Now that I have been back for a while from Iceland, I decided it was well past time to post an update about the adventures we had there. I uploaded all of the pictures (at least the ones I thought worth sharing) to my Facebook page, but provided very little details on the pictures themselves. I wanted to share some of the stories as well, which should come as no surprise to pretty much anyone reading this post.

For those who weren't aware, the trip to Iceland was in celebration for Sheena and Todd's wedding. We arrived two days before the ceremony, planning on doing some exploring and activities around the hotel. We left Seattle early in the morning and landed in Iceland at about 2300 local time. In the SeaTac airport, I debated whether or not to check my bag. I normally carry it on - I hate checking bags. But, it was a direct flight, we were already checking one bag, and it was free. So, I thought "what could happen?" and checked my bag. At least now I wouldn't need to worry about finding space for it on the plane.

We landed and went to the baggage claim, only to find that my bag wasn't there. There was another section for "unusually shaped bags", so we spent about 30 minutes going back and forth between the two baggage claim areas, but nothing showed up. When I went to report my bag missing, I was told I had to wait an hour before they could do anything. After waiting an hour, I filled out a report, and they said that it was probably not put on the plane and that they would put it on the first flight the next day. So, I should have it shortly. On the plus side, they did volunteer to drive it to the hotel. However, I had to go through a special customs line because my bag was lost where I was grilled about everything that was in it, down to the most minute detail. All because my bag was lost. Then we stood outside in the very cold temperature (my jacket and my pants were in my missing bag - I wore shorts on the plane) in an empty parking lot, waiting for a bus to take us to the car rental place. When we finally got there, the car company had no record of our reservation! Luckily, they had enough cars that it wasn't a problem, but at this point, at one in the morning, it was not looking good for our trip.

That first day we stayed in a fairly small radius, taking detours wherever we found one. There was a lot of small hiking down trails and up hills where we would just pull up to the side of the road and climb out of the car. I was amazed at how many horses there were everywhere. Most of the areas seemed fenced off, but there were still a lot of places open to exploring. Including climbing down into a sinkhole. In my defense, I didn't know it was a sinkhole at the time. We didn't find that out until much later that night when we had dinner with other friends there for the wedding.

Later in our trip, we would get an opportunity to ride some, but for right now we had to settle for the show and being able to tour the stables. I also learned that the Icelandic horse has a gait that no other horse has: the tolt. It is a very steady gait and is characterized by always having one hoof on the ground.

The next day was the wedding day, and that was a gigantic bustle of activity. Even just listing all of the activities would take a lot of time to write out! Sheena and Todd had a very energetic and enthusiastic wedding planner who made sure we were always keeping to a very intense itinerary. It was great to see so many different places in such a short amount of time, and not have to do any of the driving! We started with the wedding itself which was held in this lava tube that stretches for several kilometers. The cave was mystical and rocky, and quite literally breathtaking. When the ceremony was over, I climbed through to the dark areas in the back, and with the mist and fog, it really looked like a dragon cave.

From there, the whirlwind commenced and we went to black sand beach, an old fisherman's hut, a lighthouse, Thingvellir National Park, and more. The park was amazing because it is literally where two tectonic plates meet. It is a very popular tourist spot and was expectedly crowded, but it was well worth visiting. Just being there is a little bit humbling and awe inspiring.

After our full day of touring and activities, there was the reception with some amazing food. I do think that it is worth mentioning that the food we had in Iceland was fantastic. There was not a bad meal that we had during our entire stay. However, it was also incredibly expensive compared to what I am used to paying back here in the States. It is not surprising, considering how much needs to be imported to Iceland, but it was still a bit of a shock that took some getting used to.

The next day, we bid adieu to our friends and toured Iceland on our own, heading along the south coast all the way to Vik and then a bit further. One of our first stops was a geothermal plant that we wanted to tour. It is fascinating to think of how much of Iceland's energy and heat comes from sources like geothermal energy. Apparently, all of the hot water in Reykjavik is supplied from the plant we toured, and even though it is transferred long distances, it only loses two degrees during it's journey. The inner science geek in me had a field day at the plant, seeing how it all works and then picking up some flavored salts to use once we got back home. Seriously - I was recently introduced to flavored salts, and they are amazing. I used some smoked birch salt in meatballs last night, and it provides just a nice little touch of smokey flavor. This is a new thing in my culinary repository and I cannot recommend it enough. But I digress.

