Last year, I thought it would never be harder to write a post-con post.
And then this year had to go and decimate that conclusion.
Last year was a year of firsts. First panels, first meetings, first exposure to “fans”…
Perhaps I should just dub Balticon the “con of firsts”, because this year was full of firsts also. The big first here being the live reading. More on that in a moment.
As I was standing around talking in the lobby with folks about my upcoming first panel, Podiobooks: Free Serial Audio, only to discover that I was not a panelist, but the moderator. Cue the panic! It’s one thing to sit there and have to form coherent thoughts about the questions directed at you, another to have yourself composed enough to THINK of the questions and be able to direct the panelists and conversation. So, about 20 minutes before the panel I searched my brain for anything I could think of to ask people. Luckily, my panelists were Nathan Lowell, Christiana Ellis, and Chris Miller and none of them have any trouble speaking on any subject intelligently for any length of time. I received much praise for my handling of the panel. Apparently, saying one thing and promptly shutting up is the exact right thing to do when you’re a moderator. Score one for me!
Saturday was a very big day. I’m saving the stuff about the live reading for later though, so, once again, I’m skipping that part. I did have the enormous pleasure of attending all the James Durham FETIDUS readings and party, and if you know anything at all about Mr. Durham (or read my fangirl gush over him from last year), you know that everything that man touches is filled with inspiration. This is someone who’s creativity knows no bounds. If you want proof go here and you’ll see what I mean.
Sunday brought another first for me, a panel/voice acting exercise hosted by Alex White. Alex is another one of those ultra-creatives, and his skills in music, graphic design, and writing are notorious in the podcasting community. Honestly, I was only slightly terrified when I found out he would be putting myself and fellow panelists (Laura Nicole, Marc Bailey, and Renee White) through our voice acting paces, but the panel went swimmingly and I understand there’s the possibility of a podcast coming out of it!
Next up was the Metamor City LIVE reading that Chris Lester was kind enough to invite me to be a part of. It was great fun to be part of such a big production. There are so many super talented folks in this community, that I’m awed they let me in at all! LOL
The Autograph session followed this, and it went about as expected. I was very tickled to sit next to Philippa Ballantine and feel important. I even signed a few things myself.
The last big event I was scheduled for was a bit of an eyebrow raiser. It was another one I’d been chosen to moderate, but it wasn’t a surprise role so I prepared for it. The gist of the panel was in regards to paranormal romance, and which type of being was “best”. There was discussion about trends, past, present and future, and a bit of the why’s of it. It was all very entertaining, but the best part came at the end when I threw out the “____ or ____: pick one and why” questions. Much laughter was had in the Derby room that evening, and a great time was had by all.
If you’d like to see photos of all the fun stuff that happened over the course of the weekend, including shots of me in Steampunk finery, visit the Flickr pool for Balticon 45 or drop by my Facebook page, where you can see which ones I’ve been tagged in specifically.
So, about the live reading of the new project…
The audio is almost ready to drop! Due to there only being one recorder, the audio needed a bit of tweaking so that you can hear everyone properly. Producer extraordinaire, Jamie Jordan, is putting the finishing touches on it right now and I’m hoping to drop it in the feed sometime tonight. There’s video footage also, but it might be awhile before it’s available for viewing. I’m sure you can guess where you can hear about it when it is ready.
It’s always sad and shocking when Balticon is over. It goes by so quickly, but when you’re packing that much awesome into one place, it’s hard for time to not fly by!
x
Thoughts. We needs them, Precious.