This year’s Comic Con FanX was of course fabulous so I wanted to give a quick recap of my panels followed by a dozen of my favorite costume pics.

I love panels as an opportunity to talk about my fiction and non-fiction work, and a way to meet others who are writing or creating speculative fiction in various mediums.

The “Writing and Your Health” panel covered a lot of fascinating aspects of mental, emotional, and physical health for people who are creating stuff.

I loved hearing about how other panelists utilize principles of martial arts, meditation, and many other tools. It was also so interesting to hear about how creativity depletes dopamine, which is why it can be so stinking exhausting! So if you feel like writing your novel is like slogging through a bog (even though you love it!), maybe there’s a bonified reason. I’m excited to look more into how to use that information to continue to improve my writing productivity.

I talked a bit about my book THE PRODUCTIVE AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO DICTATION, which helps writers be less sedentary.

Available on Amazon!

The “Equality in Fiction” panel also generated some awesome food for thought. I loved thinking about different ways to approach diversity in works of fiction.

I wish every single audience member could have chimed in–actually, I feel that way about every panel! But especially this one. I hope we addressed the topic thoroughly. I know it is an important one to me and I really appreciated being part of this group pictured below.

I thought this discussion went in some cool directions, including defining what equality might mean as well as how privilege of various kinds influences writers’ struggle to succeed, and how to deal with all that.

I learned to never again sit where there isn’t a mic stand. I was proud of myself for not dropping the mic because I definitely talk with my hands.

And lastly, here are some of my favorite costumes! I can’t believe the effort people put in. So cool.