This weekend will be my second MARCon. I had a ball last year, and am totally looking forward to seeing what kind of craziness goes on this year.

The first panels start at 4 pm on Friday, and run through Sunday afternoon. For the cost, you can’t get a better deal for an entire weekend of coolness and geekery. The only drawback is that it’s also Easter weekend, which means, of course, that there are also family gatherings and traditions to consider, but this conference is in Columbus, Ohio, which is practically in my own backyard, so I can pull off both. YAY!!

My conference schedule is as follows…

Friday

4 pm                      Union C                                                Twilight’s Relationships: Tender or Toxic?

7 pm                      Union B                                                Once Upon a Time: Evil Isn’t Born, It’s Made

11:30 pm              Union C                                                (moderating) Violence in Urban Fantasy

Saturday

10 am                    Taft A-B                                                Reading from “The Grimm Legacy”

2:30 pm                Regency Ballroom                         Autograph Session

5:30 pm                Union B                                                The Grimmest Kind of Love

7 pm                      Union C                                                (moderating) Superheroes: Prose only, Please

I will not be at the conference on Sunday due to Easter and family gatherings.

This is also a conference where I’m not staying at the hotel. I’m driving back and forth to the conference, because 1) it’s cheaper. One tank of gas to get back and forth for two days is cheaper than getting a hotel room, 2) I miss my guys when I’m gone (i.e., BF and The Boy) and 3) it’s also easier to make sure we’ve got everything ready for Easter when I do it this way.

Yeah, I’m a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to getting the biggest bang for my buck. I’ve blogged before about going to conferences without needing to file bankruptcy, and here I go again. The conference has already said it is serving breakfast in the consuite for con goers. The hotel is offering food and beverage discounts to con goers who show their badges. It pays to pay attention at conferences…you just never know what kinds of things might be available to you. I’m not saying not to have fun…I’m saying that you just never know what you might be able to get yourself into…if you don’t go with some kind of plan.

If you’re in Columbus this weekend, stop on by, get your geek on, and say hello!