Sf Contario!

Apologies, my five followers, for not posting sooner. As most of you know, I have been on hiatus as I've been off promoting my book! Last weekend I attended a fan run convention for the first time in my life and had a blast. This past weekend has been all book signings and debut parties-- which have also been a blast, but more about that later...

If you look closely, you'll see my name tag says: Panelist. Woo!

SF Contario, thank you for a fantastic weekend!

Not only did  I discover a new form of music, meet a ton of amazing people, but I sold some books too! I even did a book trade with a fellow author, Timothy Carter-- otherwise known as Tim. Tim-Timmy-Tim-Tim-Timmerson... Tim. Timothy = hilarity.

Am I ever glad we did a book trade. I am reading Section K (which I don't think is out yet, boo-ya!) and it is hilarious. I lent another novel of his, The Cupid War, to my friend Holly and she said she loved it, so I cannot wait to get it back from her. Hopefully Timmerson will enjoy Detective Docherty equally as much, though for some reason he seems to think it's titled Detective Douchebag. Ah well.

My first evening was actually my reading. I never thought the day would come that I would read part of my book to complete strangers. I fantasized about it often, but worried it would never come to pass. Sadly my minion (you know who you are) was so absorbed in my awesomeness, that she failed to take any photos of my reading... The good news: someone else did. I have contacted him and hope to hear from him shortly!

The reading itself was a bit of a debacle and somewhat humorous. As it turns out, most of the authors were doing readings in room 207, while I was scheduled in the Gardenview. While one part of the program had me listed in 207, another part said Gardenview... I just went with what my e mail and name tag told me! Which lead to no one coming to my reading at all, haha.

The good news: Keli and I physically forced against their will coerced a delightful group of people into the room and tied them to chairs and asked them to stay for a reading. It turned out rather well. I did not mess up too much and I even brought some props with me.

A dear friend helped me make some props for my talk, so I had some shinnies to show everyone in addition to doing an extremely animated reading for everyone.

As it turned out, a large portion of the group were doing a panel in the room right after me anyway, haha. No wonder they were so easily talked into it! But my minion and I could not be happier. It turns out our new friends were Filkers! Musicians and singers who enjoy writing fan fiction or playing fan fiction songs and spoken word.

That's my minion with the filkers. Nothing like a good filk session!

I had no idea such a thing existed! There were songs that made me laugh and even a song that had me in tears! It is amazing what people can put together for the fantasy and science fiction they love :) Before you knew it, my minion and I were wearing Filker badges and attending all the filking sessions, and what a bunch of raucous filkers they were! I don't know what the filk happened, but I can proudly say that I am hooked on Filk music.

I'm signing a book for a great Filker named Jane at a Filk circle!

When I wasn't filking around, I was attending panels and getting to know the other conventioneers. The panels I attended included: SF and Gender and Writing in the Digital age. I originally had a third, however I was unwell in the morning and unable to attend :( Shame, abject shame.

Science Fiction and Gender, what a powerful conversation that was. Not only was I ridiculously late to the panel, but when I heard the large words and passion for the topic from the other panelists, I was afraid to approach the table, haha. I had to wait for encouragement from a nice woman sitting beside me to jump in on conversation and join everyone at the front.

While I did not have a lot of background on the subject, I feel I had some useful input. Perhaps even a little useful humour? That's were Timothy comes in. We met on this panel, though with three opinionated and excited women sitting on the panel with him, he did not get much in, though what he did say was very interesting. I am glad he was there, we definitely needed a male's perspective and Timothy had a lot great references and input.

While there is still a lot of bias from both male and female writers-- and audiences, I do feel that generally speaking, we are moving in a better direction for gender roles in science fiction and fantasy.

The last panel that I attended was Writing in the Digital Age. Timmothson also attended that panel. Here we are snickering together, hehe:

WTF is going on with my hair!?!

I felt this was also a great conversation. There were a couple of other authors in the audience that joined us and we had several other listeners come and go throughout the panel. It was the last day and it was rather busy!

This picture of me, where it looks like I am sticking my pen up my nose, is oddly enough one of the best pictures of me from the convention.

It was interesting to note that even in this digital age, we were all there at the convention to make more of a personal connection with readers and soon-to-be readers. We discussed the major mediums of networking this day in age: Facebook, Twitter, and blogging, in addition to sites like Goodreads and Wattpad, but Lynna  Merrill, who also attended the panel, had some great marketing input outside of social networking which I found very helpful and fully intend on putting to good use. Thank you Lynna!

A part from the panels I spent most of my time in the convention suite, having great conversation with the other conventioneers, and of course indulging in copious amounts of junk food :D 

It was truly wonderful to connect with writers and readers in an up close and personal setting. As this was the first fan run convention I have ever attended, I had no idea what to expect. Everyone was very welcoming and my minion and I will remember that weekend fondly.

Looking forward to attending SF Contario next year and many years to come!

Thank you readers. More updates to come. This is Sarah WaterRaven signing out.