I trekked out of the Curmudgeon Cave to the metropolis of Denver in early July to attend LitRPG Con. It was only the second year for the Con, but there were a veritable plethora of authors that I have read and talked to so I took the extreme step of actually getting on a plane to fly to a Con.
The best part of Colorado? The Rocky Mountains. It's unfortunate that I would not get closer than this. Many thanks to Joe Kuster for the ride from the airport to the Con.
The single most dominant brand at the Con was Dungeon Crawler Carl. Holy moly it was everywhere.
Saturday had a couple big-name author panels which were generally pretty entertaining. The first was "The MC is not a Build, They're a Person". These were the panelists.Nick Gonella, author of Unbound.Shawn Wilson, author of Ultimate Level 1, and Daniel Schinhofen, author of Aether's Revival and many more.
Jez Cajiao, an author I had not encountered, but who's work I have since picked up. Give him a read.
Shami Stovall, an author I have not tried yet, and Plum Parrot, the author of Victor of Tucson.
The next big panel was "I Wrote One Cool Scene and Accidentally Started a Cult Following". This one was a lot of fun.
That is (left to right) Drew Hayes, Dakota Krout, Ryan Rimmel, Shirtaloon(Travis Deverell), Matt Dinniman, and the moderator Michael Chatfield.
The only big panel I got to on Sunday was "From Punching Rats to Killing Gods" and it was an interesting look into how they try to keep the protagonists challenged without making them weak.
David North, author of Guardian of Aster's Fall.Will Wight author of Cradle.Tao Wong, author of Thousand Li, which I have not read, but probably will now.Seth Ring, author of Battlemage Farmer and others.Now Sunday I had a ticket for a signing by Matt Dinniman. I'm not a huge fan of Dungeon Crawler Carl, but a friend of mine is, so I got him a book signed.
Now the best part of the con was the people.
Daniel Schinhofen with his indispensable assistant, Jenn.
Dungeon Crawler Carl cosplays were everywhere!
I got lots of loot, but the best of it was the art. This lady is so talented.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ALemonLeafArt
These are the prints I got from her.
Rick and Evie from The Mummy.
"I am no man" Eowyn next to my Witch King helm.
Carl, "New Achievement"
Sam and Frodo at Parth Gallen.
I didn't keep this one, it was a gift, but it's from the same artist.
I also got a cloth Thror's Map.
And of course, BOOKS. These are the signed ones I brought home.
Many thanks to the authors who gave these out. The authors I talked to were all very friendly and appreciative of their fans.
I won't be going next year, but the rumor is that 2028 will be in Kansas City, which is a much easier trip for me.

