TimeGate

Whilst other folks were out honoring our fallen warriors or grilling their favorite piece of dead livestock, I was at TimeGate. Originally a one-day convention in Atlanta, they got brave and expanded it to four days. The plan worked. The hotel (a HI Select) was the perfect venue with lots of restaurants nearby and at a price that we all could afford. They even came up with special drinks for the con at $5 a pop. That's cool. As a guest I was given the VIP treatment (literally) including an awesome gift basket. Wow!

The programming was laid out in three tracks -- StarGate, Dr. Who and a Time Travel/Science track. I was part of the latter so that meant panels discussing the mechanics of time travel as well as the ethics of slinging yourself back four centuries. Very informative. I met all sorts of new folks (Louis Robinson, David Harmer) and hung with friends from the Atlanta Science Fiction Society. I didn't get an opportunity to talk to John Levene (Dr. Who) or Tony Amendola (StarGate) but they were both quite gracious whenever I saw them hurrying past. I am a Dr. Who fan so I didn't feel completely lost when folks chatted about the current Doctor (David Tennant). Since we'd recently succumbed to Netflix we've been catching up on the Doc's adventures. Love those Daleks!

Retail (book sales) was quite brisk (smile) and I got to talk to all sorts of folks about time travel, writing and about anything else on our minds. A smaller convention allows that kind of time, unlike the big mega-cons. As usual, I toted a camera to the con and never took a pix. Like a pix of the stainless steel Delorean. Very nifty car.

Consider TimeGate for a nice weekend break next year. Laid back intelligent conversation and lots of fun things going on. Just the right mix. They get a definite THUMBS UP!