Finally friday
Apr. 5th, 2019 10:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessLong ass week ending in lots of nausea (my fault. I ate something stupid). So now's a great time to do up a proper con post while I drink some ginger turmeric tea to settle my stomach
I had to work so I was lamenting missing most of the first day but it turns out I didn't miss much. It actually didn't open until 4 and the actual opening ceremonies were at 7. I had to miss that in my search for food. The chinese food I had selected from tripadvisor let me sitting there for 15 minutes with zero service so I left and found a good BBQ place.
Somehow I missed the 8 pm absinthe tasting and ended up in the Victorian cryptozoology lecture. It wasn't bad but nothing I haven't heard/seen before. So I regret the absinthe thing but then again it was probably packed like sardines.
930 was the authors telling ghost stories. Leanna Renee Hieber, Robyn Bennis (both with Tor), Phoebe Darkling, Sophie Beaumont (who used to work with my publisher) and her roomie, Ashley (whose surname I've unfortunately forgotten). That was fun. Robyn had a completely inappropriate and very funny story that was more ghoulish than ghostly. I don't really want to get into it publically since a) it's not my story and b) the business in general might be recognizable and honestly there could be reprecussions from this. Anyhow that was a good time and I enjoyed hanging with them since I'll be with them the whole weekend....
I had wanted to stay for the late night lectures and/or the bands BUT frankly working in the labs all morning, then what blew up at work that delayed me 2 hours before I made the 2 hour drive. I was done. I'm getting older, sigh. You'd think I'd go right to sleep but nope. I was up to 2 AM and when I turned off the TV I could hear the steampunkers partying across the courtyard and up to my second floor room. Sigh. Well at least my room in the Fairfield was nice.
It opened at 10 (and you know what I felt lucky that I got to be across the courtyard in the Fairfield because my breakfast was free but the convention Holiday Inn you had to pay!) THere wasn't any panels I wanted so that really works out because I could go to the vendor hall. It wasn't that large but I liked the selection. I really did want to get a corset or other part of my garb but the corests said they had larger sizes but they really didn't (which was ironic because one of the talks the night before was about size inclusivity). The lady with the whimsy coats did have larger sizes and would throw in alterations for free (but here's the thing, I COULD sew what she was offering), the other costumer had lovely stuff BUT ignored anyone over 120 pounds (I was there all weekend watching this) I'm like a) do you know your clientele? b) screw you for being rude.
There was a guy who did fantastic stuff weapon wise (nerf as that is steampunk protocol, we often have nerf battles. I even wrote one into Kept Tears. He had a crossbow with a hummingbird on it. I honestly considered it. It wasn't ridiculously expensive but it was rather large. It would have made sense with the character I was doing. For two days (the first two) I was doing Concetta Mazzo, the character from the novel I want to write. I did link up the scene just a few days ago. But on the other hand, it was just big enough to be a pain in the butt.
11:30 was read your favorite page. All the authors above, me and Ashley, a transgendered woman who wrote a 'radio show' style story that they produced later in the evening but read a page here. I read from Kept Tears and I really enjoyed it. I'm so very glad that one of the two people from my airship (there was just the three of us. He came because his wife was doing one of the iron tailor things and boy is she good!) It was something else to be sitting at a table with Tor authors and reading like we were all on the same level on the playing field. Not many attended but that's fine. I got to do it and that makes me smile.
After that it was an hour with Robyn and I got her to sign book one which I brought and read two years ago (The Guns Above, loved it) and bought book two. And the funny thing is both autographs have to do with us exchanging and building on the above mentioned inappropriate funny story so someone somewhen is going to be wondering about tales of severed heads in my book autographs.
I tried to find Ban Thai for lunch but it wasn't where my GPS said it was so Popeyes it was and at 4 pm I had my panel about small press and indie publishing. It was all teh above authors minus Robyn and Leanna. It went well and we had only a few people but lots and lots of questions.
