WFC (Year 2 . . . of many to come) AND a First Line Critique!

Ah, WFC. What to say, what to say?

I am battling the dreaded con crud, which has made my mind just a little fuzzy--and I'm scared I'll forget to tell you about something or someone awesome that you should know about . . .

SO. I've decided that instead of a long post about this year's World Fantasy Convention I'll just sum it up in these simple words:

It.

      Was.

                 Awesome.

No. You don't get it.

Like seriously awesome.

I could tell you about the guy who said he was going to curse us, or astrally project into my friend Holly McDowell's dreams to turn them into nightmares. (Um, cray-cray anyone?) Or about how the hotel concierge sent us three times--THREE--to places that were actually closed. (Liquor store? Check. Breakfast joint? Check. Sushi place? CHECK.) Or how Andrew Smith really knows his scotch. (Well, I don't actually know because I was too much of a wimp to try, but STILL. According to everyone else.) Or how Carolina Valdez Miller and I wowed everyone with our *amazing* duet rendition of Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You." (Amazing is a codeword for horrible, but let's keep that between us, shall we?) Or my secret friendship handshake with Amber Van Dyk. (It's not even a real handshake, that's how secret it is!) Or discovering that Matthew MacNish is even sweeter in real life than online. (He will be my friend forevah. Even if I have to force him!) Or getting swept away by another one of Brad Beaulieu's readings. (Because, dude. The guy's books are just. so. good.) Or when Rob Ziegler told me he thought I looked like I was 24. (Um. He was so far off. And for that, I will heart him always.) Or . . . I could probably ramble on for pages and pages and pages. 

But  those things? They're only a few examples of why WFC is so great. Seriously. I've gone to a lot of conferences the past couple years, but WFC has been my favorite every time. It's not even because of the panels, though I went to some great ones. Or because, yanno, Neil Gaiman was a guest of honor. (I didn't stalk him, like some people I know, but I did see him out and about a few times. It was cool.)

WFC is so special because it's a constant reminder that we're all in this together. People are friendly and genuinely interested in each other's careers. There is so much laughter and so much fun. It's the complete sense of community. Everyone's there because they write or read fantasy, and for me--someone who has so few non-writer friends who enjoy genre fiction?--it's like heaven. Constant chatter about books, industry, writing, buzz . . . It doesn't get better than that.

Sadly, I had so much fun that I kept forgetting to take pictures. I'm beyond bummed that I missed out on capturing the fantastic moments I had with everyone else, too. But here are the few I snapped along the way:

With Carol, my heart.

And Shannon, whom I couldn't survive without.

And my roommate, Jess, who IS tiny and absolutely adorable!

So, um, anyone who knows me knows I'm a pretty strong advocate for Bellinis. 

Enjoying them here with Carol, Holly, Rae, Jane, Rob, & LK!

One more shot with Holly & Rae, who were two of the first writers I ever met in real life and will always have a very special place in my heart. <3 <3 <3

But like I said, I took way too few photographs. I'm dying to introduce *all* of my fave WFC people with you guys--so below are my WFC friends (some new, some I've had for years) linked to their twitter profiles. From there you can find their websites and their books and . . . just their general awesomeness. Because, trust me, these are good people. Each one is a blast and a half and well worth getting to know. 

Alexia Chamberlynn

Alistair Kimble

Amber Van Dyk

Andrew Smith

Brad Beaulieu

Carolina Valdez Miller

Chance Morrison

Elena Solodow

Griffin Barber

Holly McDowell

Jane Kindred

Jay Franco

Jessica Corra

Kiersten White

LK Gardner-Griffie

Marsha Sisolak

Matthew MacNish

Myke Cole

Nancy Lambert

Rae Carson

Rob Ziegler

Shannon Messenger

Simon Larter

Stephanie M. Lorée

Victoria Schwab

And oh, look at that. This post turned out long anyway. . .

In any case, I can't wait for WFC 2012. It's in Toronto next year. Who's coming with me???

PS. For all you YA writers--we're having a First Line Critique Day at YA Confidential! Check it out HERE.

WFC in Pictures

This is so long overdue.

I have no excuse.

And the worst part is, I'm so deep into my WIP that I don't have time for a proper summation. So I'll just say this:

World Fantasy Con 2010 was freaking awesome. I hung with writer friends, new and old. And I met so many amazing people.

Here are some of their pictures. Click on their names to check out their blogs.

My roommates!

Carolina Valdez Miller

Karen Hooper

Other fabulous people:

Roommies + Livia Blackburne and Simon Larter!

Ricki Schultz

Rae Carson

Alistair Kimble & Griffin Barber
And, yeah, these expressions sum them up quite well :)

Tim Akers

And then there were these other amazing people that I'm hitting myself for not getting (appropriate) pictures of/with! (Next year, for sure!)

Brad Beaulieu (dude, two cons and zero pictures. how is this possible?)
Peter V Brett
Blake Charlton
Myke Cole
CC Finlay
Jay Franco
Nancy Lambert (my most favorite stalker ever)
Gina Penney
Kelly Swails

There's no way I haven't left someone out. If it's you, I'm SO sorry--tell me and I'll add you. My brain's just so in WIP lala land that, well, I leave links out sometimes.

Just for fun:

Love me some Karen!

Love me some Carol!

Love me some SUSHI :)

I definitely signed up for WFC 2011 (in San Diego) before I even got home!

Also, find me on facebook if you want to see more of the pics.

Thanks for stopping by!
  ♡Sara

The *Long* Road to WFC 2010!

Umsoyeah.

For some reason or another, when I decided to go to WFC (World Fantasy Con, in case you're wondering) I decided I'd forgo flying and drive to Ohio.

From Virginia.

Yup. That's a 7+ hour drive. What the heck was I thinking?

Seriously, do you know? Because I don't.

The good news though is that I made it here in one piece*, and I got to stop to hang out with Alexandra Shostak (and visit a spooktakular haunted insane asylum**) along the way.

AND, the drive really wasn't that bad because look at the pretty scenery*** I had to keep my eyes happy along the way!

I also spent hours upon hours creating characters for the story I'm going to write after my WIP is finished--and I worked out some of the kinks in my current WIP. I virtually road-tripped (on the phone) with Cristin Terrill, because she was driving to Texas, so we shared in the pain of long drives... All in all, it was a pretty good time!****

Today I'm waiting for my roommates to get here (Carolina Valdez Miller & Karen Hooper) and, um, without giving too much away, I'm just gonna say we're totally gonna have one of the funnest***** rooms ever!****** 

So my weekend is set here in Ohio. What are you up to? Any big plans?

*If you've ever driven with me, you'll understand why this is an amazing accomplishment.
**More on the asylum later! I have fun pics with Alexandra, but I'm wearing an outfit I plan to wear at WFC and didn't want anyone to see because what if I meet someone at the con and they looked at my blog and think I'm a dork for rewearing an outfit or something... Crap, I just kinda gave it away anyway, didn't I? Dang it.
***Clearly I'm not a professional "from a moving car" photographer, but still. You get the drift :)
****Plus, I may or may not have entertained myself by jamming out and singing at the top of my lungs to 80s songs. I also may or may not have made videos, which you may or may not be allowed to see at some point in the future... 
*****Yeah, yeah. You say most fun, I say funnest. Check it: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/is-funnest-a-word.aspx
******Picture proof to come later ;)

Thanks for stopping by!
  ♡Sara