Summer Starts with a Con

I just booked my room for ConCarolinas.  I hadn’t realized how early CC was this year: June 3-5.  Hoorah!  That gives me a week off school before my summer con, likely the only one I’ll get to this summer.

CC has a history of being a strong literary con, strong enough that my pitiful resume didn’t get me a guest slot.  Alternative history legend Harry Turtledove will be the writer GoH.  I will most assuredly be getting my father’s copy of Guns of the South signed.  Other literary-types attending include (but are not limited to) Toni Weisskopf of Baen Books (who I met at ChattaCon), Ed Shubert of IGMS (who I met at last year’s CC and from whom I have received some lovely rejections), Gail Z. Martin (met at both ConCarolinas and ChattaCon), most of the crew from Magical Words, and Codex members J.F. Lewis and James Maxey…and those are just the ones I recognized after on quick pass.  I’m sure I’ll meet more great people/writers this year, especially since I’ll be staying in the hotel rather than with a friend that lives only a few minutes away like I did last year.  More cost but more con experience.  I missed out on a bunch last year.  Not this time.

There will also be media guests of note.  No, not Nimoy or Hamill or Spielberg or Radcliffe…not even names you would likely recognize on their own, but roles you would recognize.  John Billingsley?  He was Dr. Phlox on Enterprise (not to mention a boatload of other roles other places).  Bonita Friedericy?  General Beckman on Chuck…and Billingsley’s real-life spouse.  David H. Lawrence?  Try the Puppet Master from Heroes.  Emilie Ullerup?  Julia Prynne on Battlestar Galactica.  See, you know them.

The full guest list is at http://concarolinas.org/index.php/cc/ccguestlist/88

For those that haven’t attended a science fiction convention, they pretty much what they sound like.  Yes, people do dress up like Storm Troopers and Klingons and Ghostbusters and (oh please oh please) Princess Leia.  But not everyone.  Not half of everyone.  Costuming is a fun part of the con to behold.  I hope to eventually pull together a Dr. Horrible costume, that being WAY cheaper than say a Malcolm Reynolds costume.  But not likely for this year.  Anyway, cons also have panel discussions and an art show and a dealer room.  However, rumor has it that most business goes down outside the framework of the con…typically in the bar.  It’s been my observation, too.  My best contacts from ChattaCon were made in the bar, at parties, and/or at meals.  These are the bits I missed last year.

I have a special affection for ConCarolinas since it was the first con I ever attended.  I kind of consider it my home con despite being closer to Nashville and Chattanooga and Atlanta and probably others.  It’s big enough without being too big.  It’s got strong literary participation.  Lots of panel rooms.  A Nerf war, for crying out loud!  (Speaking of, where’s my Nerf gun?)  My folks are pretty close (90 minutes?) and can watch the kiddo.  I have a local friend.  What’s not to like?

What else?  Oh yes.  Against my better judgment, I’ll mention this here: I have booked a room with two beds when there is just one of me.  I did this with the thought that I’d split said room with a friend if I could find one attending that needed a room.  I am not expecting to be so strapped for cash that I need to split it, so I will be very selective of my roomie.  (In other words, a post like “Hey, nice blog you got.  What was your name again?  Oh, right, it’s at the top of the page.  Anyway, I’ll go halvsies on a room with you…” will probably earn a cool reception and a polite decline.  But, if we’ve engaged in conversation (real or online) and you’re thinking of attending CC and are contemplating costs, a split might be an option.  Just putting it out there.  Oh, and in the interest of full disclosure: I snore like a truck.  Yeah…I’m likely keeping the room to myself.  Just as well.  🙂

What cons are on everyone else’s hit-list this summer?