This week, I attended the Life, the Universe, and Everything Symposium at the Provo Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. LTUE is a long‑running academic and professional conference focused on science fiction and fantasy, bringing together writers, artists, game developers, and more to explore speculative storytelling across forms.
My participation at LTUE extended beyond the traditional conference-goer into book signings and cosplay performing, allowing me to explore how to truly bring a story to life.
Author Meet and Greet
As part of the conference, I participated in an author book signing with Collective Tales Publishing, offering direct connection with readers within a highly engaged genre community. Events like this function as more than sales opportunities. They are moments of dialogue where stories become personal and memorable through conversation.
Being present as an author within this environment reinforced the value of meeting audiences where they already feel invested and curious.
Interactive Apocalypse Performance
In addition to author engagement, I participated in an interactive apocalypse cosplay performance designed to promote Collective Chaos and its companion ebook Little Chaos, both of which center on world‑ending terror and apocalyptic scenarios. I portrayed an injured survivor within a fictional disaster setting, while conference attendees assumed the role of a life‑saving response team tasked with assessing injuries and navigating high‑stakes decisions.
The scenario translated the books’ themes into a physical, participatory experience. Rather than reading about collapse, fear, and survival, participants stepped directly into those tensions through action and collaboration. The performance emphasized urgency, vulnerability, and collective responsibility, mirroring the emotional and narrative stakes present in the stories themselves.
This activity created a memorable entry point into the books’ themes by allowing the audience to live inside the world rather than observe it from a distance.
Performance as Storytelling
This interactive experience encouraged empathy and connection while reinforcing themes commonly found in speculative fiction such as survival, community, and responsibility.
By turning genre themes into participatory action, the performance created a lasting impression that extended far beyond the moment itself.
Why This Experience Matters
Promoting Collective Chaos and Little Chaos at LTUE reinforced how performance can deepen audience connection and expand the reach of storytelling. Together, the books and the performance emphasize storytelling as something audiences can feel, inhabit, and respond to rather than simply observe.
Want to grab a copy of the book? Find it here, along with the ebook here.
xoxo,
Michaela Rae
