In the wee hours of the morning, the Three Ravens crew made their way across the Ocoee and the beautiful

Cherokee National forest to Raliegh North Carolina, the home of FantaSci.

The FantaSci staff were awesome, the location was beautiful and the perfect size for such a small, cozy family-sized event.

It was great to finally meet Joel and Mari Lyons in person. Not to mention The big acts like Dave Butler (Butter) and Chuck Gannon. I’ve chatted online with these people for years, but never had the opportunity to meet them face to face until now.

It was beyond amazing to catch up with our long-missed con family. So many awesome people packed into this event that we haven’t seen in years and so many new friends made over the weekend that made the trip worthwhile.

The panels were well suited to the weekend, fun to participate in, and sometimes hilarious, especially Joeleen’s Dating game. I managed to land a slot as the bachelor in one round and a contestant in another. I’m not sure that folks were ready for Vann Hagar up there on stage though. 

On top of all of that, we had the chance to tour the Baen Books main office and collect a few goodies while there.

The top happening over the weekend for me was the chance to hang out with Faith Hunter, swap stories, and enjoy great company, (not to mention share a bit of my mead). Faith is an absolute delight to talk with. So many stories and an amazing attitude. If you ever have the chance, I highly suggest a sit down chat with her.

As literary fandom conventions go, FantaSci is on the smaller side, which in my opinion keeps it more personal and intimate. You get a chance to have a sit down chat with some of your favorite authors, or if you’re an up and coming author yourself, you have the opportunity to sit down and talk shop with a lot of fellow authors who have no problem sharing knowledge of the craft or the business of the craft.

For those of you who live in the Raliegh-Durham area that is trying to find your way in the business of writing/publishing, you should put this convention on the top of your list to attend. Besides Three Ravens Publishing, Chris Kennedy Publishing, Falstaff Books, and Baen Books were in attendance. So very well worth the time and cost on the knowledge and networking side of things.

But for now, the Kutte is hung and the Hillbilly is home until the next fandom adventure.

~William Joseph Roberts~

(aka Hillbilly)

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