Dinner was me jammed into O'Charley's at the bar with one woman at the far end bawling her eyes out (not sure why). I went to the Whitechapel lecture (where we basically shredded the guy who claims to have used DNA to solve the case which yeah is so incredibly unlikely for many reasons, if curious ask), I also went to tales of haunted Ohio (because you know me) Have I told the story of the Cincinnati music hall? If not,ask. The last lecture was Violet Ray and Vibrators lecture which was given by husband/wife team who also run a fetish club in Philly. I knew about some of this but seeing the early vibrators makes me want to move Concetta's story up to about 1905 or so. Maybe more gaslight fantasy than steampunk. I enjoyed playing with the violet ray machine but I all ready knew that was my kink.
The one I didn't know about was you can now get a machine that has a device where your partner absorbs the energy and his/her fingers are what delivers the charge to you (which I think I went into the day I attended the lecture). Need to use that in fiction, in life.
I didn't buy the premiere tickets (maybe next year) so I wasn't able to go the masquerade ball at midnight.
Another 10 oclock hole in my schedule. Nothing I wanted to see so I spent money. I'll share what I bought another day when I get a chance to take pictures. My last panel on steampunk in general went okay. It was a bad time slot for an intro to steam thing but I'm not the one who scheduled it. Ah well. People took my bookmarks but no sales. Maybe they'll buy it online.
I got to hear a little of the goth band Valentine Wolfe. Take a listen I liked it.
And then I went to Jungle Jim's on my way home. You know about that already
Day one's hat and a little Hodag (the theme was steamtastic beasts)
Obligatory mirror pic of me in full Concetta Mazzo monster hunting gear.
Owl creatures
I really liked her
Steamy Santa is here every year
Day 2 hat with another Hodag
Me as my dieselpunk character Eidola Ellsworth and her fox Msqui with her prosthetic leg. I regret not taking a full body mirror pic of this dress because it's lovely
In case you wanted to know what a violet ray machine looks like. Believe it or not, a middle school science prof introduce me to this using the comb as a comb (to make our hair stand up), this WAS a medical device later repurposed for sex games.
I had to work so I was lamenting missing most of the first day but it turns out I didn't miss much. It actually didn't open until 4 and the actual opening ceremonies were at 7. I had to miss that in my search for food. The chinese food I had selected from tripadvisor let me sitting there for 15 minutes with zero service so I left and found a good BBQ place.
Somehow I missed the 8 pm absinthe tasting and ended up in the Victorian cryptozoology lecture. It wasn't bad but nothing I haven't heard/seen before. So I regret the absinthe thing but then again it was probably packed like sardines.
930 was the authors telling ghost stories. Leanna Renee Hieber, Robyn Bennis (both with Tor), Phoebe Darkling, Sophie Beaumont (who used to work with my publisher) and her roomie, Ashley (whose surname I've unfortunately forgotten). That was fun. Robyn had a completely inappropriate and very funny story that was more ghoulish than ghostly. I don't really want to get into it publically since a) it's not my story and b) the business in general might be recognizable and honestly there could be reprecussions from this. Anyhow that was a good time and I enjoyed hanging with them since I'll be with them the whole weekend....
I had wanted to stay for the late night lectures and/or the bands BUT frankly working in the labs all morning, then what blew up at work that delayed me 2 hours before I made the 2 hour drive. I was done. I'm getting older, sigh. You'd think I'd go right to sleep but nope. I was up to 2 AM and when I turned off the TV I could hear the steampunkers partying across the courtyard and up to my second floor room. Sigh. Well at least my room in the Fairfield was nice.
It opened at 10 (and you know what I felt lucky that I got to be across the courtyard in the Fairfield because my breakfast was free but the convention Holiday Inn you had to pay!) THere wasn't any panels I wanted so that really works out because I could go to the vendor hall. It wasn't that large but I liked the selection. I really did want to get a corset or other part of my garb but the corests said they had larger sizes but they really didn't (which was ironic because one of the talks the night before was about size inclusivity). The lady with the whimsy coats did have larger sizes and would throw in alterations for free (but here's the thing, I COULD sew what she was offering), the other costumer had lovely stuff BUT ignored anyone over 120 pounds (I was there all weekend watching this) I'm like a) do you know your clientele? b) screw you for being rude.
