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Two weeks ago, I went to Madison, WI to attend WisCon[1]. For those who don't know about it, it is a feminist sci-fi convention which I've been doing to for about five years now.
I love the panels and community there, they show a world that I'm cannot join myself. I like seeing other stories, other people, other views that are so different from mine but also inspire me. This is a panel convention, almost all the events are panels as opposed to activities. That also means that there isn't much to do for the boys or my spouse.
While I go to Madison with my wife and the boys, I don't go with anyone to the convention. This puts me an interesting place where I don't have friends to hang around at the convention. I'm not really great at finding a group of “friends” there, so I end up spending most of the weekend alone between panels.
I did recognized two others there and had brief conversations, but that was about it.
This is probably the most frustrating thing about this convention. I can't really talk to anyone about what I'm listening to or reading. I just get hints and pieces of it despite doing panels. Some years, this makes me feel rather depressed but this year wasn't too bad. I think the reason was that someone was interested in what I said during a panel.
My other convention, ICON[2], is a different story. I have a lot more relationships with people who go there. Yeah, I spend hours just meandering about as they go to their own panel, but there is a chance that I will stumble on one of them and hang around for a little bit.
2: http://iowa-icon.com/icon41/index.html
The first panel I went to was the Art of Book Reviewers. I like this panel because they talked about the difference of a book review and a critique. Reviews are teasers, critiques are spoilers. In many aspects, I write a bit of both but I think it gave me a framework for having the review part in the beginning and a critique at the end, which will make it easier to separate the two.
I don't review very often, but there were some good advice about the difference between the two. Not to mention adjusting reviews for the target audience.
My first panel, a reading. I read the second chapter of Flight of the Scions[3]. There was some rough points, but it is a fifth draft so that was okay.
3: https://fedran.com/flight-of-the-scions/
LaShawn M. Wanak[4], who I met earlier checking in, had a fantatsic story about wood-like spores in the shape of people. Exterminators use singing and music to break them down. There is a lot in that story. It had a nice noir feel to it and had a lot of promise. I can't wait to read more.
4: https://tbonecafe.wordpress.com/
Gwynne Garfinkle[5] read a number of poems, almost all of them to older horror monsters. I really love the one about loving the Blob and one about Bride of Frankenstein. She has a nice voice to her poems.
5: http://gwynnegarfinkle.com/
Alex Bledsoe[6] read a chapter from one of his book series. It was quirky and music-based which really fit the theme for everyone but me. Characters down on their luck always attraction my attention and his story fit that bill nicely.
I was late showing up and there was only standing room left. I wanted to go to it, but too many people were interested in the same topic. So I went to…
A very informative panel about fat characters in fiction. I saw different ways of seeing fat, both from labeling (skinny fat verses fat fat) and also how they are presented problems. There was a lot of talk about fan villains, only being fat to present a problem, and talking about how many fictions don't include fat characters as protagonists.
My second panel. I got to talk about writing and role-playing games, how they fit together and how they don't work. A lot of discussion that I got into was about authors having “one voice” verses RPG where a player will come up with something the author/gamemaster didn't think about it.
I got to talk about how I come up with three events in most NPCs that determine their life and built up as a series of experiences. There were other tricks for creating NPCs.
I got a few laughs, that was good.
This ended up being my favorite panel. We talked about pens and paper, fancy gadgets that I will never use, and writing processes. I talked a bit about using Git and Markdown, which actually got some people excited (and someone actually wanted me to show it after the panel! *squee*).
This was recorded as a podcast by K. Tempest Bradford[7], so I'll post a link when it gets posted. I like her insights into WisCon in general, but also the process she uses for writing (and pen lover), though I probably won't deviate from my own.
7: http://tempest.fluidartist.com/
I'm thinking about writing up writing using Git and Markdown again, mainly to reflect the changes since my last one.
I didn't do anything else on Sunday because I went to see my grandma, aunt, my aunt's husband, and my cousin. We went to McDonalds where the boys had a grand time and I got to talk. It was a relatively positive visit but it is always good too see family.
While the rest of the family headed back to Iowa, I finished up with SignOut. Overall, that was probably the lowest point of the convention. No one asked for a signature. I had one person scoff at the cover and another compliment it. Mostly, I chatted with my table mate, Catherine Schaff-Stump[8] who I shared a table last year. We chatted about writing.
8: http://cathschaffstump.com/
Someone I knew from ICON came by. We chatted for a bit and she pointed out why she didn't like the back of Sand and Blood[9] which eventually led me into hiring someone to write a new blurb for the first three books.
9: https://fedran.com/sand-and-blood/
In the end, it was a positive convention. Yeah, it ended on a low note and I felt out of place most of the time, but I still enjoyed myself. I got an idea for a couple of stories in the process, I'll add them to my list and see if they ever happen.
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