ZCon

[przed]

Got back from ZCon last night, my first con as a parent. And it was utterly fabulous, though as always far too short. I think it might have felt even shorter, it being the last ZCon and the whole enterprise being shot through with just a little bit of sadness. I've only been to three ZCons, including this one, and I still found myself tearing up a bit several times during the Saturday night party.

So much for the bitter. The sweet was very sweet indeed. I'm so very glad I got to room with faramir_boromir. (She's been campaigning me to go since MediaWest, so when the Sweetie insisted he could handle parenting duties of the weekend, I just had to go.) We don't see each other nearly enough, so it was utterly fab to spend so much of the con together.

It was also great to see so many Pros friends. Finally meeting agentxpndble was a special treat, seeing as how we've got so many obsessions in common. Likewise finally meeting msmoat, though I didn't get to spend nearly enough time talking with her. (You have to send me that S/H story you're working on.) It was also great to see krisserci5 again, having met her for the first time at Escapade. She matches and exceeds my Pros obsession, making her inspirational to spend time with. Then there's justacat, my once and (hopefully) future collaborator who is always full of love for the lads. She also had dates for the next Close Quarters Pros con, (July 17-19, 2009, yay!) which I am absolutely going to.

I also got to meet Ellis Ward in person. How cool is that? She was one of four writers I adored in Blake's 7 who were waiting for me when I got to Pros. It was very nice indeed to be able to tell her in person what her writing has meant to me all these years, and especially how much I love Harlequin Airs. And also finally meeting artconserv in person was amazing. She's as gracious in person as she's always been in email and online, and my word, is she talented. She won a bucket of awards in the art show, including one for an absolutely stunning portrait of Doyle. I was in no position to bid in the auction this year, but I did get a print of that portrait because it is beautiful. (Even the Sweetie, who is often skeptical about fan art, said it was gorgeous.)

I finally got to spend a bit of quality time with Kath Moonshine and Glow. They're such great people and I always have lovely talks with them, but they never seem long enough. This time I got to go to dinner with them both on Saturday evening.

The vid show was a marathon (I bailed at 1:30 a.m. and it was still going on) but wonderful. Flamingo had pulled together a plethora of new and classic vids from a number of fandoms. I'd forgotten just how much I love Starsky & Hutch, but the vids brought it all back. And it was great to see some of Glow's classic Sentinel vids on screen. My new Pros vid seemed to go over well, and it was cool to see my one and only I Spy vid get a good reaction, even if it was freaking late and only the die hards remained in the audience.

I somehow ended up on three panels, which was nutty but fun. (I seriously had no time to even think of prepping.) Funnily enough, the one that seemed to go best and which I seemed to have the most to say (thankfully, since I'd been made mod) was the Life on Mars panels, which I thought I was going into empty. Let's hear it for winging it.

Last but not least, it was fab to spend time, but not nearly enough, with the California crew. nol4269 and nanner_buddy are always fun and welcoming and a joy to be around, and they surround themselves with people who are likewise. And I must send a big thank you to twistnboo for making the craziest butterfly afghan for Rosalind.

I'm sure there are people I'm forgetting (kiwisue! paris7am, my fellow slash mom! sithdragn!) but let me just end by saying that ZCon reminded me of all that fandom can be and why I got into it in the first place. And it got me writing again. (I got a bunch of scenes of the Pros Story That Will Not End cleaned up and finished in the hotel room and on the flight home. And new inspiration to finally get cracking on my bloody Pros novel, not too mention some UNCLE stories.)

Comments

[przed.livejournal.com]

So glad we met at the con! And that you friended me. And that you're watching and reading Pros! (You've managed to read both my favourites amongst my own stories.)

If you're up for more zine suggestions, UNCLE or Pros, drop me a line. I've got quite the collection in both fandoms.