This year was my first time attending LTUE, or as it is officially known, Life, the Universe & Everything 29: The Marion K. “Doc” Smith Symposium on Science Fiction & Fantasy.

Held on Thursday, Friday, and again today, it’s a bargain as far as writers conferences go. It only cost me 20 bucks plus my meals for the three days (I registered early).

I plan on making it a yearly occasion, and next year, I hope to take Marny Parkin’s up on her offer to participate as a panelist. Perhaps I will actually have something to say by then.

Here are some highlights from my experience for those of you who don’t do twitter:

“Jealousy is important in this business. Let it make you ambitious.” –@jamesdashner #LTUE

“@ElanaJ Come find me when you get here. We’ll talk about Life, The Universe, Everything, and Bacon”

Larry Correia: “In real life, human beings do not have hit points. They have blood pressure.” #LTUE

idea: Rather than threaten w/”Be nice to me or I’ll make you a villian in my book”, say “I’ll put you in my dystopian. Everybody dies.” –@DaronFraley

I once heard @David_JWest joke about making his novel disclaimer say: “Except for BLANK, every one of these jerks is real.” #LTUE

“Post apocalyptic; Like Hunger Games & The Giver; some kissing.” — @ElanaJ about POSSESSION #LTUE

“Horror is one of the most moral of the genres: the wicked are punished.” — @johncleaver #LTUE

@scatteredjules: fav #ltue quote: All fiction is lying. Our job, as authors, is to make the lie plausable.

Accckk. Somebody in the Short Story session just farted. It wasn’t me. #LTUE

@taffylovell: People! Just because you’re @#LTUE doesn’t mean you should smell like science fiction!

One of the draws to YA for adult readers is the combination of the clean read and the internal conflict (paraphrased) –@jscottsavage #LTUE

“To figure out YA voice, go hang out at the High School. No . . . wait. Don’t. Creepy.” –@ElanaJ #LTUE

@luannstaheli I was thinking of having him autograph my kindle. With a silver permanent marker. @robisonwells

Good conversation about staying healthy as a writer/artist. No matter what the panelists say, I still feel guilty. I need chocolate. #LTUE

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There you have it. Sampled favorites from the three days. I hope you had as much fun (and got as much education) as I did.