In November of 1999 Karen and I attended the World Fantasy Convention in Providence, R.I. This was Karen's first convention outing since her accident and she enjoyed seeing many of her old friends there. I participated in a truly awesome art show and presented a retrospective slide show of my work and those artists who have influenced me over the years. Over the course of four days we shared dinner and sparkling late-night conversations with many friends: Charles deLint and Mary Ann Harris, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Greg and Lisa Ketter, Steve and Vicky Hickman, and Terri Windling. But the capper was being presented with the World Fantasy Award for Artist of the Year for my work on Stardust. I stumbled through a short acceptance speech and am still quite thrilled to have received this prestigious award.