Back from an Unplanned GenCon!

Hello, excellent and admirable not-hobbits, I am finally home after being stranded in Indianapolis on my way home from Las Vegas. As my friends hilarious put it: the Universe manifested a Monica at GenCon: Indianapolis.

And manifested, no thanks to trying to reschedule for four days, it did! I was literally saved by the indomitable Maurice Broaddus and family—I’m eternally grateful.

Trying to make the most out of a questionable situation, I have to say it was wild being back at GenCon and participating in the Writer’s Symposium. If memory serves, the last time I attended was either 2016 or 2017. Bigger shows like Comic-Con, GenCon, etc. tend to be cost-prohibitive for me as a writer right now, but thanks to friends and stalwart folks like writer/filmmaker Rodney Carlstrom and Meow Wolf alum LaShawn Wanak (like, LaShawn LITERALLY designed an interactive house! How cool is that?) everything worked out—including a ride home in lieu of a return flight.

I was impressed with the people. The GenCon Writer’s Symposium 2023 had a fantastic and diverse selection of writers, game designers, poets, editors, and artists from every corner of the publishing and gaming industries. Thanks to authors Karen Menzel and Jerry Gordon, I participated in several events: speculative poetry in RPGs, an impromptu poetry reading led by Bryan Thao Worra drawing from into shadow: a poetic exploration of personal fears, meet the pros, writing while exhausted, and one about narrative structures. Phew!

I managed to run into some folks, met new friends, and missed many, many others. One of the nice surprises was to run into Sandra Tayler, who was giving away these awesome creativity cobble kits—I’m still geeking out about the glitter pens. Because my trip was unplanned, though, I had no business cards or swag with me. (Just a pile of vacation clothes, masks, and an unhealthy obsession with The Fablemaker’s Animated Tarot which… Yeah, I caved. I am weak. WEAK!) So, if you’d like any of my games or anthologies signed, whether that’s Upside Down: Inverted Tropes in Storytelling, Legions of Carcosa fresh off of the presses, Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition, Level One Volume 3, or Tales of the RED: Street Stories for Cyberpunk RED, etc. you can catch me at GameHole Con celebrating the show’s tenth anniversary in November. More on that soon!

I had a wonderful time at GenCon swapping stories, listening to folks, and jumping into a few adventures—like meeting baby llamas at the Indiana State Fair. If anything, my conversations highlighted how we’re all in this together. So many folks are struggling to figure out what’s next and find motivation to keep creating in a world that is literally on fire. If you’re feeling frustrated right now, please know you’re not alone.

For tracing purposes, I tested twice for COVID-19 and my results were negative. I do not have con crud, either. Just a pile of imminent oh-shizzit-what deadlines now that I’m back.

Were you able to go to the show? How did your convention go? Any games you picked up? If you attended my panels, were there any topics you’d like me to touch on in an upcoming newsletter? If you didn’t, what’d you like to hear more about?