I am tired right now.

How tired? Near the end of the signing, someone handed me a copy of Shadow of an Empire to sign, and I asked them if they wanted a name to go with it. They gave me a name sort of like “Dave.” I said “And how do you spell that?” Puzzled, they spelled it out.

I thought for a moment, looked at them, and then went “Really?”

Now, they thought I’d misheard them because that hall was loud. But in truth … I was so tired that my brain had stumbled on processing the spelling of a very straightforward, four-letter name.

Yeah, it’s been a long day. But what a day!

Now, I actually didn’t make it to as many panels (outside of the ones I was on) as I did yesterday. Largely because a number of them were full by the time I arrived! In fact, one was full with several minutes to go! So good on that panel and those panelists, because it was a packed day! But I also spent some time walking around the con, talking with folks both old and new, signing books—and not just at the signing in the evening, either!

Basically, I kept really busy. I finally had to excuse myself to the green room because my phone was going to die, and I knew I’d need it later.

And I did … but we’ll get to that. For now, hit the jump, and let’s talk about some of the highlights from day two of LTUE 2023!

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Fractured Fairy Tales … was full. So I didn’t get to see this one. I ended up talking about writing and books with people. But it must have been a great panel. And in high demand.

Farming in Rough Terrain however, was not full—though close—and even it it had been, I was a panelist, so I think they would have let me in.

Anyway, this was a fun one. We took a number of “extreme terrains” from the audience, and then we went through each one in order and spoke about how farming under those conditions can be difficult or create special circumstances.

And I’m not going to repeat it all here, but I will note that we did not neglect livestock, and we did mention a number of sources that could be used to get knowledge of farming techniques, including farmers themselves, who would very likely be most welcome to explaining farming techniques and requirements of terrain.

A good panel, with so much to cover. I actually fielded a few further questions on this topic later through the day.

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Then there was the Hero of a Different Stripe book launch, which was fun. A Hero of a Different Stripe is this year’s LTUE benefit anthology, so naturally I snagged a copy and got it signed by as many authors appearing in it as I could. Since that list did include some of my favorite people to talk to at the con, this was doubly satisfying.

In addition, I was also given the LTUE 2025 anthology, which will be opening submissions soon. It will be called Dog Save the King.

So, you know, start thinking on that one. I’ve already got a pretty fun concept in mind.

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Next, I attended (and was a panelist for) the Tooth, Claw, and Tail panel, all about writing compelling creatures in fiction. And while this was both a packed and good panel, there was one flaw with it: Each of us panelist was from a vastly different genre background, and as a result, each of us was discussing more what made creatures work for their genre … which didn’t always agree with another genre or have cross compatibility.

Not that this stopped the audience from taking page after page of frantic notes. It was just a broad topic with many, many approaches, and that led to a lot of different answers which didn’t always agree.

That said, there were a lot of notes being taken, and there was plenty of good advice given. So time still well spent for all in attendance.

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Let me see … after that there was the Phil Foglio Keynote, which was a lot of fun. And then a panel on Designing a City … which was also full up.

So, I finally made it to Historical Sources for Historical Research which was a good bit of a fun. Including an anecdote on how toast existed as far back as—and at least to—the Roman Empire. But there was a really good point of making sure that Wikipedia sources didn’t just circle back to other Wikipedia pages, rather than sources, and to double-check sources where one could.

Also—and this is cool—two authors on the panel admitted to using historical weather, moon phase records, and similar to make sure that the weather and lighting was correct for the particular day they were writing about in their story.

They also pointed out that Wikipedia has a timeline feature that allows you to see all major events, meteorological data, and sometimes more going back in the timeline. So you can discover “Hey, this story takes place during a hot, dry drought season!”

Which is pretty cool.

The did point out that a lot of “regency bloggers” were pretty incorrect, and to do your own digging. They shared neat anecdotes of how far down rabbit holes they’d gotten, and encouraged the diving down of rabbit holes, noting that you never know where you might end up.

Last—at least before I needed to break out to set up for the signing—one of them did note that not everything needs to be perfect. As they explained it, as long as they were 95% correct about something, one would have to be really pushing it to protest that last 5%.

But I wasn’t able to hear any more, because I had to go set up for—

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The Book Signing

And guys, I was busy. In years prior, I’ve had chances to get up and wander around. See the other booths.

I did not have that chance this time.

Oh, and this year? I was almost out of some things before the signing started. I had to clear my Axtara bookmarks out of the freebie table so I wouldn’t run out … and I still did!

I signed a bunch of books. Chatted about the UNSEC Space Trilogy with people. Had one guy come by my table looking for a physical copy of Shadow of an Empire because they loved it so much after buying the ebook they wanted a signed, hard copy.

Two-and-a-half hours passed in a flash. I gave out cool promo prints like the one I’m holding above. I answered writing questions. I signed and posed for pictures with excited fans.

It was … awesome.

And by the end, I was totally wiped out.

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So I’m ending today’s write-up here. I am tired. I’m going to post this, then crash so I’ve got a chance to sleep before tomorrow—the third and final day.

It’s been an incredible con. And there’s still a day to go.

And I’m out of bookmarks.