The Keynote Authors were Tamora Pierce, Sherwood Smith and Kristin Cashore. All women writers of the fantasy genre that focus on strong female main characters. Cashore is a newer writer of the three, having her second book published this month. All of the authors gave talks. Tamora Pierce did her talk the first night, Smith the second day during lunch and Cashore the third day during lunch. All were fascinating. During one rountable discussion on the word "feminine", Tamora Pierce sat beside me.
There were other authors at the convention as well. Anne Osterlund was there, has published a few books, and she signed her book for me as well. I talked a bit with her during the convention. Also, I had many discussions with Valerie Estelle Frankel, who wrote a couple of Harry Potter parodies and is getting a nonfiction book published.
Overall. The whole experience was amazing. I would recommend going to small conventions if the opportunity arises. As a writer, there is always something you can take out of any conventions.
