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As has become annual tradition, the spouse and I celebrated our anniversary by traveling to FanX Salt Lake City. We had a blast this year, both participating in and attending panels, and my alternate history presentation made a successful reprisal.
We flew to Utah last Wednesday and took the fancy electric train system to our hotel. After picking up our con badges and a delicious dinner at our favorite brew pub, we crashed early thanks to jet lag.
Thursday
First day of the con! We hit the dealers room as early as possible so that the spouse could stalk visit his favorite artist, Ryan Ottley. Afterward we wandered through Artist Alley. I promptly purchased multiple TARDIS-themed items.
My alternate history presentation, with moderating provided by my good friend Jay Whittaker, went very well for a second year at this con. I updated the presentation with all-new examples, and the audience came up with great ideas for the interactive portion. This event’s world-building involved a world where Prohibition was never repealed and Julius Caesar was never assassinated. Good times were had by all.
I signed books for a bit afterward, and later that evening, we attended a live recording of the Mad Titan Podcast.
Thank you to The Printed Garden for hosting me! 
Don’t blink.
Friday
Fortified with coffee, I was ready for my first panel of the con! I had a blast talking about the upcoming projects in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and speculating about things to come. I hope I offered a useful perspective from someone who has no background in the comic stories that the MCU draws its inspiration from.
I signed books again in the afternoon, and then we attended another podcast recording, this time for the Geekshow Podcast. Afterward, I booked it to my last panel of the con, where we dissected the scene in Avengers Endgame that features all female superheroes and discussed what it means.
We closed out the night with delicious food truck ramen and attended a hilarious game show panel called “Good Movies, Bad Descriptions.”
Saturday
This was my “day off,” so the spouse and I wandered and relaxed. This involved more shopping and attending more excellent panels: Kevin J. Anderson about his involvement in writing books in the Dune series and the connection between anime and lofi hip hop music (my favorite channel is Chillhop Music).
We closed out the weekend with another live recording with Geekshow Podcast, this time at a local restaurant. I wish we could have stayed out longer, but we had to fly home very early Sunday morning.
I already can’t wait to go back next year.
The final haul:
Only four things added to the TARDIS collection this time!
- Cute pin to fancy up my special guest badge
- Kitty TARDIS magnet by Braden Duncan of Clockwork Art
- TARDIS t-shirt by Tee Minus 24
- Steel-cut galaxy TARDIS wall hanging by The Starving Nerdists
My husband was also thrilled to get a commission from Ryan Ottley, who drew Invincible‘s Mark Grayson in Cyberpunk 2077 style for him.
- Consequence (Dark Tyrant #2) by C.R. Langille
- Alexander X (Battle for Forever #1) by Edward Savio
- Violence & Pigtails: The Art of Ryan Ottley by Ryan Ottley
- The Enterprise War (Star Trek: Discovery) by John Jackson Miller
- Kenobi (Star Wars Legends) by John Jackson Miller
- Siamese gamer cat sticker by Leah Anderson of Cats and Cantrips
- Writer sticker and Worldbuilding pin by Storymakers Trading Co.
Great post 😄