Common folk didn't have last names in the 8th and 9th centuries.

I outline fairly extensively because I'm usually dealing with real events. I don't need to give myself as much information as I used to, but I still like to have two pages of outline for every projected 100 pages of manuscript.

I ride horseback - arthritic knees permitting - or listen to opera. Sometimes I cook. I used to do needlework, but it's hard on my hands now, so I only do it occasionally, but I like it. And, of course, I read.

Isn't that an odd philosophy for a vampire?

Providing a writer isn't put off by conventions - and some are - attending them can be a nice break from the necessary isolation of writing.

Very few editors worry about heresy - their goals are much too commercial, thank goodness.

I think it is probably more important to attend specialized conventions for a journeyman writer than any other, but it's useful at all stages of a career, if for nothing else, to find out how the industry is working at any given time.