Kevin and I have returned home from our third consecutive Starfest convention, and once again we can report that we had a hell of a great time. We -- along with our respective spouses, of course -- spent the weekend hanging out with fellow writer Christie Golden and her husband, Michael, hosting panels on the Strange New Worlds writing contest as well as talking about what's coming down the road with Pocket Books' Star Trek fiction line.

We got to catch up with friends we've made the past couple of shows (Hi Jani! Hi Annette! Hi Rex and the crew of I-Sci-Fi.com!), as well as meet a whole bunch of new folks. (Hey Jennifer! Hi Ben!)

As usual, Stephen Walker and his crew put on a fantastic show, and really treated us much better than we deserve. They made sure we had a prime table in the dealer's area -- which included having nice "neighbors" at all of the tables surrounding us -- and that our panels didn't take place against other, more interesting activities (i.e., Dean Haglund's Friday night show, the lovely Grace Park's Q&A or autograph session, to say nothing of The Man Himself, the Shat), so we didn't miss out on anything fun while we were working.

Therefore, we tip our hats and offer our thanks to Stephen, KathE, Steve, Mike, Susan, Phil, Carol, Judy, Kelley (Hi Becky!), Joseph, and everyone whose name I am certainly forgetting for once again making us feel like part of the family, and we most definitely are coming back next year.

So for those of you reading this, if you're looking for a con that brings in top shelf guests (as well as pezheads like us) and offers up an entire weekend of non-stop SF/Fantasy happenings, Starfest is something you should absolutely check out.