Back from FantaSci Con

(Photo:(left to right): Cheryel Hutton, Christina Barber, Georgiana Kotarski)

Okay, today’s blog is a recap of the weekend at FantaSci Convention.

The weather was great in Chattanooga, though slightly a bit on the nippy side at night. The cold evening normally wouldn’t be an issue for the convention, but this time we were in a new hotel, rather a motel, with outdoor halls. All in all though, it wasn’t too bad.

Somehow, I was the 'Featured Literary Guest', so that was just cool!

Friday was the meet and greet. We had all of our fellow guests and some wonderful food (OMG – French Onion dip!) crammed into a small area. Several attendees joined us for some laughs, and a look into art and writing from the perspective of the artist and author. It was interesting to me how much art and writing are similar in their creative process, but equally fascinating is how much they are different.

Saturday was an early start and breakfast at a diner. It had been ages since I ate at a diner, so this was truly a treat for me. On my first panel, Cheryel and Georgiana joined me for a talk about how a book journeys from the author’s imagination to eventually sit upon the bookshelf in a bookstore. We had a lovely time and good discussion.

My next panel was solo, but Cheryel showed up to drop something off to me, and I snagged her to sit on the panel. In this panel we talked about genres, and bending or blending genre. We had a lively group, who ultimately asked some very good questions. I love an active audience! We also had a fun talk about my novel, Seely's Pond. And the reason it was 'fun' was that we, those in the know, didn't want to tell specific plot points to those who hadn't read it. It would truly spoil the read if we had divulged that information. Anyway, we talked in a code like fashion. For instance we discussed the 'medical' parts - (those who have read will have no trouble knowing what we mean by that one) and how it was really scary/twisted. etc. It was also great to hear others view of the novel, including the men who pointed out that while Seely's was in first person female perspective, they could easily hook into the character. BTW- You guys rock my world!!!

From there I talked with Charles of Silver Phoenix Entertainment about his comic and graphic novel line.

I was then asked to be on the TPIT (Tennessee Paranromal Investigation Team) radio show. We had a rockin’ time, including my surprising the team by turning the ‘interview’ table and asking them a question.

Afterward, much food and merriment (read wine) followed.

When Sunday arrived, I was exhausted and brain dead. After my two plus hour drive home, I relaxed with the family.

Now, I have four days to resume the regular schedule before I’m off again to Imagicon.

I’ll post after (or maybe during) that event next!