Ready For Gen Con 2015?
Day 4 of my ninety day blogging adventure and all I can think about is what I need to do to get ready for Gen Con 2015. Do I costume or do I go for ultimate comfort? How will my foot hold out? What will we eat? How early can we arrive to get tickets? The questions are endless and time is running out. By this time tomorrow I’ll be engulfed in the masses that flock to this yearly event. For a fantasy fiction person like myself this will be like drinking from the well of life. I’m hoping to see wonderful and inspiring costumes, art, and people in the next day.
Meeting People
One of my concerns when I go to something like this is meeting new people. I love meeting fellow fantasy and sci-fi fans. You can make some great heart to heart connections at things like this but unless you give them something memorable with your info on it, you aren’t likely to hear from them again. I recommend that everyone, not just authors, get yourself some inexpensive cards to hand out. Alas mine did not get made in time. I’m so disappointed. A second option is to cut up slips of paper with your info on it to hand out to people. After all it is not about impressing people, this is about connection, and that is better than nothing. I have not tried this and I fear it will get lost in their bags, crumpled badly, and tossed.
Comfort vs Costumes
Normally I am all about the costumes. I’ve planned them for months and they include many hand-made elements. However a year ago I passed up going to Gen Con because I could barely walk for a half an hour. A full day probably would have put me in a wheel chair. Over the course of that year I have taken prodigious amounts of Serrepeptase. That’s this really great stuff made from the enzyme of the silk worm. It eats scar tissue and hardened plaque. Then I spent 9 weeks hiking at Spring Mill Park. At first I could barely breathe after a half an hour on the easy trail, and my foot throbbed for a couple of days. Now I do an hour and a half on the rugged trail, and my foot might be sore at the end but it’s fine by the next day. That is a far cry from walking for an entire day on concrete, though.
So about that costume… Heels are out, sandals a must, but do I wear a costume? I have a lovely steampunk one that I could throw together, but it is hot and heavy, so that won’t be happening this year. That leaves me with a possible sorceress one. But it would be thrown together and involves wearing a waist-trainer corset for many hours. As much as I worry about the pain of my feet and the potential pain of wearing a purple corset for a day, the fact that I have to throw it together may keep me from wearing it. Perfectionism sucks sometimes!
Events
I’ve signed myself up for a plethora of events but really I’m winging that. What I do will be governed by the foot. Fortunately my good friend, Ren Garcia, author of the League of Elder series, will let me rest at his booth. Can’t wait to see it.
What I can promise you is pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Next week I’ll be posting those here on the blog and I can not wait to share all the cool stuff. I’m even going to try to capture some video. Do we see a very first vlog entry coming? Maybe.
Next week will be the aftermath posts. Can not wait to share! Will I wear the costume or not? We shall see.
ES Tilton Author of Kyron’s Worlde and the Foretold series.
ES Tilton is an avid lover of fantasy fiction, art, dance, weapons, nature, cats, costuming, gaming, great sex, whiskey sours and hot tubs. She spends most of her time wrestling with computers to create great stories and art. Her fantasy fiction series can be found on her book site.
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