Back from FenCon

Saturday I took a bus up to Dallas to help my best beloved pack up her booth and come home from FenCon X. She had gone up to work in the dealer's room, and I went up to do the heavy lifting (my wife has no trouble abusing my machismo) and to see some friends with her.

FenCon is always fun. Apart from the fondness that I will always feel from tying for third place in their short story contest with 'Trolls' once upon a time, it was one of the first fun and relaxed conventions that I started going to. It's a bit more literary-minded than a lot of others, so I can usually find a panel or two with subjects that match my interests.

My time was short this trip, so I didn't get to hit any events, but there was a room party with good friends, including the fantastic lady who proofread 'Dirty' for me. Good luck helped me make a couple of contacts that will be handy when I get down to editing the gritty details of 'In The Dark.'

I was also able to hear two separate people refer to a certain iconic Dr Who monster as a 'Darlek.' Where else could you find that but Texas, I ask you?

The bus trip also enabled me to get a big chunk of reading done. One of the good movies I saw when I was little was 'The Day of the Jackal,' and it set the bar in my head for thriller movies. One of the cool things about having an e-book reader is the ability to make all those impulse purchases at home that I used to have to go out for. ( A leading cause of why book stores are closing everywhere. I really hope they figure out a way to adapt) A while back I bought the Frederick Forsyth novel that the movie was based on.

It turns out that the film was a fairly true adaptation, and reading the book helps clarify a couple of points that can be a tad murky on screen. From what I was able to gather with a bit of research on the setting of the book, Forsyth painted a pretty accurate picture of how a lot of people in post WWII France felt about Charles de Gaulle, both for his foreign and domestic policies. That's the sort of detail that doesn't make it into most history books, the sort that gives you a fuller understanding real life. The book was a damn good read, and I may get his 'The Dogs of War' next, because that's another movie that I love.

Damn, now I'm inspired to go write. What a shame.