From there we continued our theme of driving along and stopping at any place that seemed interesting. One thing that we noticed is that it is very clear why a lot of filming is popular in Iceland. The terrain is so varied, and in such a small area! You can go from hot springs, to a beach, to a rocky wasteland, to lush fields in a matter of minutes. Heck, on one single day we walked through a rocky flat wasteland (more on that in a moment), toured a beach, hiked a mountain, climbed to the top of a waterfall, walked in a glacier, and spent some time in some green pasture fields. And that day wasn't even rushed or had the most driving in it!

Speaking of that wasteland...

We were driving along when I saw that we could get to the ocean just be hiking across a flat field. So we pulled over to the side of the road and decided to start the trek to the ocean. I didn't think it would take that long, only a few minutes since it didn't look like it was that far. About two hours later, I learned some very valuable lessons. First, I cannot measure distances accurately across level ground. While I have been in the wilderness a fair amount in the forest and in the mountains, open plains is a whole different kind of wilderness. In D&D terms, I understand why you need to specialize your wilderness survival with specific terrain types. Secondly, I saw how feasible it was for people to have walked across long distances in the desert or in fields, always thinking they just had a bit further to go, and then collapsing from exhaustion. Lesson learned. Flat wasteland is worse than I thought!

We saw several more mountains, walked around a few other waterfalls, and yes, even did manage to hike onto a glacier. We didn't go too far down that road, because it required ice climbing gear we were not equipped with, but we wanted to at least walk on the glacier to say we did it. How often do you get to say that? Especially when earlier that day you were walking and playing in the ocean?

The next big event we had was horseback riding, and that was a treat. I was astounded at how small the horses were, and how hairy. Yes, I realize that sounds odd, but it is true. They even had long hairs coming out of their nose and all around their eyes. It makes sense considering their climate, but it was still very different from what I was used to. And even more surprising, this was their summer coat. It was thicker than most winter coats I know on horses from around here! Again, it makes perfect sense, but it was a noticeable oddity.

My faithful steed for the day was Brunni, who was the largest of the horses out there and had this "I can do it, I want to be in front!" attitude the entire time. I spent most of the entire ride convincing him that he wasn't allowed to pass the guide. Needless to say, probably a good match for me - or a horrible match depending on your point of view. I would frequently try to keep him at the back of the ride, but that would last for no more than five minutes before he was trying to shoulder his way to the front.

I did have a chance to ride the tolt, and I have to say, it is incredibly smooth! At first it was make me very tired in the core because I was trying to move along and force myself to sit it. But once I relaxed into the gait and kept my core loose, everything just clicked together and flowed smoothly. It is a fast pace too! Those horses can cover an amazing amount of ground, especially over rocky terrain that would normally make me terrified of a horse injury. Wonderful animals, and definitely one of the best things of the trip.

After that, we had a couple of days of quiet exploring, including a brief retreat to a spa and gym, where I did in fact go swimming in an outdoor pool in Iceland. I don't know why, but it made me happy to do that especially since it wasn't a hot spring. We were going to go to Blue Lagoon, but had to change our plans because it was the one thing we didn't schedule ahead of time and it is so popular that you need to do so. In retrospect, it is also very expensive, so perhaps it was best that we did not go.

We also went to go see some old volcanoes and hiked around some hot springs - not the kind for swimming in. In fact, they had warning signs about how your shoes could melt if you walked off the path. They also had some very interesting plaques about local myths and folklore regarding the steam vents that were good to read and very inspiring. It definitely was a trip that was good for writing purposes as well as just general relaxation.

