Come Selahway With Me…

So back to the good…there were definitely some moments that made Fandom Fest a blast.

Seeing SH Roddey again is always amazing even though that means she has to put up with me in enclosed spaces. Seriously, where’s our sitcom deal? Why don’t we have a reality show by now?

Hanging with Charlie Kenmore and Alexx Miller is always fun, especially given Charlie’s avant garde photography techniques.

Meeting more of the Seventh Star Press crew was AWESOME. Such a blast to get to know RJ Sullivan, John Allen, and Chris Garrison, see Jen Mulvihill again, and of course be in the presence of The Zimmer (love you, Stephen!). The man is a machine and woe to all who get in his way!

I also ran into my college friend Jondi, and it was like no time had passed. Oh my god, not only is she adorable, she’s a complete trip and I know she entertained the masses along with the rest of us.

Panel-wise, I had great fun talking costumes on the cosplay panel with Jen Mulvihill (Mary Sue Cthulhu, resident sparkly evil muse even got to wear a steampunk hat!). Authors interviewing authors had some really great questions and insights, and a huge kudos to Lee Martindale for great moderation. Although the giant horror panel I had hoped for didn’t come together, L. Andrew Cooper and I got a chance to meet and talked a TON about our thoughts on horror, tossing questions and opinions back and forth like lawn darts (or something. I’m tired, analogies don’t come easy when I’m tired). He has an insane grasp of historical horror and the overall pattern of things, and it was interesting to put some of my thoughts and frustrations to him and see how he fit them in the bigger picture. So much fun, and we’ll totally have to team up for more horror talk in the future.

Author Improv was HILARIOUS, and as a group we put together two shorts that will never ever EVER see the light of day…and I may be biding my time to get Alicia Justice back for some of her prompt ideas <sweet grin>.

The challenges of co-authoring panel was informative, and it included groups of co-authors that had very different processes, but we all agreed on a lot and had a lot of great discussions about working with another person on a project.

All of these panels (and many more that I didn’t get to be on or attend) were really useful and informative. I just wish more people could have gotten as much out of them as I did, but still, I’m glad that I was there.

Saw a lot of great costumes (pictures to come) and met a lot of amazing cosplayers. I always love seeing how other people do things, and man, I had a lot to look at! From photos going around online it looks like even I missed out on some stuff that was in the anime section over in the hotel (we were in the convention center proper), that I would have loved to have seen in person.

Had a lot of great times bumping into people I’d met last year (and it’s always surreal when people come looking specifically for me!) and hanging out at places that feel like they’ve become our writer group haunts. The Troll Pub gave me great inspiration to finish up Olde School, and it would not be Fandom Fest if I did not try to eat every single thing the Spaghetti Factory had on its menu and in its storehouse (Seriously, you have no idea how much I love Italian food. I could do a post alone on how much I ate this weekend).

I also had a rather bizarre experience where I was passing by a vendor booth, looked over, and saw a character I haven’t written yet peering out at me from a print. Granted, she’s not exactly what’s in my mind, but the essence is there. Though that series is still in the planning stage, I snapped the print up and am excited to have my very own muse to glower at me when I’m dragging my feet.

So definitely had some good times to go with the frustrations, and looking forward to more good times in the future!