I miss con.
My house is too ordinary. No one here will dress up like a Klingon for my entertainment. There are no shiny Star Trek toys...well, okay I have a few, but those are already mine. What a whiner I am.
So, obviously, I'm back from Norwescon and trying to settle back in and, you know, actually write something or do some damn work. As usual, the convention rocked. The panels were awesome, the parties were fun and the crowds were awe inspiring. I wish I could make it to every one of these, but the timing and location make the mountain pass between us a little daunting. Still, it's a great con with lots of great people and perks.
My favorite of these is the Fairwood writer's workshop. This is a fantastic opportunity for authors both pro and aspiring. The workshop hosts are professional and very well organized, and they put on a spectacular and valuable program. I get as much out of participating in this as I give, and I will happily continue to play as long as they'll have me. If you have a story or novel excerpt you'd like to toss out for critique, I recommend getting in on this goodness.
I spoke to so many amazing pros at Norwescon, both old friends and new ones. Everyone was friendly and positive and that's what makes a great con in my book...great people. The con staff works their butts off as well and that always deserves a round of appreciation too.
It's impossible to experience everything at a con, to do everything, visit with everyone, see everything and buy everything (though sometimes I'd like to try :) but I always have a blast squeezing in as much of the above as I possibly can.
I also come home exhausted...but usually grinning like a raging fool.
The only drawback at all to Norwescon is the Easter weekend need for me to leave early, rush back over a mountain pass and make it home in time for a family holiday.
But even one day short of a full con...I love it.
A big thank you to the organizers for allowing me to attend as a panelist, to the writers in the workshop for sharing their amazing stories with me, to my fellow panelists, the people who showed up to panels, the blessed souls who came to my reading and everyone just walking the halls and helping to turn a lazy author back into a fangirl again.
Thanks to everyone involved in making my 2013 Norwescon rock the Casbah.
~ Frances
award-winning animal stories