Jean Marie’s Year in Cons, 2011 Edition

The merry month of May marks the opening of my 2011 convention season. To show you why I’m so excited about this year’s roster, I thought I’d share memories of the same conventions from years past—and advertise the dates. Can’t pass up an opportunity for shameless self-promotion, after all.

Balticon 45, May 27-30
Hunt Valley, Maryland



You never know what Maryland's regional science fiction/fantasy convention will serve in the way of entertainment—sword-wielding belly dancers, scientists and Ninjas Vs. Vampires, oh my!—and that’s a large part of its charm. That and a Masquerade which often features appearances from luminaries of the International Costumers’ Guild.


RWA National Conference: Bright Lights, Big Stories, June 28-July 1
New York, New York



RWA’s 2000 National Conference in Washington, DC, was all about the SEALs—the SEALs as written by Suzanne Brockmann (pictured), who won RITAs for her two 1999 novels, Undercover Princess and Bodyguard. Something tells me 2011 will be an even bigger year for manly men in uniform. But the lure for me isn’t more military-themed romance than a dozen editors can shake their blue pencils at; it’s the prospect of a chapter reception at the Algonquin Hotel. “Vicious Circle”, here I come!


Dragon*Con, September 2-5
Atlanta, Georgia



My favorite summer camp for wayward adults—roughly forty thousand of us at last count. Panels! Concerts! Art! Film festivals! Parties! Costumes! Swag! And a parade! What more could you ask? Heck, Frankenstein’s monster and his livid bride consider it the perfect place to honeymoon. Incidentally, the sign trailing streamers from the back of the car read “Made for each other!”


Capclave, October 14-16
Gaithersburg, Maryland



Capclave is my hometown con, specializing in short form science fiction, fantasy and horror. One of its most charming customs is the annual presentation of a commemorative painting to its guests of honor. Here, 2010 Guest of Honor Connie Willis explains the various pictorial elements drawn from her time-travel fiction, in particular, her novel To Say Nothing of the Dog. All hail Cyril—and painter L.W. Perkins who rendered Ms. Willis’s famous fictional bulldog on canvas.

So how are you planning to spend your summer—and autumn—vacation?

***

To learn more about my adventures at cons past, check out my Flickr page—or better yet, attend one yourself!

Going to Disney World, Baby.

Okay, I'm a little bit excited.

It's THAT time of the year again...the Romance Writers of America Annual (RWA) Conference.

Squeeeee!!! For four jam-packed days, I will be immersed in all things writerly. From workshops on craft, the publishing industry, and how to tame that pesky muse, I will be glued to my chair. I will be surrounded by people who are, well, writerly too (agents, editors, multi-published authors, some of the biggest names in the industry). I am getting chills just thinking about it.

During the year, I sit all alone at my desk creating worlds, lives, loves. At RWA I get to sit with thousands of others just like me with the same hopes, dreams, goals, and desires. I don't know most of them, but I KNOW them. It's amazing.

It can also be a little daunting.

I'll never forget my first conference in 2003. It wasn't sponsored by RWA, because frankly, I hadn't heard of RWA at that time. I was a clueless, young, closet-writer. I wrote lots, but worried that I stunk big-time (which, thinking back now, I probably did.) I couldn't utter the words, "I am a writer." for fear that a burly guard might boot me out of the conference for writer-impersonation.

But I went. Why? Because I knew I stunk big-time, but this was my dream--to become published. I wanted someone to teach me. I wanted to know what I didn't know (which, looking back on it was a ton!). I wanted inspiration and hope and acceptance. I had never been in one place with so many writers before. This was awesome.

And rip the guts out of your body terrifying.

During orientation it was announced that we were supposed to bring the first five pages of our manuscript to workshops lead by multi-published authors, stand up and read those five pages aloud, so that the entire class could critique them while you, or really I, crawled under the nearest table and died a thousand deaths. (No the last part wasn't mandatory, but I could see it coming in all the gory details). I was beyond myself with terror. Remember, I couldn't even mouth the words, "I am a writer." and here we were going to prove it in front of God and all those strangers!

My heart in my throat, I turned to the person sitting next to me and said something like, "Aaagggk!"

It was the last intelligible sound I made for three days. I kid you not. I developed psychosomatic laryngitis. I could not speak above a whisper for almost the entire conference!

On the third day, I wandered into a workshop where the multi-published leader read my pages for me while I held my notebook over my face and blushed like a madwoman. In the end? The members of the class cheered. It was the first time the audience had cheered and the leader recommended my piece for an award. They liked me, they really did.

And not surprisingly, my voice came back that evening.

Jump forward to the year 2010. I can say, "I am a mutli-published author!" And yet, I am nervous to go to conference. I always am. But excited too. I still want to improve my writing and I know I have a ton to learn. I want to be inspired and accepted. I want to be surrounded by people who "get me." I want to meet new friends. Most of all, I want to be that author I always knew I could be.

I hope to see you there.

Kimberley Troutte
www.kimberleytroutte.com