Our way back was luckily uneventful and all of the baggage arrived. However, it did take almost two hours to get through customs on this side, something that I was not expecting. And for the record, once you leave the plane, there are no bathrooms until you have finished with customs. Just something you might want to be aware of for your own travels. It was a wonderful trip, and so much more happened, but much more than I could ever get in a single blog post. Well worth it, and energizing on multiple levels.

But I digress. I merely wanted to explain part of the reason why this postmortem is so long in coming. The convention was extremely busy, even more so than usual. Gen Con is always my busy convention, usually because I am splitting my time between working a table, talking on panels, spending time with friends I only see a couple of times a year, and of course talking with other professionals to see if there are more writing opportunities. This year, added to that mix, I had my board game that I wanted to put in front of any publishers who might possibly express an interest.

In summary, it was absolutely amazing, and I have more work to do than I have ever had on my plate before when it comes to my creative endeavors! This is very exciting and a wonderful problem to have. First off, I was able to talk with several companies about my game. For most of the companies, it was very short since these were cold calls. I would talk about the game briefly and drop off a one-sheet of information. I have yet to hear from any of those, but there is still time.

More directly, I was able to present my game to a couple of companies. Both of the ones that I spoke to in detail about it acknowledged that it was very well designed and expressed an interest in playing it. Considering that these were professional game publishers, I was very excited to get that reaction! One of the companies did admit that the game was not for them because of some of the mechanics, but they told me that they thought it would only be a matter of time and finding the right publisher. The other publisher said they might be interested in it and we would talk further.

Considering this is the first time I have ever attempted designing a board game, I am ecstatic at the reviews and feedback I am receiving. I also pulled it out for a few other writers and friends at a writing get together, and while we didn’t get to play the entire game before last call, they did very much like what they played and said they would like to play a full game sometime. So now I am starting to believe that it is only a matter of time until I can officially add game designer to my resume!

As far as the writing is concerned, I had some very good meetings with people who want to see work that isn’t created yet! I don’t want to speak about such things in too much detail until we see what happens, but I do want to say that I have a heck of a lot of work to do! As I mentioned before, this is a very good problem to have. No I just need to find the time to create it all.

Outside of business, it was great to see old friends and meet some new ones. As per usual, we did our annual True Dungeon run. It was fun, but for the first time in many years, we did not survive the final room. We thought we had a final solution, but we ran out of time to test it. It did not help that someone (yes, me) suddenly got a bloody nose in the last minute of the puzzle. I honestly don’t know what happened, but my nose literally started running blood in the darkness. I think I freaked out the DMs in the room more than myself or anyone in my group! Needless to say, there was no real damage; it was just a random freak accident. It definitely added something different to the adventure!

As always, I stayed until Sunday to enjoy some peace and quiet before having to brave the airport once again. Thankfully, I was not flying Delta, so was not affected by that insanity on my trip home. It was uneventful, for which I am extremely grateful.

All in all, it was a wonderfully productive convention, even if it was even more exhausting than normal. Many positive things came out of it, and I am excited about the prospects laying before me. Now it is time to get back to all that writing I mentioned!

Hey folks. It's that time of year again, when I am about to be Gen Con bound! I am very much looking forward to it. As usual for the past several years, I will have a table in the Authors Avenue section of the dealers hall. Come by and say hi if you will be in the area and check out some books either from myself or the other authors that are there.

I'm also going to be talking on panels throughout the convention. Here is my schedule and what I will be talking about. It is a good bet that if I don't have something on my schedule at a time when the dealers hall is open, I'll be at my table.

Friday:

• 9:00 am - Crowdfunding 101
  
• 11:00 am - Signing in the exhibit hall
  
• 5:00 pm - Business of writing, media tie-in market
  

Saturday:

• 12:00 pm - Knight life (solo panel)
  

Sunday:

• 9:00 am - Read and critique
  

Looking forward to seeing folks there!

So I have returned from Origins Game Fair, and I am glad to say that I returned safely and without any major incidents. Compared to last year, this is a huge improvement. All in all, I have to say that it was an amazing convention. There was so much that happened that I know I won't be able to capture it all, but I will mention some of the highlights in no particular order.