There was a guy who did fantastic stuff weapon wise (nerf as that is steampunk protocol, we often have nerf battles. I even wrote one into Kept Tears. He had a crossbow with a hummingbird on it. I honestly considered it. It wasn't ridiculously expensive but it was rather large. It would have made sense with the character I was doing. For two days (the first two) I was doing Concetta Mazzo, the character from the novel I want to write. I did link up the scene just a few days ago. But on the other hand, it was just big enough to be a pain in the butt.
11:30 was read your favorite page. All the authors above, me and Ashley, a transgendered woman who wrote a 'radio show' style story that they produced later in the evening but read a page here. I read from Kept Tears and I really enjoyed it. I'm so very glad that one of the two people from my airship (there was just the three of us. He came because his wife was doing one of the iron tailor things and boy is she good!) It was something else to be sitting at a table with Tor authors and reading like we were all on the same level on the playing field. Not many attended but that's fine. I got to do it and that makes me smile.
After that it was an hour with Robyn and I got her to sign book one which I brought and read two years ago (The Guns Above, loved it) and bought book two. And the funny thing is both autographs have to do with us exchanging and building on the above mentioned inappropriate funny story so someone somewhen is going to be wondering about tales of severed heads in my book autographs.
I tried to find Ban Thai for lunch but it wasn't where my GPS said it was so Popeyes it was and at 4 pm I had my panel about small press and indie publishing. It was all teh above authors minus Robyn and Leanna. It went well and we had only a few people but lots and lots of questions.
Dinner was me jammed into O'Charley's at the bar with one woman at the far end bawling her eyes out (not sure why). I went to the Whitechapel lecture (where we basically shredded the guy who claims to have used DNA to solve the case which yeah is so incredibly unlikely for many reasons, if curious ask), I also went to tales of haunted Ohio (because you know me) Have I told the story of the Cincinnati music hall? If not,ask. The last lecture was Violet Ray and Vibrators lecture which was given by husband/wife team who also run a fetish club in Philly. I knew about some of this but seeing the early vibrators makes me want to move Concetta's story up to about 1905 or so. Maybe more gaslight fantasy than steampunk. I enjoyed playing with the violet ray machine but I all ready knew that was my kink.
The one I didn't know about was you can now get a machine that has a device where your partner absorbs the energy and his/her fingers are what delivers the charge to you (which I think I went into the day I attended the lecture). Need to use that in fiction, in life.
I didn't buy the premiere tickets (maybe next year) so I wasn't able to go the masquerade ball at midnight.
Another 10 oclock hole in my schedule. Nothing I wanted to see so I spent money. I'll share what I bought another day when I get a chance to take pictures. My last panel on steampunk in general went okay. It was a bad time slot for an intro to steam thing but I'm not the one who scheduled it. Ah well. People took my bookmarks but no sales. Maybe they'll buy it online.
I got to hear a little of the goth band Valentine Wolfe. Take a listen I liked it.
And then I went to Jungle Jim's on my way home. You know about that already
Day one's hat and a little Hodag (the theme was steamtastic beasts) Obligatory mirror pic of me in full Concetta Mazzo monster hunting gear. Owl creatures I really liked her Steamy Santa is here every year Day 2 hat with another Hodag Me as my dieselpunk character Eidola Ellsworth and her fox Msqui with her prosthetic leg. I regret not taking a full body mirror pic of this dress because it's lovely In case you wanted to know what a violet ray machine looks like. Believe it or not, a middle school science prof introduce me to this using the comb as a comb (to make our hair stand up), this WAS a medical device later repurposed for sex games. 
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2019-04-06 10:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-06 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-04-06 12:22 pm (UTC)The con sounds fun! Glad you had a good time. :)
no subject
Date: 2019-04-06 03:29 pm (UTC)It was a fun time