Back from FantaSci

This last weekend I was the Guest of Honor at FantaSci in Raleigh-Durham. I was supposed to have gone in 2020, but like everything else fun the government could cancel, it got cancelled. On that note, it was really nice to be able to get together with a big crowd of friends and fans again.

Despite this only being the second ever FantaSci and them being forced to have a year long gap between them, the con did a good job. The volunteers were awesome. They obviously put in work beforehand, and when problems happened (problems always happen at cons!) they jumped on them and took care of the guests and fans. Major props to the FantaSci team.

This was one of those “relax cons” where it’s a not a massive mob of thousands of people rushing around. It was a few hundred people in a hotel, going to panels and events, and then hanging out with friends and peers. And after a year of bullshit, that was really nice. Just good folks having a good time. Lots of wrongfans having wrongfun.

Our flight got in super late on Thursday (actually, Friday morning I suppose). Then Friday and Saturday were panels and events for both of us. I ran a game of Gritty Cop Show one night for charity (they auctioned off seats at the table) and that was fun. Sunday was the “MHI Anniversary Brunch” slash “Larry and Bridget Show” because when this was originally scheduled for 2020 the con fell on our anniversary.

The Larry and Bridget show consists of us rambling about all sorts of topics while people ask us all sorts of questions. Luckily, Bridget is charming and interesting. 😀

It was nice to see a bunch of writer friends. There’s too many to try and list them all, but this was the first time I’ve got to see Jason Cordova in person since we decided to write Monster Hunter Memoirs: Fever together, and it was good to go over some of that stuff in person. David and Sharon Weber were there, and they’re some of our favorite people on Earth. I always love seeing Toni, though I only got to talk to her for like twenty minutes because we both had to get to events.

On that note, Toni did a Baen Roadshow (where she has the authors talk about our upcoming or just released books while she goes through a slide show of the covers) and I got to see the cover for my upcoming collaboration with Steve Diamond for the first time. That’s tomorrow’s blog post!

Also during that I asked Toni if I could talk about something else really cool, she gave me permission and I mentioned a new TV deal (contracts are in the mail!). Except I just realized before I blab about that on the internet, I should probably wait for her official announcement before posting more. But stay tuned, it’s really awesome news.

Saturday night Bridget and I were the guests at the Chris Kennedy Publishing dinner for the Four Horsemen Universe. Going in, I just thought it was just a dinner. I didn’t realize it was an elaborate in-universe mess hall ceremony, complete with Grog Bowl of punishment (but thankfully in addition to the horrific swill mixture of ten different kinds of booze, there was another container of non-alcoholic and sugar free swill for the non-drinkers and to not accidentally kill any of the diabetics! That was fun. They’re a good bunch.

Bridget was on a Care and Feeding of Authors panel (meaning author spouses tell stories about the whole wacky author lifestyle thing, and these panels have become a staple at a lot of cons because they tend to be really funny as the wives and husbands unload all the dirty secrets about how goofy their writer spouses are). Some authors are banned from being in the room during this (cough, David Weber, cough) but I usually just hide in the back quietly… Until Bridget dropped some truth bombs that made me snort laugh while everybody in the room watched me blush with embarrassment. 😀  (Mike Massa was in there too while his wife talked about him but he was like a ninja so nobody noticed him).

However, the goofiest thing that happened all weekend was to poor Dave Butler, but that is his story to tell. 😀 There are some really weird fans out there. Luckily, not at the con. Those people were great. This weirdo was one of the participants in a thing that Dave live-streamed on Zoom. Let’s just say that some people must really be into six foot eight mustached folk singers playing the guitar.

We flew home yesterday, and even though I’ve got a ton of work to do, as soon as we got home I took a four hour nap.

I really had a good time at FantaSci and will go back.

Cover Reveal: Servants of War by Larry Correia and Steve Diamond
Why are there so many Mormon writers?

62 thoughts on “Back from FantaSci”

  1. Please dear god, let a monster hunter international TV/Movie be in the works. I could die a happy man.

    1. I was going to say this, and somehow I’m picturing it being on Disney+ with all the watering down entailed there…

      Which in it’s own way, would be absolutely hilarious to watch…

      Earl / Red suddenly finding themselves in a mob of young girls who start braiding their fur…

      Gretchen and Skippy wandering into the cosplay contest of a ‘con and winning “best newbies.”

      I’d watch it…

    2. MHI-based would be good for TV. Not sure about the books…I think the best option would be to have the characters run an MHI field office. The major book characters drop in from time to time.

      (Actually, this would work well with an RPG…the PCs are bush-league Hunters to start, get better equipment and contracts as they gain experience and cash. Owen Pitt is probably worth more to MHI as Chief Accountant than as a trigger-puller…he keeps the operation in the black.)

      Son of the Black Sword would have a lot of potential.

      1. I can’t imagine that any of the Powers that Be in Hollywood would allow a Monster Hunter show on the air unless it were made so politically correct that Larry would refuse to do it.

        But if I had to pick one of his works to go on TV, it would have to be Tom Stranger.

        1. “Mr. Correia, I hope you don’t mind, but we’re making some changes for the adaption. We’re making Owen mixed-race and we’re adding a woman and a black guy to his team . . .”