First and foremost, I cannot stress how awesome it was to see friends I only get to see a couple of times a year. It is always a blast to see friends from far away and play games with people I don't see often. Codenames was intensely popular, as I knew it would be. I brought it to introduce some writer friends to it, since I thought it would be up their alley. I first pulled it out when a bunch of the writers were gathered at the Three Legged Mare for dinner. As we were about to head back, the rain started to come down in veritable sheets. A bunch of us decided to wait it out and stay in the bar rather than run through the downpour. We wound up picking two people from the bar who saw the game and said "We love that game!" Our immediate response was "Why don't you join us?" We played a couple of rounds and loved it. By the time we had finished, the rain had tapered off and we were able to make it back to the hotel without getting drenching wet.

Aaron Rosenberg and I were amazed that the powers that be let us sit next to each other in the library. Not only that, but we were allowed to sit next to each other on panels. That was incredibly fun and entertaining! But, I don't know if we will ever be allowed to do it again. I will say, he is an extremely helpful panda.

Working the table went well, and I was up to my usual antics. Traffic seemed slow, but as I tallied up my final numbers, it appears that I actually sold almost as many books as my previous year at Origins. Only two less in fact. So from the business side, it was good. In addition, this was the first year that I had my trilogy available at my table at Origins. Last year, I was able to have the hardback version at Gen Con, but this is the first time I had the paperback version and the first time that I had either available at Origins. The joke that I received (and told) a couple of times was that it was the first time I had a book on my table at Origins with my name on the cover. According to the final numbers, over 2/3rds of the books that I sold were my trilogy. I am excited about this and I feel that it reinforces my decisions to focus on my trilogy moving forward rather than continuing to have a large collection of anthologies. I will still bring new ones as they come out, but in a lot less quantity and with a more decided focus on my books.

While I was there, an author that I very highly respect took a moment out of his day to pull me aside and speak to me. He said that I was a good writer (which was a HUGE compliment) and that I had the skill to make a major career out of my writing (which was an even larger compliment). He told me that I was reaching a point where I needed to decide if I wanted to focus on my antics, or let my writing stand for itself. This was a very sobering conversation, and something that meant a lot to me considering the source. It also gave me a lot of faith in my writing and what I am going to be pursuing from here on out.

Following the example of Robyn King, I need to say that I had a massive bucket list item crossed off this weekend. I had the honor of sitting at a signing table at the Catalyst booth. You can see a picture of it here. True, true, I finally got an opportunity to use my head. Nonetheless, that did not dampen my excitement for being part of this. I am officially a Shadowrun author now. There is nothing that can be done to take that back. There is official evidence! And you know that once it is on the web, it cannot be removed. Catalyst even invited me to sit at their table and watch the Origin Awards.

Even with all of these highs, there is one thing that trumps it all. I designed a board game and had the opportunity to demo it in front of a major publisher. It was probably one of the most nerve-wracking things that I have done at a convention since I first started going to conventions as a professional writer. It was AMAZING.

It went as well as I thought it possibly could have. I was astounded by the feedback that I received. I received some critical feedback, but I was told that the amount of feedback I got was less than the players give for some published and released games! There are some few adjustments that need to be made, but it is still in the development and balancing process, so I expected as much. Still, it was not a lot of criticism. They even enjoyed playing a three hour long game without complaining about the length or wondering when it might be over. That alone is a huge compliment!

The next morning, I received an update, which made things even better. After that, the next day, I received even more updated information, and it was even better than I had hoped. It literally was a situation where I thought it was as best as it could have possibly been, and then it kept getting better. I do not have words for how excited I was and still am! The current update is that I am going to be running a demo for it in the near future here in the Seattle area. The people that I need to run it for live in the nearby area, so it made sense to wait until after Origins when we have more time and the play through wouldn't be as stressful. I am looking forward to that and can hardly wait to set it up!

Whew. I think that is most of the highlights. It has been an amazing weekend and even with as much as it burnt me out, it was well worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you everyone for making it such a wonderful convention, with more stories, more games, and more good times all around! Convention-wise, next stop is Gen Con!