I had a great time at Comic-Con, but on the last night of the show, I was exposed to Covid. I started having symptoms Tuesday morning. It started out as a tickle in my throat, and it morphed into a mild cough. In the years before Covid, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but to make sure that I didn’t spread anything, I got tested three days in a row. The first two times were negative.
On the third day, I got a hit. Since then, I’ve been isolating in my office, but two of my kids have already come down with Covid, and a third seems to be on the way. My wife seems to be holding out, and my son who had Covid a couple months ago seems like he’ll escape this time.
Fortunately, the symptoms have been fairly mild, which I attribute to the fact we’re all as vaccinated as humanly possible. I’ve had five shots myself: three regular ones (due to an autoimmune disorder) and two boosters (due to being over 50). So, yay, for medical science!
On top of that, two of us are on Paxlovid so far — which works great but makes your mouth taste like you’ve been sucking on rusty nails. I recommend lots of mints and gum if you wind up on it.
So I’m out of isolation now but need to be masked up for a few more days yet, which I was planning on doing at the show anyhow. This means, yes, I can make it to Gen Con. We’re still not sure about all the kids, though, which is breaking some hearts here (theirs and mine).
If you do make it to the show, here’s where you can find me:
- Wednesday Night:
- The Diana Jones Award ceremony/party. I host this every year, and it’s open to all industry professionals. If you need details, ping me for an invitation.
- Thursday:
- 8 PM to Midnight: Meet the Pros Author Signing Extravaganza: This is a four-hour signing event for the Writers Symposium authors. I can’t guarantee that I’ll be there for the whole thing, but I am planning to drift in and out. (Four hours is a loooong time for a signing event.)
- Friday:
- 10 AM: Course Corrections in Stories: What do you do when you’re mid-novel (or post first draft) and the IP holder completely changes direction? Matt Forbeck, Chris A. Jackson, Aaron Rosenberg.
- 11 AM: Tie-in Fiction: The ins and outs — and dos and don’ts — of writing in someone else’s IP. Matt Forbeck, Richard Lee Byers, Richard Dansky, Lucien Soulban, Steve Diamond, R.A. Salvatore.
- 2 PM: Book Signing with Cat Rambo and Matt Forbeck. I have a conflict with this, and I’ve already alerted the Writers Symposium folks about it. I may be able to make the second half of it.
- 4 PM: Your First Kickstarter: Lessons learned from Kickstarting your first book or game: Matt Forbeck, Christopher Bell, Sandra Tayler, Tanya DePass (M).
- 5 PM: Hang with Authors. A chance to hang out and ask what YOU want to ask. Bryan Young, Cat Rambo, Matt Forbeck, David Mack.
- 6 PM: BIPOC Industry Networking Event: This event is intended for Black, Indigenous, and people of color only. The event will be an informal job fair, publisher speed dating atmosphere where industry professionals representing a variety of interests will be seated at tables ready to talk to you. Attending gaming industry professionals include (but are not limited to): Brotherwise Games, Calliope Games, Catan Studio, Matt Forbeck, Inside Up Games, Into The Mother Lands, Magpie Games, Ravensburger, The Op, Weird Giraffe Games, Rose Gauntlet Entertainment, and more.
- Saturday:
- 11 AM: From Fiction to . . .: Writing in other industries, pros and cons and how-tos. Jaym Gates, Matt Forbeck, Toiya Kristen Finley, Richard Dansky, Lucien Soulban.
- 1 PM: Gamifying Stories and Storifying Games II: Translating from one media to the other. Toiya Kristen Finley, James Lowder, Matt Forbeck, Richard Dansky.
- 2 PM: Bringing Game Writing Tropes into Prose: What are some tropes you find in games, and how can you translate those into your fiction? Toiya Kristen Finley, Matt Forbeck, Gregory A. Wilson, Lucien Soulban
- 4 PM: 36th Annual Gen Con Costume Contest: I’m MC’ing the Costume Contest for the second year in a row. Get a seat and check out the best & most creative costumes at the con. They will be on display for all to see & enjoy!
- Sunday:
- 12 PM: Charity Munchkin: Starting at Gen Con 2011, Andrew Hackard hosted a game of Munchkin for New York Times-bestselling author and award-winning game designer Matt Forbeck and his kids at the Steve Jackson Games booth every Sunday at noon. They kept this tradition up until he passed away in 2021 after a valiant struggle with glioblastoma (an inoperable brain tumor), and they played it in his honor at the memorial his family held at Gen Con in September of that year. Watch as Matt and his kids and a few special guests play Munchkin again in Andrew’s honor. All proceeds will go to the Diana Jones Emerging Designer Program.
That last one is pretty iffy, as I’m not confident that my kids can make it. I might be able to throw together something with a bunch of guests playing the game with me, but it would be tight. If there are any volunteers to join me for the game, let me know! Otherwise, we’ll have to cancel.
Despite the challenges, I’m looking forward to Gen Con very much. The one good thing I can say about catching Covid at Comic-Con is that I can be pretty sure I won’t pick it up at Gen Con as well!
