Lilith Saintcrow

Here it is, the huge DragonCon post. In one word: GUH. My brain is tired.

But oh Lord, am I a happy camper.

The first good sign was getting to the airport in plenty of time. The second good sign was the lovely man sitting right in front of us on the plane, who was reading Working For The Devil. I have rarely felt so shy and abashed, but I did ask him how he liked it. He said it was okay. *grin* Which pleased me to no end.

Then we got to Atlanta and hooked up with JM, who took us under her slender wing. We managed to get checked into the Hilton (more on that later) and headed over for dinner with Teri, SJ, JM, and the crew. Rarely have I been adopted so quickly. We were taken in and given so much advice about DragonCon!

I have to say, any advice doesn’t do the whole thing justice. Thirty thousand fans all in one place. Everyone there was happy to be there, and it showed. The costumes were amazing from the very first. Plenty of Jedis and Jack Sparrows, not to mention a Darth Maul or two, a Princess Mononoke, the White Witch from the movie Narnia, and so many anime and manga characters it would be impossible to list/remember them all. (Plus there were plenty of X-Men, Wonder Women, Nightwing, Batmans, and Robins.) One of the things I love about cons is the happiness of the people attending. Everyone had a big grin, even on the last days when the cons become Hangover Central.

Here are the highlights of my DragonCon:

* The PANELS. My God. I hung with Cherie Priest, the Ghost Hunters guys, Teri and JM, and plenty of others on panels that ranged from the vampire in fiction and fact to writing combat scenes. I literally had a panel or two every day. I got to panel with a guy who writes on the Hellboy comics, which totally made my day. (I think I geeked so hard I scared him.) Plus, there was Patrick the Ghost Hunter. In a kilt. He smelled really good.

Big thanks to Derek Ruthven and Nancy Knight for putting me on panels. I enjoyed the hell out of it and hope the audience found it satisfactory.

* The PEOPLE. I got to meet Peter Beagle and tell him what his writing meant to me. I got to geek with Anthony Cistaro and ruffle Eric Etebari‘s hair. I got to tell Nicholas Brendon that I would have totally dragged Xander off by his hair during high school. (Mr. Brendon gave me a million-megawatt smile and said, “That’s what I like to hear!”) I got to tell Adrienne Barbeau that my friend Jan and I knitted our way through Carnivale and totally enjoyed her. I got to talk to the marvelous Kiran Shah, who was an absolute darling. (I told him he scared my kids in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was worried that he’d made them cry. I reassured him and called him a “bad boy.” He grinned.) I got to make Kevin Sorbo smile, and I got to watch Todd McCaffrey talk to his youngest and oldest fans. *grin* (Note: Liftport: Opening Space to Everyone is out. Go check it out.) I got to see Robert Asprin on a panel and chat with Susan Sizemore and Jody Lynn Nye. (Susan is a darling, and Jody is a barrel of fun.) There’s probably something I’m forgetting. But OMG, it was cool.

* The FANS. Wow. Just…wow. So many of you came up to me and hugged me, asked me to sign, or told people about my books. Wow. And you had such wonderful insightful questions on all the panels! I love getting to meet old and new Readers, and I just love congoers and sci-fi/fantasy fans. You’re literate, cogent, brave, and thoughtful. Bless you all. And especially bless you for the costumes, they are wonderful!

I didn’t get to see half of what I wanted to, and we ditched the Rocky Horror Picture show because it was two hours or more late getting started. But it’s impossible to see everything at a con, no matter how much you want to. The Masquerade was hilarious, with the cardboard-box Stormtroopers and the Janitors of the Force, plus other wonderful things.

I must mention that Sunday night/Monday morning, while I was sobering up, I rode the elevator in the Marriott (sp?) Hotel with a man dressed up as Jesus, with a neon halo and a glowing Sacred Heart. All the way up to the forty-second floor, and all the way back down.

I must have done this for twenty minutes, with Christina and Milo. It was an experience, to say the least. *grin* Now, the elevators in this hotel are the spitting image of the Great Glass Elevator, so we kept referring to it as the Wonkavator.

I rode with Jesus in the Wonkavator. *boggle*

It was tons of fun to meet Christina and hang out with her in meatspace. We dished about everything. And big thanks to Todd for pointing me the right way when I lost my hotel. Not to mention Nina, for getting me everywhere on time.

It was kind of frustrating trying to hook up with Todd, since every time he was on a panel I was on one in another hotel. But we finally got together and power-chatted. And he introduced me to a room full of the wonderful Pern fans, who are the warmest and loveliest people imaginable, and who made me feel quite welcome.

Coming home was a five-hour flight, a little hungry because it skipped lunch AND dinner. But we finally landed in Portland, mostly on time, and I was driven home to throw everything in the laundry and try to breathe. I was completely exhausted but happy at the same time, and the DHM brought home pizza to greet me. The Princess and Little Prince were very happy with their gifts but even happier to see Mumsie again. There were two or three Dogpiles On Mum before I started to feel like I was really home.

So I’m mostly unpacked and still working on the mountain of laundry and mail that accumulated. Who knew five days would be so busy? And I am ever so glad to be home, but I can tell that I want to do this again. Maybe next year, once I’ve forgotten how tired I am. *grin*

To sum up, it was a wonderful experience. I am so glad I went.

Now I just have to figure out a costume for next time…

Related posts:

1. Comi-Con Or Bust
2. The Monster Comi-Con Post
3. Shake That Into Place

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 6th, 2006 at 9:46 am and is filed under Convention Mention, Neato Keano, Real Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.