Success only flourishes in perseverance -- ceaseless, restless perseverance.
--Baron Manfred Von Richtofen

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Life, the Universe and Everything

Otherwise known as LTUE ( I wonder why the "the" gets included, but not the "and.") It's BYU's annual Science Fiction Symposium. I went to it last week for the first time in thirteen years. *gasp* Good heavens, why did I stay away for so long? I don't really have the answer. Many years I just simply forgot, or I didn't have a babysitter or I was off somewhere else for Presidents' Day weekend. This year, though, I heard about it early, and since one of my favorite authors, Brandon Sanderson, was the Guest of Honor, I asked my hubby to schedule some days off work so that I could go. My awesome hubby agreed. I went for all three days, went to some awesome panels, heard some amazing writers speak, reconnected with old friends, and met some new friends too. It was especially fun hanging out with Elana, Alaina, and Mary. You guys made it fun for me! When I first arrived, I was a few minutes late for the panel I wanted to attend. I slipped in the back door to find the room packed full. I couldn't hear, there were no seats, so I decided to wait out on the balcony until the next hour. Walking down the hall, I noticed James Dashner walking in front of me. I just so happened to have The Maze Runner in my bag (because I'm reading it right now), so after a few minutes of working up my courage I went over and asked him to sign my book. He was very kind and even remembered me from the the Book Academy last fall. One of my favorite things from the three days was Brandon Sanderson's keynote address. The basic message I got from that was be positive, stop looking for the negative, and acknowledge other people's opinions as valid. Anyway, it was very uplifting for me. I also loved the live Writing Excuses PODcast. I haven't been listening to Writing Excuses, but I will be from now on! Well, this has been a kind of rambling post. The convention was a great experience for me. Some of the panels were quite thought-provoking, and will probably be the subject of later posts. I hope I'll be back next year and not wait another thirteen before I go again.

9 comments:

Roxy said...

Hi! I went to LTUE also. I thought it was a good three days, but I wished there had been fewer panels and more classes. The WritingExcuses podcast was informative and fun. Those guys are hilarious! The League of Utah Writers are having a spring workshop on May 15th. I'm the committee chairman, and I hope you can come. Clint Johnson, Dan Wells, and Elana Johnson are expected to present. Thanks for a great post!

Unknown said...

I need to move back to the states. lol! This sounds like such a neat experience. I would LOVE to attend a conference with you!

Elana Johnson said...

Oh, I won't let you wait 13 years to go again! I'll see you there NEXT YEAR!!

Aubrie said...

I'm so glad you had such a good time! I'm still working up my courage to go to something like this. I'd love to meet some of my blogger friends!

Carolyn V. said...

LTUE was so much fun this year. It was so great to see you there!

Jackee said...

Sooo jealous. I'll have to travel north one of these days and make it there. Glad you had fun!

Anonymous said...

I love LTUE and it was WONDERFUL to see you there. I wholeheartedly agree about Brandon's address. I loved the whole aspect about supporting your genre because I LOVE my genre!

Wendy Sparrow said...

I haven't been for about the same amount of years. Le sigh. All of you writers that went are making me so stinking jealous. Sniff. Sniff.

Angie said...

Roxy, thanks for the info. I went to the Spring Workshop last year and it was great. And I would never pass up a chance to sit in the front row and heckle Elana. (J/K, Elana.) Nisa, I would love to go to a conference with you too! Thanks everyone for your comments!