Starting today I (and the rest of the Writing Excuses crew) will be at two conventions in Salt Lake City, Westercon and FantasyCon! “Two conventions?” you say. “But which one shall I attend!” I know, it’s a bit strange, but being a member of either convention will also get you into the other convention. Just wear your badge (from whichever convention you registered at) and the other convention will let you in too.

Westercon is at the Marriott Hotel Downtown at City Creek, 75 South West Temple. FantasyCon is across the street, at the Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 South West Temple. Here’s a handy map.

Most of my events are at Westercon at the Marriott, but I’ll have one event at FantasyCon at the Salt Palace on Friday and another event on Saturday. The details are all below.

I’ll also have a booth in the dealer’s room at Westercon. My assistant Kara has brought up the new Writing Excuses anthology, other signed hardcovers of mine, T-shirts, and Kaladin beanies. Badali Jewelry also has a booth at FantasyCon (#618 / #620), and they have the Mistborn, Elantris, and Stormlight Archive jewelry.

There are a few events that I want to highlight for the weekend. First, we’ll be doing live recording sessions of Writing Excuses with Mary, Dan, and Howard on Thursday and Friday at Westercon and Saturday at FantasyCon. We’ll have special guests like Cory Doctorow and Peter S. Beagle, and we’ll probably also do some audience Q&A episodes.

But before the Thursday session is the official launch party for Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology. Mary lined up some goodies for the event and we’ll have lots of hardcovers, so come on out!

Finally, I have two Magic: The Gathering drafts, and we’ll be trying out the Augmented Draft I talked about a few weeks ago. The cost for each draft is $15, and slots are limited to 15 people per draft. Sign up in the gaming room at Westercon ahead of time!

Thursday, July 3rd

12:00–1:00 p.m., Marriott Hotel Salon D&E
Opening Ceremonies
Welcome to Westercon67 in Salt Lake City, Utah – with a plethora of guests and an introduction to an exciting weekend.

1:00–2:00 p.m., Marriott Hotel Salon D&E
The premiere of Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology
Shadows Beneath is the Writing Excuses anthology containing stories the hosts of the show brainstormed and critiqued on-air. In keeping with the Writing Excuses theme to help writers, in addition to the final, edited stories, Shadows Beneath also contains first drafts, first-draft to last-draft comparisons, revision notes, and show transcripts corresponding to each of the stories. The anthology will be available for the first time at WesterCon.
Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler

2:00–4:00 p.m., Marriott Hotel Salon D&E
Writing Excuses LIVE
Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler; guests include Peter Orullian and Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury

4:15–5:30, Marriott Dealer’s Room, Brandon Sanderson/Dragonsteel booth
Booth signing for Brandon Sanderson
We’ll have books, shirts, beanies, and other goodies!

8:00 p.m.–2:00 a.m., Marriott Hotel Wasatch-Brighton Room
Magic: The Gathering Draft (Conspiracy) with Brandon Sanderson
Signup in the Gaming room required, $15 fee. Maximum 15 people.

Friday, July 4th

12:00–1:00, Marriott Dealer’s Room, Brandon Sanderson/Dragonsteel booth
Booth signing for Brandon Sanderson
We’ll have books, shirts, beanies, and other goodies!

1:00–3:00 p.m., Marriott Hotel Salon D&E
Writing Excuses LIVE
Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Tayler, Mary Robinette Kowal; guests include Cory Doctorow, Deirdre Saoirse Moen

4:00–5:00 p.m., Salt Palace Convention Center Ballroom 2
Brandon Sanderson Guest of Honor Spotlight
Brandon does a reading and Q&A. He may read from something surprising.

8:00 p.m.–2:00 a.m., Marriott Hotel Wasatch-Brighton Room
Magic: The Gathering Draft (Theros with Augmented Cube!) with Brandon Sanderson
Signup in the Gaming room required, $15 fee. Maximum 15 people. This will be an Augmented Cube that Brandon talked about here.

Saturday, July 5th

1:00–3:00 p.m., Salt Palace Convention Center Room 250
Writing Excuses LIVE
Mary Robinette Kowal, Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler, Dan Wells; guests include Peter S. Beagle, J.R. Johansson, Mette Ivie Harrison

4:00–5:00 p.m., Marriott Hotel Salon B&C
Worldbuilding Basics
Societal mores, fully realized economic systems and historical references are just some parts of a well-developed setting for your characters.
Brandon Sanderson, M. Brook West, Renee Collins, Bryan Young (m)

6:00–9:00 p.m., Marriott Hotel Salon B&C&D&E
Author Signings and Tag-Team Jeopardy
Author book signing and rotating jeopardy panels for your enjoyment. See how the authors let their fun out.
All authors at Westercon (Brandon included)

Finally, there are a couple of panels that I’m not on, but my assistants are! And check the schedule for other panels that Mary, Dan, and Howard are doing.

Friday
10:00–11:00 a.m., Marriott Hotel Salon A
Writing Assistants: What do they do and when do you need one?
Writing is a solitary business. But does the business of being a writer need to be as well? Writing Assistants give advice.
Sandra Tayler (m), Isaac Stewart, Peter Ahlstrom, Chersti Nieveen

Saturday
10:00–11:00 a.m., Marriott Hotel Salon A
Designing and Publishing Your Own Print and Ebooks: The Production Process Behind the Writing Excuses Anthology
Brandon Sanderson’s assistants Peter Ahlstrom and Isaac Stewart talk about the process behind editing, designing, and publishing Shadows Beneath: The Writing Excuses Anthology. Learn how to apply the same process to your own self-published books to add that professional touch that will set your books apart from the rest.
Peter Ahlstrom, Isaac Stewart.