Dragoncon 2013 Memories

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Dragoncon was amazing!  You could go there and just people watch for hours.  They have something for everyone, spread out to four hotels and a convention hall building.  They have a parade running through downtown Atlanta!

My top ten Dragoncon moments:

1. Attempting the Guiness record– with many conventions, the number of people we gathered into one room wearing Star Trek costumes would have been the entire convention.  Here, we were just one panel, lost in a sea of other options. Garrett Wang was an awesome host.  So we didn’t hit the mark, with only 917 people.  But!  917 people in a room, all wearing Star Trek costumes?  Epic.
2. Warehouse 13 Panel.  Bittersweet, finding out a beloved show was ending.  Eddie McClintock being counseled by James Marsters and Lindsey Wagner that just because the show was ending, his career was not. Mrs. Fredericks being…Mrs. Fredericks, while Eddie bounced around the audience. Jaime Murray revealing that her name was from Lindsey Wagner’s Bionic Woman, the spelling of which was a mistake made during the show.  Capped by a surprise proposal in the audience.
3. John Barrowman and Eve Myles trading dirty stories.  John is a complete and utter looney and I give his husband a lot of credit.  But we all love him.
4. The Parade– the weather was fantastic and everyone put on a great show.
5. The costumes– I’m always blown away by all the amazing, carefully crafted and professional looking costumes everywhere I look.  The mash-ups, the obscure cultural references and the range and depth of fandoms is astounding.  It is also fun to watch warriors, fairies, mechs, monsters and heroes riding up and down escalators and jamming into elevators, walking down hallways and awkwardly getting a meal at the food court.  Where else can Frankenstein’s monster fight a Dalek while being photographed by a hobbit?
6. Realizing that celebrities have their hang-ups too.  So many stars revealed that they had a hard time watching their own performances because all they saw were their own flaws.  I had mistakenly assumed that they would all sit back and watch their shows thinking how awesome they were.
7. Jim Butcher’s talk about his writing process, his wonder-dog and his love of gaming. He is eloquent, down to earth and fun to listen to. Hearing the origin of the character Bob the skull was hilarious.  He is one of us.  Write like the wind, but if you are taking a break, I’d love to game with you.
8. First Ladies of Fantasy discussing their different writing habits.  Sherilyn Kenyon thrives in pandemonium and chaos, while Mercedes Lackey wants to be left alone with her flock of parrots.
9. Encouragement from Agents and Editors.  They reminded the audience that while we are competing with hundreds of other submissions, only a small portion of the submissions was even close to the target.  Make your manuscript the best it can be, get the person’s name right and do basic research and you will be ahead of the game already.
10. Sharing the experience with my friends. There was so much to do that we all went our separate ways and then met up again, sharing what we did- from Fraggles to Wheel of Time to the massive dealer rooms, we had much to talk about.

Favorite Quotes:

“You can get it on Amazon, yes, but not one that I’m held or licked!” John Barrowman, referring to his book.

“Nerds rule the world!” Lucy Lawless

“I threw all vanity to….wherever you throw vanity.” Richard Dean Anderson

“So basically I’m named after your mistake.”  Jaime to Lindsey Wagner.

“I am one of the leave me the – alone writers.  I have parrots and I know how to use them.” Mercedes Lackey

“God, I would never want Harry Dresden at my barbecue.” Jim Butcher

Here’s a video by someone who managed to capture his experience: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4QyO1mzb-I