C.L. Wilson will be at Coastal Magic Convention in February! Squeal! I heard about Coastal Magic Convention from her blog post back in July 2017. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation for me to check out all of the details. I looked up the tickets, which are still available, and started planning. The convention is in Daytona Beach, Florida from February 22-25. Our convention hotel is The Shores Resort and Spa. If you are going to be there, shout it out to me. I would love to see you there!
While we are on the subject of conventions, I’d love to hear about your experiences with them. Do you go to book conventions? Do you stay at the convention hotel? Do you stay for the whole convention? This is my first one, and I am excited!
Now, about The Winter King. Wilson is treasured for her detailed action scenes and elaborate world building, which we were introduced to in her Tairen Soul series. I definitely recommend the whole series and I hope you will share your thoughts with me when you read it (or if you already have). I love to compare notes.
There is a satisfying romance in The Winter King. The energy between Wynn and Kham zings through the page. You can feel their bond grow. There are scads and scores of details I’m leaving out that skillfully bring those feelings out. What fun would it be for me to spoil the discovery experience for you?
The lore of Mystral, the land where the weathermages live, is full and engaging. I loved the feeling that even as I read about new languages and customs, I could also admire Wilson’s skill in making them feel exotic and familiar at the same time.
There is a good dose of royal intrigue, similar to A Game of Thrones. Plenty of twists and turns to keep you flipping the pages.
The series continues in The Sea King (2017). I’m reading that now, and completely looking forward to talking about them at the convention. Hopefully Wilson will tease us with future books in the series.
Is there anything you would like to know about The Winter King that I didn’t talk about? Ask away!
Thanks for reading!
Gina
www.ginabriganti.com 
I’ll be at Coastal Magic this coming week. I will be arriving Wednesday, with the convention starting Thursday afternoon. I’ll stay until Sunday afternoon when it ends. This is my third time attending Coastal Magic, and it’s one of my favorites because it isn’t so big that it loses its intimacy. I’ll be moderating some of the panels on Friday and Sunday.
This will be the first year I’ll be staying at the convention’s hotel. Having not stayed onsite in the past, even though I was at the neighboring hotels in the past, it just isn’t worth it. You spend half your time walking back and forth. It’s so much easier to be spontaneous if just have to run up to your room for something. But if you have to travel a couple of city blocks… The first year I was three blocks away. Walking back to my hotel at night by myself was a bit scary.
I attend a few of the conventions and book signings in Florida each year. I love them, but a person can manage only so many before the budget laughs at you as it says big nasty things, like “No!”. But what you bring away from each one is priceless. I’ve made lifelong friendships, met new friends, and even learned a few new games.
My first time at Coastal Magic I went by myself. Everyone was so friendly, both authors and readers, that I felt completely at ease. I had such a wonderful time, that I let the director know as soon as I got home, I might have waited a week or two, that I would definitely be returning, and if she were looking for any new bloggers that I would love to be considered. This will be my second year as a “Featured Blogger”.
Please look me up at the convention, Gina.
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Thank you for the warm welcome, Tamye! I have a feeling that I am going to love this convention as much as everyone says they do! I am also staying at The Shores and I will look for you!
The three genres featured at Coastal Magic are three of my favorites, and I am beyond excited to attend the panels and rub elbows with fellow fans!
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You’re in for a treat. This is one of my favorite conventions. I’m moderating the following panels, so I should be easy to find. Please come up and introduce yourself.
Friday:
9 am – 10 am
“Shared Worlds: Are more heads really better? Chat about what makes great multiple authors, multiple story collections work.
Renee George, Julia Talbot, Kiernan Kelly, Robyn Peterman, ”
11 am – 12 pm
“Princess Alethea’s Traveling Side Show: A DragonCon favorite, resident princess Alethea Kontis brings her popular, shenanigan-filled variety show to Coastal Magic. Singing, twisted fairy tales, and family-friendly fun times for all!
Alethea Kontis, Mari Mancusi, Deborah Blake, Piper J Drake, Eric R Asher, with special guest Leanna Renee Hieber”
Sunday:
10 am – 12 pm
“Swag Crafts: Open time/space for readers to make keepsakes with their swag.
Authors TBD”
(I’m thinking about making earring from bookmarks that have the small images of an author’s books.)
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I’m pretty sure I’ve decided on Shared Worlds on Friday at 9:00 a.m. I will be sure to say hi!
Choosing panels is seriously hard! I need to clone myself so I can go to all of them.
I like the earrings idea!
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You’ll find out right away that I am friendly and love to feed everyone. There will be a Snackies Single in each Swag bag, because who doesn’t love a good snack when they’re reading?
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