Interesting People I Met at Denvention

The panels, readings, speeches, and other "official" events at WorldCon were certainly interesting and, for the most part, rewarding. However, maybe the best part of this year's Denvention was the many interesting people I met. I'm not talking about the big name "stars" (I met my share of those, too) but rather the dedicated people who help make up the backbone of the speculative fiction community. (And who may one day be the "stars"). I can't list all of the people like that I met, but I thought I'd mention a few:

• M.M. (Mary) Buckner -- I met Mary while we were both getting our morning caffeine fix. Little did I know what an accomplished sci-fi author she was! 
• Brenda Cooper -- Brenda is an up-and-coming sci-fi author who I met at the "Rising Stars" reception.  She has several books out from Tor, including one she wrote with Larry Niven. (one of the "stars" I met at the con).
• I also met Ken Scholes, who was sitting next to Branda at the Rising Stars reception. Ken has a new novel called Lamentation coming out soon, which lots of folks are talking about.
• Corie Ralston was kind enough tell me more about the Speculative Literature Foundation. They do great work with aspiring spec fic writers and small publications. Corie said they may also look into helping out online publications like Electric Spec.
• Mike Brotherton is not only a hard sf writer but also an astronomy professor. He's working on an interesting project using sf to educate kids about space.
• I ran into Holly McDowell who is a former member of my critique group and a talented fantasy writer. (She also claims to read this blog--how about a comment, Holly!) Holly introduced me to another writer named Kelly Swails. She writes mostly YA fantasy, but says she has some stories for us. 
• I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my excellent Kaffeeklatschs with Geoffry Landis and David Levine. Both of these authors made great company for an hour and were very approachable despite their many accomplishments.