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I attended Gen Con over the weekend. Joined the live audience for a marathon Writing Excuses recording session. Special guests included Tom Doherty, Wesley Chu, and Scott Lynch. They should start posting the episodes in eight weeks. (When Mary improvs her reading to mention a guy sneaking into the room, that's me.) The only other event I went to featuring Brandon was the outlining panel with John Helfers, Erik Scott de Brie, Jerry Gordon, and Saladin Ahmed. Brandon likened outline writers to architects and organic writers to gardeners (he was quoting another author, but I forget who. Sorry). I wanted to attend a signing with Brandon and John on Saturday at noon, but none of the staff knew where it was. I met up with John Helfers later and hung out at his table for a bit. Later, Erik chatted with me about his motivations for writing (he challenges aspiring authors to try not writing for a month. If you cannot do it, that means you are in fact a writer). On the whole, I learned a lot and was surprised by how accessible these folks are (special thanks to Erik de Brie, Scott Lynch, and Mary Robinette Kowal). They go to great lengths to meet readers and support aspiring authors. If you plan to attend a con, I advise you to remember that these authors are quite generous to spend their extremely limited time with fans. I twice saw Brandon mobbed by autograph seekers while he was trying to leave the venue on pressing business. To his credit, he stopped and signed their books. Just be aware of how busy con presenters are.