Dragon*Con 2005

First and foremost, we got a call from Patrick. He’s fine! Holed up with good people, sitting out the repair and recovery efforts safely and in good spirits. Whew. Cannot express the magnitude of my relief.

Picked up Hobkin from his godmother on Monday; he’s currently curled up happily at my side. Spent most of yesterday in a coma-like sleep except when we drove dude_the to the airport.

Dragon*Con rundown: I did my talk for Ann Crispin’s beginners writers workshop and it went well. Not fantastic, but well. I went into it cold, where last time I’d run it through out loud a couple times right before going in, and the difference showed. I stumbled several times, and my pacing and delivery were off. Nevertheless, it was well received. Ann took me out for lunch after, and we had a nice chance to catch up. We had our annual DC2K writers group meeting on Saturday and I asked Jason Sizemore, the editor of Apex, to come along. Jason very graciously paid for my meal, so I have now officially been feted by an editor. Woo! It’s always a great time hooking up with my DC2K folks. And I actually stayed for the whole meal instead of running off quick as a bunny back to the Daily Dragon office. But orig_ladycat couldn’t stick around because she was busy winning her Magic: TG tournament!

My panels went well. On Friday I was on “Censorship: Who decides what is appropriate for kids and teens to read” with Todd McCaffrey, Kathleen O’Shea, and Josepha Sherman. It was a good panel, although, as I had predicted beforehand, it was something of a one-sided discussion, which can be summed up thusly: “We’re against censorship.” The audience was comprised of librarians, teachers, and writers, so it turned into a rant-fest. Saturday I did “So You Want to Write a Kid’s Book” with Kathleen and Josepha again, as well as Donita Paul and a couple other writers who hopped on last minute. Now that panel was an absolute blast. So much to talk about it spilled over after the panel ended. I had a really lively and fun conversation with a few of the audience for about twenty minutes after. On Sunday I did “Urban Fantasy and Faeries” with Phil Brucato–who I knew from previous conventions and got a chance to gab with after–Josepha again, and err, someone whose name I can’t remember. Urk. There was a tendency to compare and contrast classic folktales with modern urban fantasy, which I found absolutely fascinating. Josepha is a folklorist (did I mention how much I adore Josepha?) and a fellow Cricket-published author, and we established a really nice rapport. We exchanged cards, and she suggested I contact her regarding work on the encyclopedia of storytelling she’s editing. Woo. bevlovesbooks ran an excellent track.

Managed to catch the Serenity panel on Saturday. Hooked up arkhamrefugee with an interview with Jewel Staite and stuck around after to make sure the transition to the interview site went well. I couldn’t help being all fangirl and took a picture of Jewel as we were waiting for the service elevator. But I was good, and once I was assured they were comfortably set up, I excused myself and went back to the DD office.

A big shout out goes to my Daily Dragon staff: dude_the, arkhamrefugee, lord_darkseid, vomikronnoxis, reddherring1955, and LJ-less folks: Nicholas Cottrell, Laura Ingram, Matt Schafer, Samantha Wallace, Tonya (whose last name currently escapes me), and Liana Thompson. They absolutely rawked, pulling through for me despite the bevy of technical difficulties that plagued us this year. We lost power several times during set-up on Thursday. The computers didn’t get delivered until Thursday (again). The copier kept jamming and the support number on it which was supposed to be 24/7 wasn’t even standard business hours, and then it ran out of toner late Sunday night. We had to print out Monday’s edition on the laser printer. Blah. Not a happy Eugie. Also, the hotel wanted to charge us a @#$*& $500/day for Internet access in the office. Suffice it to say, we went without Internet access. Instead, I paid for WiFi access in my room and ran back and forth between the office and my room with my laptop to do website updates.

Also a huge “thank you” to dire_epiphany and astralfire who, while no longer my senior directors, were on hand throughout the convention so I could go to them with my copier and Internet woes. As well as sara1221, the director of Signage, who helped keep me sane.

Went to fosteronfilm‘s Film Festival awards on Monday, which went smoothly. Good thing, considering all the prep we (Matthew, dude_the, and myself) put into it.

Other highlights: tk0667 proposing to Barrie on stage during the Masquerade (of course she said “yes”), getting a chance to gab with fingerman, squeeze hugs, seeing dean13 who flew out from California and actually stealing a couple hours to catch up with him, getting a chance to wave at and chat with glenn5, jackzodiac and pyanfar, palmerwriter, pleroma and his lovely lady, Tina, reudaly, and wicked_wish. (If I forgot anyone, sorry!)

My throat is still raw from all the talking I did.

Jewel Staite!

hugs and tk0667

Don’t they make a cute couple? tk0667 and Berrie.

I never learn. I got into another flashbulb duel with Dean. He so won. Blinkblink.

dude_the displaying the power of sugar

More Pixie Stix-related merriment. Giggling schoolgirls!

wicked_wish (and me.)

Working in the Daily Dragon office with reddherring1955

fingerman!

Late night unwinding with the gang!

dude_the crashed hard.

The emcees.





Best Comic Book

Most Original


Best Animation

Best in Show


Best in Show, Masters (part of them)