rolanni | News from Duckon

Left Maine at 8:30 Thursday morning; arrived at Duckon Headquarters sometime close to 1 p.m., Middle of the Country Time. Slight mixup in rooms (ours entered a time warp) fixed as expediently as possible, and we had time to grab a quick lunch (mmmm potato brie soup) at the hotel cafe before it closed to prep for dinner. Nap (mmmmm sleep), then out and about the con. Lots of people already in, and more coming. At opening ceremonies, we met our fellow Guests of Honor, including Jim Humble and Talis Kimberly (keristor, she extended your well-wish, and said you had ~~hooked her~~ introduced her to our work); Scott Raun of course we know of old. And! we got a brief glimpse of the stars of the con --an owl and an African hawk from the World Bird Sanctuary. After opening ceremonies, dinner with Sally Kobee and Larry Smith, punctuated by a Really Excellent thunderstorm, then a quick tour of the parties, and back to the room to turn into pumpkins.

Today is a busy one: I have panels at 10, 2, 4 and 5 (hmmm, it looks like I can see the birds of prey presentation! Good deal.) and Steve has all of those, plus one more.

For those who are coming to (or are already at) the con -- an addition to our schedule for Sunday: We are scheduled to sign from 11-1. Also! Do come to the Friends of Liad Breakfast -- 8 a.m. tomorrow in the hotel cafe!

The con's shaping up to be a good time -- if you're here, stop by and say hi! If you're not here, we miss you!

Oh! We read in the program book that Fledgling (rendered here as The Fledgling, but attributed to us, so I'm guessing it's the same book) was a runner-up for the Hal Clement Award for Best YA novel; Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the deserving winner.

More as can.