Balticon 2009

Balticon is a strange animal. I’ve been to the huge productions (OK, just one, but I’ve attended Dragon*Con regularly for many years) that are exciting and overwhelming, and I’ve been to small cons that have their awesome moments, but feel tired and drab much of the time. And then there’s Balticon.

I’m not sure of the actual numbers of Balticon, but I know it bumped up against the 2K mark. The energy of the con is high, intense, but without the “OMFG I’m lost and tired and scared of these crowds and what hotel is the Trek Track in again?” feeling of Dragon*Con. In the past four years it’s become one of my favorite cons. This year was no exception.

Highlights of the con, in no particular order:

Readings- Last year at Balticon I had a reading and crammed the room full of people. It was hot and uncomfortable and several people missed it.

So this year the con took pity on them and gave us a bigger room, which we filled more comfortably. [In picture below, Devo Spice, Laura Burns, John Cmar, Matt Wallace, JR Blackwell and Will Hoffacker.]

The reading itself went very well. I went for some pieces of Heaven Season Five: War, featuring totally new characters. That went over quite well, and topping it off with the Fingertips Flash: Wreck My Car was apparently the right thing to do. The funny thing is, I’d never read that one aloud, and it reads really well.

The only other reading I was able to attend was that of JC Hutchins‘, as he was reading from his highly anticipated first print novel, Personal Effects: Dark Art. Hutch has told me in the past that he is terrible at reading aloud, and either he’s a big ole liar or the con was a breakthrough, because his reading was smooth, engaging, and entertaining. And the story was amazing. I’d read an ARC of the book, but having him read it aloud was another experience. (If you want to know more about this book, make sure you watch I Should Be Writing Video #8, which features an interview with Hutch.)

ISBW workshop- Four years ago this August (Golly!) I decided to start a little podcast that was essentially me saying, “Gee, it’s hard to get started in this writing biz, huh?” I worried that an unpublished Mur podcasting about writing would cause the gods who punish hubris to rain fire down upon me, but the podcast went well and got some very nice comments from some very respected writers. Who knew?

So when I was asked to do an ISBW workshop at Balticon, I worried about the same gods again, with the terror and the fire and the hubris punishing. So I asked editor David Moldawer to join me. (My friend and enemy, Matt Fkn Wallace, was to also help us, but he got caught in a great battle in Chicago and was forced to fight for the innocent instead of come to the con on time.)

We covered beginner stuff, a lot of what I talk about on ISBW, and I think people got some stuff out of it. The three of us had developed the Bushido of Writing and were basing our advice on that. (Will be expanding the Bushido of Writing in future episodes of ISBW, so don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything.)

The Vintage Gamer LIVE- My husband Jim did the first live version of his podcast, talking about vintage games, with several guests. I got to talk about Doom, how it shaped me, and then revealed that I had tattooed cheat codes on my body. In retrospect, using a sharpie would have been more visible, but I didn’t want IDCHOPPERS (the code to get a chainsaw) written across my breasts for the rest of the week. We had a song by Rob Balder and then live Operation with John Cmar, Tee Morris, Jim and Matt Fkn Wallace.

The BLT- I wouldn’t normally post about a meal. I mean, it was a meal. Whoop-de-doo. When I get stressed, sleep-deprived, or hungover, my appetite is the first thing to go. As I’m usually checking off more than one of those three things at a con, I don’t eat much. But before my reading on Sunday, I ran to the bar to grab a sandwich. And I got the BLT from hell. I didn’t count the amount of bacon on it, but I’d guess maybe 8-10 slices. And the reason I bring it up is that someone saw the bacon pic from Evo Terra (or Ms. Information, not sure which), checked me out, found my I Should Be Writing podcast, and started listening. I have a new listener. All because of bacon.

Inside Story Breakfast- I’ve heard of a Kaffee Klatsch before- meeting up with authors at cons and just hanging with them, but I’ve never had one myself. I decided to start hosting unofficial ones for the people who have paid to be part of the premium subscription for Heaven, The Inside Story. They pay $5 and get to receive early content, then if they hit any of the same cons I go to, I buy them coffee and doughnuts and give them a talk about Heaven, PFK, or whatever. I feared 9am on Sunday was too early, but it was the only day I could do it. And people showed up! And we had almost the exact right amount of food! it was amazing. Thanks to everyone who showed up for support and the chat, it was great to see you all.

Other Murs- Three things really blew me away this weekend- unexpected, wonderful things. And they all happened Saturday night. First, during the FUMP concert (which I was missing half of cause of dinner in the bar) Devo Spice caught me and told me I really shouldn’t miss his next song. This turned out to be Brain Food, the gangsta zombie rap song he wrote specifically for my audio drama, The Takeover. I was excited to see it live, and very much enjoying it and the animations playing behind him. But I thought he wanted me to see it because it was the song I’d asked him to write. I was only half right. During the middle of the song, this appeared behind him:

The other two things came at the New Media Party where attendees were meant to dress as their favorite podiobook authors or characters. I ran into Susan Z, dressed in a tank top, goggles, a do-rag, and her customary blue hair was purple. “I’m you!” she said.

THEN the fabulous and talented JR Blackwell ran up to me with a puppet on her arm. Purple hair, glasses, and a red shirt that said WAR. I am completely speechless.

And of course the most amazing part of the con is always meeting up with old friends, new listeners/readers, and meeting creative and amazing people. Everyone from podcasters to authors to webcomics creators to filk musicians – it’s inspiring to be around that many creative people. And I know there were things and people I haven’t mentioned, and I’m sorry if I left anything out, but I did have a truly wonderful con, I bonded with some rare and wonderful people, and thank you if you were part of that.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Tags: balticon, conventions

Category: Personal, Travel