Susan and John Ruff, Fantasy Authors

Wow! LACon V (WorldCon 2026) was an amazing weekend full of fun, excitement, friends (both old and new), great panels, and a fine art show. The convention took place on August 27 – 31, in Anaheim, California. Because it was so close to home, John and I were able to drive there (which is very convenient when you are carrying boxes of paperbacks to autograph). To describe the full convention would take pages, so I’ll just hit a few highlights here.

1. A wonderful young couple who write cozy fantasy books under the pen name M.J. Gillbright came to talk to us at the autograph table. They had seen us at HearthCon (an online cozy fantasy convention) last year and were inspired to try writing cozy fantasy as a couple. Now they’re cozy fantasy authors and will be guests at this year’s HearthCon! (Is there any greater reward for a writer than to be an inspiration for others?)
2. Dr. Sparky McTrowell (of Steampunk and Clockwork Alchemy fame) showed up with a batch of Doubleberry Delight cookies that she created based on the cookies that appear in our novella Coins for the Counter. She crafted the recipe herself, and the cookies were delicious. They were all eaten by the end of the first day of the convention, (except for two that I squirreled away to save for the next day).
3. We were privileged to be part of the Liminal Fiction group of Indie authors selling books in the Dealer’s Room. It was great to reconnect with our author friends from LimFic.
4. Our amazing editor Terri Wells and I went to lunch on the first day of the convention, and I got to watch her speak on a panel about the nuts and bolts of book editing and publishing.
5. I was a participant on the “Snuggle Up to Cozy Fantasy” panel. It was set for Sunday morning in a far away corner of the hotel, but we still had almost a full audience. (Thank you to all you brave folks who got up so early on a Sunday!)
6. It was wonderful to see friends from WWOW, S.T.A.R. San Diego, and fandom in general. We saw so many old and new friends that I would have trouble listing them all here. But it was great talking with all of you!
7. And if all that wasn’t enough, we even got to watch the Disneyland firework show from our hotel room window.

It was an incredible convention!

-Susan 9/4/2026