It’s official. Dragon Con is my favorite convention. And it gets better every year. I didn’t add any new authors to my TBR, but I did meet another one of my Top Five Urban Fantasy Authors: PATRICIA BRIGGS. Even asked her a question in her panel (Who was Adelbert, and why did he need smiting?). And rather than bumping into one of the celebrity guests in the vendor halls, I found one chilling right outside the hotel as I was leaving. #ilovedragoncon
Friday is usually one of the busier days, but this year it was inexplicably more chill. Maybe b/c we’d finally learned to avoid the vendor halls until Saturday morning when everyone is at the parade (worth seeing once, not worth repeating).
BFF and I separated briefly in the morning—she went to something sciencey, while I was meant to be waiting in the Briggs line, but it didn’t go as planned. I was too early, and the people were still in line for the panel before hers . . . Or so I was told. I should’ve known that something was up—yeah, Patty Briggs is a Big Deal, but is she BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA big? Maybe to me and you, but not the rest of the world. *sniffs* Plebeians.
BUT.
I’m glad I was in the wrong line, b/c this is my third Dragon Con, and after walking past the line for the Karl Urban panel that first year, I haven’t even attempted to get into any of the celebrity panels. *shrugs* It seemed like a waste, when I could go to THREE other panels in the time I’d be waiting in line to get into one.
Or not . . . I joined the Battlestar line a mere half an hour before showtime, and I walked right in with room to spare. #sosayweall
Ended up in the second row of the Briggs panel too. *moonwalks* *booty shakes*
Later that afternoon was the Ace panel which is always fun. This year’s author panel included Briggs (AGAIN!), Cherie Priest, Chloe Niell, Faith Hunter, Nancy Holzner. And Jack Campbell, moderated by Anne Sowards (the editor behind most of my favorite UF writers), AND they gave us free books.
That night we went to the UF party to meet up with Jane Yellowrock (Faith Hunter’s cosplayer), whom I discovered at Dragon Con 2016 was a someone I’d known since Girl Scouts, and for inexplicable reasons we decided that was the night to wear fangs. *sing songs* The vampire and the hunter can be friends . . .
Ye gods, Saturday. *is exhausted just remembering it*
I think we spent like four(ish) hours in the vendor halls. And it was only relatively uncrowded for the first. After that it was insanity, but shopping, so what are you going to do?
We went directly from there to wait for the joint Briggs and Dan dos Santos signing, where we got free stuff b/c first twenty. *fist pumps*
I’m not gonna lie. I was ready for a break by the time we’d gotten all our swag signed.
Which was why after dumping the fruits of earlier spree in our hotel room, we headed towards the Pizza place we’d been eyeing since we checked in . . . And after our second try, we were actually going in the right direction. *snorts*
BUT.
We a still a full block away when we realized we were about the enter enemy territory . . . Dragon Con wasn’t the only event Atlanta was hosting that weekend, you see . . . There was also FOOTBALL. It was standing room only, but apparently sports fans can be chivalrous, so a large enough hole was made at the bar for us to put in a togo order, and I count that as a win.
All that was left to do after that was get ready for the Heroes and Villains Ball, which I’m pretty sure is going to be our standard Saturday night endgame. B/c AWESOME. Also, it’s excellent for my ego for reasons that will be made obvious b/c picture evidence. (PS: the multiple picture posts work the same when you embed them as they do on Instagram, meaning you can arrow through several pics on a lot of my Instagram stuff. FOR EXAMPLE, Skeletor is behind Aladdin. #andthatsnottheonlyone FYI.)
Was rough. I think I got four hours of sleep, which is about as much as I’d gotten the night before, and bff wasn’t doing much better.
BUT. Things to do. Things like Robot Battles.
And things like the Delphic Oracle, my favorite panel from 2015. The format was a little different, but it was still hilarious (despite Christopher Paolini’s inability to stop saying the same word every time it was his turn *rolls eyes*). Myke Cole and Sam Sykes could’ve carried it by themselves, and will probably find myself there again next year.
Or wherever Myke Cole is. *swoons*
After that we kind of meandered. I had a couple books to get signed in the Marriott, which is also the best place to observe the cosplayers, so bff was happy, and eventually we made it back to our hotel to get ready for my favorite Dragon Con party: the Midnight Masquerade of Alternate History track fame. This year’s theme was Frontier.
I’d originally planned to hit the 11:30 UF track panel with Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Faith Hunter, and Patricia Briggs, but I couldn’t do it. We were beat, and I’d already seen all of them at least once, so I’m not ashamed to admit that we slept late, threw our bags in the car, and drove home.
Yeah, we were exhausted, but so. Much. Fun.
I’m already planning what to wear next year. We’ve never done steampunk before, but I think we’re up to the challenge.
My name is Jessica and I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’m trying my hand at writing, but mostly I read. My favorite genres are Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and the YA versions of those genres, but if there is a book of a different color getting lots of buzz, I’ll read it too, just to be informed. If I’m not reading or writing, I’m probably on Goodreads or Pinterest or baking blueberry pies because I love them.
I got tired just reading of your journey! You packed so much into just a few days, but man, it looked like so much fun!! I’d like to get to DragonCon sometime. This year is Storycon for me. I’m excited!
Tanya recently posted…Review ~ White Hot by Ilona Andrews @Ilona_Andrews
I went to StoryCon last year! It was so much fun, I hope you have a blast!
I have yet to do a Con…but it is on my mind a lot when I see a post like yours. Glad you had so much fun.
sherry fundin recently posted…Giveaway – Extinct by Samie Sands @SamieSands @SDSXXTours
You definitely should. I look forward to Dragon Con every year like I do Christmas
Looks like so much fun!!
That’s b/c IT IS
I must have just missed you at the UF track party!
As a guest, it’s rare that I get a chance to attend any panels, but I did manage to see a BSG panel and a Wynnona Earp panel.
Also had a great time on panels. This year, I got to panel with so many authors (Chloe Neill, Myke Cole, David B. Coe, Claudia Gray, Cherie Priest…). So much fun!
Aahhh! I wish I’d known you were there!
Like I said, BSG was an accident, but now that I know it’s not impossible to get into those kinds of panels, I’m definitely going to plan on it next year.
I can’t even imagine, it had to be AMAZING.
Wow! You sure had a fun time at Dragon Con! I love the image of you and the lady in the Game of Thrones chair!
Ronyell (a.k.a Rabbitearsblog) recently posted…[BOOK REVIEW] The Book that Jack Wrote by Jon Scieszka
Indeed I did And yeah, Olenna Tyrell was one of my favorite cosplayers. That is one cool old lady.