The Omni Southpark Austin, which is to ArmadilloCon what lairs are to dragons.

Hi! I’m Jon.  I’m 45 years old. I’ll be 46 next month. In spite of that, sometimes (and by “sometimes,” I mean “usually”) I don’t feel like a grown-up. This weekend I am appearing at ArmadilloCon 41 as a regional guest.  This is my first apperance at a Con as a presenter rather than an attendee, which has all those “not really a grown-up” feelings welling up to the surface with an anticipation and anxiety better suited to a teenager than a white-goateed weirdo.

There’s no denying it, I’ve got a full-blown case of imposter syndrome.

A sample of my RPG writing

That being said, I am terribly excited. I am participating in two panels (both on Saturday), Writing for Computer, Roleplaying, and Board Games (I wrote for RPGs before turning my attention to fiction) and Music: Your Novel’s Sound Track (I worked as a music journalist and music historian before starting with RPGs), so intellectually, I know I’m on solid footing there.

I am also giving a reading (Friday night) and doing a book signing (Sunday at noon). Picking out the selections for my reading was very exciting. One of the my biggest decisions was including a selection from my soon to be published novel Caledfwlch (second installment of the award winning Bel Nemeton series, blending 6^th century Arthurian historical fantasy with 21^st century progressive pulp). This will be the first time any content from Caledfwlch has seen the light of day (excepting my publisher and me, of course). My other selections come from Gabriel’s Trumpet, “So Lonesome I Could Die,” and the P&E Reader’s Choice winning “A Scandal in Hollywood.”

No, Blue Öyster Cult, not THAT Godzilla.

But my eye is really on the other programming, here are some of the sessions I’m enthusiastic about this year:

• The Future of Money: Beyond Solars and Credits
• Godzilla in 2019
• Writing Realistic Horsemanship (God knows I need that one)
• Screenwriting 101 (no specific plans, but it seems like a good thing to have in the toolbox)
• Sword fighting Demonstrations (also needed)
• Whither Horror
• How to Build a Religion (for purposes of writing, I presume)
• Editing Anthologies (could have used this one 12 months ago)
• Science Fiction Mysteries
• Reading by lots of my favorite authors
• and, of course, the yummy goodness that is the Con hospitality suite…

And, if you’re at ArmadilloCon, please feel free to come by and say hello. Again, here’s my schedule of events if you’re looking for me at other times, check my twitter @blackonblues, I’m usually pretty good at broadcasting my movements.