Sci-Fi on the Rock: 10 years of awesome, dysfunction, and kentamination for the win.

April 1-3 this year was the tenth consecutive year for Sci-Fi on the Rock, a science-fiction convention that has become one of the largest fan and volunteer-run conventions of its kind. The Sheraton Newfoundland Hotel was filled to — from my understanding — near capacity and it resulted in one of the best weekends for the convention ever, by many metrics.

But not all metrics are measurable. This was the greatest weekend Engen Books has ever had by many metrics, not the least of which: sheer joy and pride. I’m going to attempt to explain why in a very stream-of-consciousness way.

Kenneth Tam, Matthew LeDrew, and Ellen Curtis behind the Engen Books booth. Dreams = come true.

Life has an odd way — sometimes — of linking things back together in very cohesive ways. Life isn’t a narrative. Life isn’t narratively pleasing, everything circling back to form a complete story… except sometimes.

The return of Kenneth Tam to Sci-Fi on the Rock was one of those moments, on a personal level. Kenneth Tam was the first guest at the original Sci-Fi on the Rock in 2006, which is in and of itself an Engen Books anniversary. As Ken himself put it this year while we all attended the Most Dysfunctional Writing Panel: “Ten years ago Matthew LeDrew came to my panel on how to break into publishing and scribbled everything I said on a sheet of paper furiously. The next year he came back with his own company and novel. Now ten years later, we’re all in this room because of that.”

Which, to be fair, is a flattering lie.