Thursday, January 14, 2010

Goodbye, Melbourne. Hello, Atlanta.

Bad news, good news.

First, the bad: I won't be attending the World Science Fiction Convention in Melbourne this summer. I wanted to be there. Traci and I bought attending memberships back in 2008, and it's been her dream to visit Australia. In the end, we decided that we'll be better prepared to afford the trip and have a longer visit, at a later date. We still intend to buy supporting memberships for the con, and we're gonna miss seeing our friends out there, and especially the Aussies that will no doubt put on a killer show. Believe me -- we tried, folks. It just wasn't in the cards at this time (even with the current Qantas airfare sale). Best wishes to all Aussiecon organizers.

A friend has already claimed one of our two attending memberships for transfer, and we have the other available at this time. That attending membership is available for $155 USD and Aussiecon's Clare McDonald will soon have the transfer forms available at the Aussiecon website. Contact me if you're interested in purchasing it. (The current con rate for attending membership is $225 USD, so our price is a pretty significant savings.)

I'll definitely be at Worldcon in Reno in 2011.

Big sigh.

Now the good news: although I'm disappointed that I won't be able to attend Worldcon this year, I'm very pleased to say that I'll be attending Dragon*Con in Atlanta over the Labor Day Weekend! Lou Anders spoke highly about last year's show and I'm gonna give it a shot this year. From what Lou says, the con has become more diverse, more literate, and more art-friendly over recent years. I'm really excited to be part of this year's guest lineup. They're still announcing who will be there, and still ironing out the site updates, but I see that Donato Giancola, Cherie Priest, and Brandon Sanderson are amongst the early names announced. Should be great times. Really looking forward to the action this summer.

Next month -- Boskone!! I can't wait. :)

4 Comments:

Blogger Jelly said...

DragonCon was my first Con (ever) last year, and it was marvelous. I was really impressed with the diversity of interests that the Con catered to, and meeting my favourite comic book artist was the highlight of the event for me.

I'm excited to be going back this year, so I'll remember to walk by and see more of your art!

5:55 AM  
Blogger Kimberly said...

well that sucks.

5:54 PM  
Blogger Brandon said...

Just ran across you blog and really love your work.

Great stuff!

5:18 PM  
Blogger John Picacio said...

Thanks, Jelly. :) I'm really looking forward to the show. I think it's gonna be an amazing time.

Kim -- Yeah, I'm sorry I won't be able to make Melbourne. The cost was just too much with everything else that I've got going this year. Plus I'm not sure how profitable that art show would be for me, with all of the framing, shipping and handling, and especially in a down economy....

Brandon -- Really appreciate it. :) Thanks very much!

Brandon --

12:41 PM  

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