Convention Recovery

Today is recovery day from FenCon. I was going to try to go over and help with the final clean-up, but I apparently overdid the work I did tearing down last night because my bad knee is non-functioning this morning. Walking is a slow and painful process. It may loosen up throughout the day with rest and gentle movement, but by then it will be too late for me to be able to help.

In spite of today's physical pain, I think this may have been my favorite FenCon so far. Part of it may have been the later than usual date, which meant my ragweed allergies weren't in full force, so I was able to actually enjoy the convention. I wasn't sick, like last year. Thanks to a video I did for the opening ceremonies, I was more famous and recognized than I've ever been (nearly a decade of novels and I get mildly recognized, one four-minute video and I got fannish adoration from famous people). They kept me very busy on panels, so that I always had something going on during the day, and when I wasn't working, I was helping the tech crew or the staff lounge. I also seemed to interact more with the guests of honor, which I often don't get the chance to do. I had a really nice lunch chat with Teresa Nielsen Hayden. She was very active on a Usenet writing forum I used to frequent, and though she understandably didn't remember me (I don't know if I ever got up the nerve to post), the fact that I remembered her got the conversational ball rolling. I spent a fair amount of time with Charles Vess, helping him with a computer issue, and he gave me chocolate, so I think I'm now a forever fan. I'm not a very visual person, so art isn't a big thing for me, but I did buy a copy of the print of artwork he did for the convention because something about it spoke to me and I think it will need to find a place on my office wall. Or maybe my bedroom wall. Anyway, it will need to go somewhere once I finish whatever redecorating I decide to do.

In spite of being a music person, I've never managed to hear much of the musical programming at the convention, but I made a point of hearing Heather Dale after listening to her sound check. Just checking the microphones, she had a lovely voice and excellent pitch (I have pitch issues), so I had to hear her actually perform. And then I had to buy a CD. We chatted for a while, and she guided me to one that actually fits perfectly with what I'm currently writing because it's all songs inspired by folklore about fairies -- and not the cute kind. I have a feeling I will end up getting more of her music and becoming a raging fangirl.

Meanwhile, I now have a celebrity endorsement for my chocolate chip cookies, as I fed Amber Benson after a panel we had together. We also geeked out over Harry Potter together on the panel, agreeing that we kind of want to crawl inside the books.

I ended up having a lot of fun with the Whose Line is it Anyway game, although I'm still not great at improv. I was the one playing the "hostess"  in the party guests game, and I did manage to guess them all. I saw cameras in the audience, so there will likely be photos surfacing.

I got lots and lots of blog fodder ideas from the various panels I was on, so you can look forward to that over the coming weeks.

Here's a nice photo essay the local newspaper did about the convention (My PR coup). You may have to go through a screen offering you a subscription, but just click on the "free version" button. The Doctor Who panel I moderated is included. I was the crazy person who decided to include the Dalek on the panel (he didn't say much). I'm the one in the red top toward the middle of the panel.