On the weekend of October 16-18, I pulled the husband to the Can*Con in Ottawa. All convention require a lot of preparation, but it was worthwhile for the friends we get to meet there.
CAN*CON is a science fiction and fantasy convention in Ottawa organized by The Rocket Words Society. It is predominantly a spec fic writers’ convention, with the media SF taking second seat (but not ignored altogether.) I have attended and confirmed the wonder of the convention.
I take more time to write about past events because:
- I’m slow.
- And not using AI to write, even for non-fiction.
- It takes a few days to decanter
- I take the time to research the authors’ info and also running, formatting the pictures.
- Because many have given me much, and I repay them forward.
Writers helping each others…
A common misconception is that there is a limited pool of resources and writers must vie against each other for a sale to visitors. The reality is more complex. Yes there are more popular writers among us, but most of the attendees are in my situation, a mid-range writer-publisher.
We are not in competition, au contraire! And, no one is reading only ONE book in a year, each visitor will gravitate to his/her favorite genre and get several books. The good thing in any con is everyone going in knows what is science fiction, horror and fantasy (the big categories of what can be called spec-fic). So no need to explain at length what is or is not SF to the public.
As my company and I were in the vending room, busy with almost a hundred people and publishers, among them Den Valdron from Winnipeg, I recommend Den’s blog for his extensive cover of the Can-Con.
I missed many good panels. But I made nice encounters with SF afficionados, took news about writer friends. And I lend space to a nice colleague, Susan Forest who had a new book out! (picture up) And I bough books from Claudie Arsenault, whose universe I discovered least year. I met again Claudie Arsenault, Rachel Rosen, Avi Silver…
I went to the end of a panel about “when the supporting characters steals the show”. As a child and teen, I had a tendency to prefer the sidekick to the formal hero. It happened in many works, and… with my last SF series: each tome following a funny character introduced in the previous book.
And there was a Tardis at the end of the vendor’s room. How strange!
… Surviving Self-Publishing…
A convention was a boon for the stimulation!
I moderated the Surviving Self-publishing panel, and had three wonderful writers who published themselves. Krista D, Ball couldn’t make it to Kanata (but check out her professional website!; I bought her collected hardcover Collaborator trilogy a beautiful solid book that is making me sooo jealous!)
So last-minute change, James Downe took the empty seat to the right of Vanessa Ricci Thode and Brittany Willows. I am holding an impromptu board with a fun drawing.
The room was packed tight, which added a bit of pressure for the moderator to do well!
And remembering a departed legend.
I hosted a special one-hour tribute to our friend and mentor Jean-Louis Trudel. Jean-Louis was in Vilnius last November (2025) when he died (natural causes). Many of us were left in shock.
To alleviate the sadness, I think Jean-Louis was doing what he loved most of all: walking in a new city, on the traces of his grand-father who fought in WWII. He often said that a city is best discovered on one’s feet.
What was beautiful was: every person present shared a fond memory. Hayden Trenholm, Liz, Eric Choi (who hosted a similar event last February in Ottawa), Annette Mocek, Melanie Martilla and others had a little pebble to contribute.
we continue to write, and share, so that when we go, we leave beautiful traces in the world
At the conclusion, I found really important to tell every writer present (we were all writers!) that I do not take anyone for granted. And that we continue to write, and share, so that when we go, we leave beautiful traces in the world.
What sets the Can-Con apart
Is the warmth of its team, the not-too heavy programming track, and the glittery parties. The glitters are all around, thanks to the spirit of Marie Bilodeau and the team. They managed to feed us and keep us up in coffee and tea!
Also. notice the BIG lettering of the names on the cards, so we can read the name from afar? I keep the holder (from a WWC 2024) and the Can*con name card for my other events!
It was a big building and I lost my way last year, but most of the rooms are close enough, on three stories.
And meeting friends and colleagues outside the scheduled activities is also fun!
Giving back
So here are the websites of some of the wonderful writers I mentioned, so you can get to know them !
Robert J Sawyer: easy to remember!
Annette Mocek – the Merril Library with a lot of SF works and items.
Krista D. Ball who has a nice trilogy in hardcover!
Brittany Willows (who makes beautiful manga art cover!)
Claudie Arsenault, one of the cleanest presentations on the web! I should do that!
Susan Forest (a well-organized page!)
Can*Con supports diverse, emerging and established speculative fiction authors in honing their craft, expanding their professional networks, and accessing tools and resources to further their artistic careers. (To learn more about the convention, go to the official website.)
Michèle Laframboise writes fun SF and sweet romances. She has two series in French, one is currently in reedition. Find more about her books in Echofictions.com
