ConCarolinas: Day 3 (the final chapter)

It’s tough for a day 3 to live up to a day 2 at any Con.  For me, this day three was no exception.  Everything was pleasant enough, but not special.  Some very nice panels that have inspired me to do posts on a few different topics that are of great interest to me: rejectomancy, advertising, and YA, to name a few.  I bought a book, got talked into Kindle-buying another.  And, against my better judgment, I left a few hours early.  It’s fun to be one of the last ones out the door because it increases recognition and conversation among the other late-stayers, but I was tired and missed the rugrat.

The best part of day 3 had nothing to do with the con.  (Not THIS can, anyway.)  I’m not 100% sure how vocal I should be bout it (he decided after flapping his gums to a few friends) so I won’t spell anything out.  Let’s just say that, thanks to a friend, I have a new reason to explore steampunk.  This was good news and made me a happy writer.

As a whole, it was a good weekend.  I made some new friends.  Some pros recognized me and struck up conversations on their own.  I got to know some pros (see day 2): develop a tiny crush on Faith Hunter and refueled a pre-existing tiny crush on Carrie Ryan.  (Nothing tazer-worthy, just a harmless smirking fanboy kind of thing.)  Expanded horizons.  Had fun.

Did attending this Con further my career?  Not per say.  What I did was build up my people network.  I turned strangers into acquaintances and acquaintances into friends.  You’ve heard the expression, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”  I always thought that was kind of a sinister saying.  In this case, it’s more about having a friendly faces along the road.  When my career gets off of blocks in the front yard, it will go somewhere.  Wouldn’t it be nice to get there and know someone?  Even better to know ten people?  If I feel like I belong a that stop, it will make it that much easier to move on to the next.  Okay, I’ve retyped this metaphor six ways and it’s still not working, so I’m leaving it.  If a decent metaphor comes to me, I’ll make a whole post about it.

It’s late.  Brain…failing.  Must sleep.  ____________