Con Writers Symposium meeting authors and writers and moderating panels.
About Gen Con
If you are unfamiliar with Gen Con—Gen Con is the original, longest-running gaming convention in the world. It attracts about 60,000 unique visitors, taking over Indianapolis for 4 days of gaming, cosplay, entertainment, family events, and the Writer’s Symposium: one of the largest and fastest growing professional events for speculative fiction writers in the world.
Games
Here’s a secret: We especially love Gen Con because we love games. Emily and I grew up playing board games with our families and friends, and the idea of gathering around the table still brings us all the feels. We talked to a few of our favorite game creators: like Jason Anarchy of Drinking Quest fame and Jason Tagmire of Button Shy Games. I also stopped by and got a demo of Root by Leder Games and Lucky’s Misadventures by Great Northern Games, both of which we had backed on Kickstarter to play with our kids. We also picked up a fun game from Deep Water Games and managed to get a little time away to play it in the lobby—where Emily was happy to see some of the readers who had stopped by.
Do you play table top games anymore? If not, you should! It’s great fun for friends and family.
Panel Discussions
I loved moderating panels at the Writer’s Symposium this year. I had such a fun time meeting people, and I picked up new reads—I listened to Robyn Bennis‘ The Guns Above on audiobook on the way home, while Emily worked edits for our upcoming titles.
I also learned some new things about Fantasy, that made me think about our current projects at Atthis Arts. I moderated a panel titled “What Makes a Story Fantasy” with Tor/Forge editor Chris Morgan, author and English professor Gregory Wilson, and best-selling author Erin Evans. This panel brought out a fascinating discussion on fantasy fiction that doesn’t rely on action and violence, but instead explores a non-violent approach to conflict resolution. Greg referred to this sub-genre as “Quiet Fantasy.” I had never heard this term—and I believe Greg coined it during our panel.
It got me thinking about how different some of our approaches are to the genre. And if you’re interested in more, I invite you to check out Diamondsong. 🙂 I think Emily is out there pushing boundaries on non-violence themes and the social impacts of progressive world-building, and I’m proud of her for being passionate about taking that risk.
For me, the clock resets—only 358 days until Gen Con 52! Maybe we’ll see you there?
Chris