LTUE XXV: Day Two
Saturday February 17, 2007 • Howard Tayler
The second day of Life, The Universe, and Everything was much less slow for me (though I did make time for a power nap around 3:00pm). See, at 9:00am Eric Swedin grabbed me and said "I need help on a panel. Bob and Dan aren't here yet." So... Eric and I discussed realistic warfare in a fantasy setting -- you know, stuff like "if the wizard really can function as a seige engine or WMD, why is the enemy infantry conveniently marching shoulder-to-shoulder?" It was fun, but it was a real shame that Bob "Mountain of Love" Defendi didn't make it in until five minutes before we finished. He knows naval stuff inside out, and his multi-system-compatible campaign setting " The Echoes of Heaven" from Final Redoubt Press is really well-thought out in those regards. The panel was fun, at any rate. My main address was at 11:00am, and that went really well. The crowd filled the room, and I discussed "The Free-Content Small-Business Model," complete with a slide show. I had fun, and I think everybody learned something. I saw a little bit of Stacy Whitman's "Getting Published is Like Dating" main address, but got pulled out for some commission-y stuff (hey, look. MONEY.) before she wrapped it up. Good stuff, though. I'll be seeing her again in Seattle when we head up for ECCC late next month, and she's offering a tour of WoTC. YAY! For most of the afternoon I sat and talked with friends and colleages, including Kevin Wasden whose work I'll be linking prominently in a future post. The sketch cards he was handing out are absolute treasures -- I'm saving mine for when he's rich and famous and no longer has the time to draw each one individually, and then it's going on eBay to be socked against my retirement nest-egg. But not the one he drew of Tagon. That one is MINE (and I'll show you a scan later.) In the evening Kevin Wasden, Steve Keele, and I had a pair of back-to-back panels on portfolios and on making a living as an artist. These were fun, and very, VERY educational. Oh, and super-helpful for anybody who is trying to, you know... make a living as an artist. The only down-side is that we missed the various dinner expeditions. It's okay Brook West (the Schlock deck-plans guy) and his family joined me for a late dinner at Bangkok Grill on south State in Orem. Mmmmm.... two nights in a row of delicious food. I'm up three pounds. Next week I'm going to have to run to catch up with the wagon.
