Norwescon report

Norwescon is a terrific con. It’s got great costuming, a lovely art show, a nice dealer room, and tons of variety in activities. I made no parties. They get too loud for me. I got in on Thursday and immediately ran into friends while standing in line to check in to the hotel. I dumped my stuff in my room and then off to get checked in to the con, where I ran into more friends. (This was only my second Norwescon, but so many people I know attend and I made lots of new friends. Plus a lot of recent friends from the Rainforest Writers Retreat were there.

The first panel was at five and was packed. In fact all the panels all weekend were packed, and even though my reading was at 12:30 on Sunday as everybody was running away home, I still had a pretty good audience.  Mostly my panels went really well. There were a couple that had some bumps, like straying from topic, or worse, having children in the panel on creative insults. That really tied our hands, or rather, tongues, if you will. But we endeavored to keep things decently clean and had a good discussion.

I went to the Tony and Vixy and the Seanan McGuire concerts on Friday night. Loved them. It was my first time seeing either perform, and they were wonderful. Here are Tony and Vixy performing Red Right Hand.

I got to meet people I never met before, including Nisi Shawl and Stina Leight, Chrysoula Tzavaelas, and the fabulous Krista Wallace. I ate chocolate fudge brownie sundaes and drank lots of tea, and talked about a lot of writing and other things. The hotel food was horrendously expensive and not particularly tasty, so we walked to Dave’s Diner with some frequency.

The only real problem at Norwescon, and one I hope they address soon, is that they didn’t have a new book seller anywhere. So there was nowhere to buy almost any of the books by any of the authors at the con, except for some self-pubbed authors who set up tables. Barely anyone came into the signings because they couldn’t get books at the con. It really sucked. I would really love to see the con make a point of making sure that all their author panelists had books available for sale. Authors give a lot of time to the con and are hoping to expand readership and fans. Having books available would be good for everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Comments

  • Jeanine Swanson

    I’m glad you had a wonderful time.
    We appreciate the feedback regarding new bookseller. We are talking with Duane Wilkins of the UW Bookstore. He’s responsible for the SF & F section and is an avid fan.

    He is responsible for wonderful readings at the bookstore and has great relationships with many authors.

    We’re excited!

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