          1. umm, I’m pretty sure Owen is mixed race (at least partially minority), and his team does have a Woman and a Black guy on his team.

            anyone approaching with that attitude needs to be told to go back and re-read the material.

          2. Don’t forget the handicapped Asian-American!

            But the woman can’t be a blonde with big tits. That would be stereotyping.

        2. I’m sure that the big brains on the other side will all assume that the diverse characters were added by the producers of the show because they all think Larry is a racist/sexist. And of course they’ll raise a stink that the man behind Sad Puppies got a TV show ahead of their favorites.

          1. See what they’ll do is create sock puppet accounts of his “racist right wing terrorist fans” complaining about “forced diversity ” and pat themselves on the back. Then, after learning that diversity was already there, claim that they always knew that and the “triggered racists” (sock puppet accounts) weren’t true fans for not knowing this.

    3. Only as long as Larry gets some sort of oversight. We don’t need some Hollywood leftists ruining it and cramming some bs message in there. That being said… yes, yes, yes!

      1. “I see the character of Owen Pitt as an opportunity to really explore the problem of Toxic Masculinity and whatever social issues make the headlines the week I write the episode. And isn’t White Supremacy the real monster?”

  2. If there is a MHI thingie in the works how would it get titled and advertised against that movie ” Monster Hunter”?

    1. “Shackleford’s Professional Monster Killers”? Tells what the series is immediately (people who are paid to kill monsters), immediately recognizable to fans (as the company’s original name). Alternatively, “MHI”.

  3. Yeah, what is it about Dave that attracts the really off-kilter ones? He always has stuff happening to him, around him, near him. It’s like he’s some kind of magnet. ????

      1. We need more sf/f dance numbers. Songs we got covered, but handsome Indian actors waving knives would be totally acceptable.

        BTW, there’s a 1960’s black and white Bollywood adaptation of And Then There Were None, and it does have dance numbers. And filk ones, too. And That One Chick with the super-high voice has a small but amazing role.

        Monsters Must Die would be a nice pulpy series title… and then you hit people with all the spoilers. Monster Pest Control? Monster Exterminators? Maybe better not to speculate….

  4. It was a really good con! It was good to see everyone. I enjoyed the Larry and Bridget Brunch. Resting murder face makes me laugh every time I think about it.

  5. All good things come to those who wait…

    I can see someone like Amazon Prime doing an animated MHI, but any one of your books/series would be awesome: Grimnoir, Dead Six, Forgotten Warrior, and Gun Runner, too!

  6. It was great meeting you and being on a panel with you. I’ve decided FantaSci is a con I will always attend, no matter my writing schedule.

  7. Since Grimnoir is my favorite series, I’d love to see that adapted. A Jake Sullivan detective series would be super fun.

    All the series have incredible potential, though. I just started another read of MHI from the beginning.

  8. What no falling asleep and getting sun burned on the beach to top it off? No three hour tours of steel battleships in 85 degree heat? Oh well, your loss 🙂

    (Glad you enjoyed yourselves.)

    1. Well, perhaps the Correia Family needs an OBX vacation! Start up in the north with the Lost Colony Stage Show (if it’s even allowed to run in this time of corona). Then a slow drive down the coast til Wilmington and the USS North Carolina

  9. As a newly-minted resident of the greater Raleigh/Durham area (having scraped California off my shoes last summer), this is going to be my home con moving forward. And while we were late to get tickets this year, we’ll sure as shit get ’em for next year!

  10. Sir,
    I am glad that you had a good time. Oddly enough I am listening to Warbound again and just got to Lance Tallon’s greatest feat of magic. I was wondering if you plan on doing more stories with Jake’s son in the future?

    1. Wonder if it features a radio DJ named Dr. Johnny……………………

      oh, never mind………

      :-0)

  11. [sigh] Still waiting for _Gritty Cop Show_ to be published, so I can finish the scenario idea I’m working on…. 🙂

  12. Man, I miss going to cons. I wish I’d been there too. I took. A year off when I got married, and then the Covidiocy hit.

    Here’s hoping for normalcy! Or as much as we can fight for.

  13. MHI could easily be done as a series along the same lines as Supernatural. And stay true to the books.
    There were side stories, but a central plot that carried over season to season.
    I’d bet if McG was involved, it’d be awesome.

  14. Great to see y’all as always. Good panel on guns too, not that I would expect anything less from you! :-). And yes, Bridget will out you in a heartbeat…LOL

  15. Something to announce, meaning this isn’t just options? Neat.

    All your series would be great as TV series, but . If it’s not Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, I eagerly await the IMFDB entry.

  16. I thought MHI TV show rights were bought like a decade ago, I was really excited but nothing ever came out. So it’s probably not MHI.

    1. They were optioned by One Entertainment in 2011. A 2016 shot show interview has LC mentioned it like it was going somewhere. LC mentioned a bit ago in a comment that option expired and someone (new?) picked them up. I doubt this is options though, since publishers don’t typically announce options.

  17. Maybe it’ll be Monster Hunter’s from one of the other eras? I think it would be really cool to see the early years with Bubba Shackleford & Co.. Not enough Supernatural Westerns around.

Leave a Reply to Kevin Steverson Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *