I’m delighted to announce I survived another DragonCon.
Tons of geeky panels? Check. 2AM Crüxshadows concert followed by 4AM rave and 7AM waffles? Check. Meeting Nathan Fillion? Check!
One DragonCon tradition I haven’t really participated in is epic line standing marathons. I go to a lot of the smaller track panels and avoid the larger halls and the bigger celebrity events to avoid the worst of the crowds. But when you luck out and walk past Nathan Fillion’s line when it just happens to be shorter than the Starbucks line (the Starbucks line is no joke), you don’t just pass up an opportunity like that.
Other 2024 highlights included a shuttle trip to a local meadery, strolls through the vendor halls, great networking and mentoring meetings, and generally being blown away by all of the amazing cosplays. I don’t want to brag, but my Christmas shopping is already half done. DragonCon is excellent for lots of things but nobody ever said it was easy on the wallet.
Drooling over all the ridiculous talent at the art show is one of my favorite parts of any con. I’m a hobby artist–I love drawing and painting and damn, is it difficult. The amount of talent, hard work, and passion that goes into the artwork on display blows my mind. I brought home a stack of business cards and flyers a foot high. I made the full circuit twice, and could have gone back for another visit if time allowed.
My second ever DragonCon hit a bit different. Still a wild ride, still an exhausting week full of friends, and still an experience I totally recommend. This year, though, it was also more of a professional event than it was last year. We stayed at the Westin for the first time, a con host hotel that’s also home to the unofficially official writer bar. If you’re looking to network and meet your next favorite author, co-writer, mentor (or mentee!), this is the place to hang out! I met so many incredible authors and editors. One thing that I love about the writer community is how welcoming and supportive everyone is. It’s an amazing industry where colleagues become friends. I’ve lost count of all the mentoring and advice I’ve received from industry professionals. Casual bar conversations, chance meetings on panels, and building new friendships leads to building a supportive community and, usually, new career opportunities.
I met the incredible Sherrilyn Kenyon, a few track directors, and got some incredible career insights and advice. I also got to cheer for friends and their upcoming releases at the Baen Road Show.
Team Milesian Accords (me, Jon R. Osborne, and David Shadoin) banded together for the Fantasy Gather on Friday night to sell books, talk about the Milesian Accords and my upcoming spin-off series, the Vechnoye Saga, and meet bunches of fantasy and science fiction fans.
I was also on panels here for the first time! Terrifying, awesome, and overall, a blast. I got the opportunity to participate in both the American Sci-Fi & Fantasy Media track and the Science Fiction Literature track. After meeting and speaking with a few more track directors and getting the lay of the land, I hope I get the opportunity for a few panels again next year.
For Sci-Fi literature, I moderated a panel about non-mechanical time travel several awesome authors, and participated on another where, with audience input, we created a new alien species. Not only was the panel packed, it was especially hilarious because an artist spent the hour with a whiteboard sketching out the creature we speculated about. We discussed planetary climates, alien culture, biological needs, and all the while our artist muttered (often disgruntled) about wings, numbers of legs, and what kind of teeth our new species had while he tried to keep up with our wild ideas. He revealed the final product to us and the audience at the very end, and I was seriously impressed! On the American SFF panel, we discussed the recent Borderlands: Chaos Loves Company movie release. Spoiler: there were four of us on the panel, none of us loved it.
After all that? A final farewell dinner at Ted’s Montana Grill, enjoying a quiet(er) Westin bar, and a bit earlier of a bedtime. Tuesday I came home, had Mexican food and a kickass blackberry margarita, and then slept for twelve hours straight. I’m glad Atlanta is only a puddle jump flight away, and travel home was short.
Until next year, DragonCon!
