RavenCon wrap up
Last weekend I was a guest at RavenCon for the second time – the first time being a few years ago where I was a costuming guest. It was wonderful to come back to RavenCon, and the best part was how many people remembered me from my costuming days. 🙂 I was touched.
I was on several fun panels this time around too – and of course I forgot to write down the ones I was on, so I’ll do my best to remember them here (though I’m certain I’ll forget one): trends in costuming (moderated by the always entertaining James Fulbright) was a lot of fun – I think we decided that fairy tales were the next big costuming wave to come, that steam punk was on its downslide, and that Doctor Who was in it’s heyday.
Another great panel I was on was Professional Self-Publishing. I learned so much from my fellow panelists, and hopefully changed some minds/attitudes about self-publishing along the way… and given that I received this email shortly after returning from RavenCon, I know that we changed at least one mind. 🙂
Thank you for introducing your beautiful book at RavenCon this last weekend! Wowza!
I USED TO BE one of those “annoyed with the lo quality of self-pubed material” readers but I am absolutely blown away with the craftsmanship that went into creating War of the Seasons.
You and your work have made it OK for us readers to start exploring the newer reading materials that are coming out. I see you and your work as a trailblazer and a Quality Standards Setter for the future.
I had the opportunity to learn a lot from you this weekend, and thanks for turning my expectations around.
Another fun panel I was on was the Military Sci-Fi panel (that one is ALWAYS fun!) – looks like there’s a definite audience (at least among women) for my Pride & Prejudice in Space retelling. Woohoo!
One thing I’ve learned that no matter how many times you give a panel it’s always different and you always learn something new. In addition to the wonderful panelists I had the opportunity to be on panels with at past conventions, I made some new friends this time, and these guys are definitely worth checking out (in no particular order): John Betancourt, Jean Marie Ward, Stuart Jaffee, Elizabeth Campbell, Mike McPhail (not a “new” friend exactly but still newish), & Monica Marier. And yes, my “to read” stack is now much higher! (Also, I know I’ve left people off this list because of my horrid memory, so please if we met at RavenCon LET ME KNOW! I want to link back to you on here.)
Now onto pics:
Roadtrip! Time to go to Richmond! Curse you DC traffic… (YAY HOV lane!)
Ran into the CapClave gang first thing and let me tell you, I can’t wait for this convention (yup, I’m a guest)! Here’s the youngling modeling Darth Dodo.
2nd panel with James Fulbright – I believe this one was Macroblogging in the Microblogging world.
Anyone want a book signed?
Now these were impressive. Made by HCSteam.net
The best part about conventions is seeing people you never get to see. Hello Rach!
This made my heart soar… I promise I did not pay the Youngling to do this!
I LOVE geeks… the entry way into two of the panel rooms.
I also had the opportunity to be one of the costume contest judges. The entries were all so very impressive!
I adored this mini-top hat – made out of a Styrofoam cup!
These two are relatively new to costuming and the amount of detail that went into their dresses was stunning!
Only 6 weeks old and already entering costume contests. 🙂
I loved this dress – USO girl at prom. She had 48 stars on her train – nice attention to detail!
Our best in show – a Clockwork Android from Doctor Who. Her costume was PERFECT. She even made the mask!
The Costume Contest’s MC, PodCasting’s Rich Sigfrit, getting schooled by the little sister of a contestant.
Fun side fact, but Rich and I attended our very first sci-fi convention ever, together (along with Will, for whom The Human is dedicated) back in 2003. Yes, I am dressed as a Jedi. A Hippie Jedi.
Later that evening the charity auction (benefitting breast cancer cure research) went and I think my books went for like $45? Which is AWESOME (for the charity of course)! Here they are being modeled by the lovely and talented author Tera Fulbright.
The next morning we had a knitting circle, and now I MUST MAKE THIS SCARF FOR MYSELF!
Also, I really enjoyed just chilling and everyone talking about how/why they got into knitting. For me it was to have something crafty/creative to do during my downtime in Iraq. I think on my second deployment I knitted something like 8 Harry Potter sweater vests? Here they are…
And to go off on another tangent, I will say that this shot of me & my husband as Lily Evans and James Potter is one of my fav pics of the two of us ever. 🙂
We did a whole photoshoot back in 2008 which you can see here and here.
As always, Ron’s con-badge had a very interesting name…
And totally randomly, I need this framed and in my office:
And since this is a writer’s blog, here are a couple handy link/blog posts I’ve come across or had pointed my way:
–3,000 book sales for a self-published author and counting.
–The importance of an Alpha reader (sometimes called a 1st reader or a Beta)
Lastly, need a copy of my books? As it happens you can buy them here.