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The RavenCon entry. It's MASSIVE, so I'm putting it behind a cut.
More here, if you dare....
RavenCon
Day One
Airlines suck.
The schedule was SUPPOSED to be: Get to NH airport at 11 am. Leave NH on the 12:39 pm plane. Change planes at LaGuardia. Get picked up by Tee at Richmond at 4:10 pm, and get dropped off at his parents’ house to wait for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nightwolfwriter.
The day actually went like this: Get to NH airport at 11 am. Wait until 3:45 pm to leave, because first airplane blew a tire and they had to fly a tire and a mechanic in. (Yes, fly them in. Don’t get me started.) Fly to Charlotte, NC. Switch planes and fly into Richmond, VA (yup, went south and then north – again, don’t get me started.) at 8:30 pm. Get room in hotel one night early – and then have to push money around in accounts, because card isn’t being accepted. Fall into bed, because we have to be up and alive at 7 am in the lobby to go to Tee’s high school.
So Day one of the trip mostly sucked. Oh, and I forgot my hairbrush, my business cards and my outline of Dreams in NH. ARGH!
Only mostly, though. My room is GORGEOUS – I have a little suite! And yes, that’s the SINGLE room. Pictures later – gotta get my card downloaded (since I don’t have a USB 2 port). And I got to watch CSI (a repeat – boo) and Without a Trace, so that was good. I also got about 1500 words done on a new erotica short – a paranormal. Heehee! No more spoilers.
Day Two
Insert fangirl squee here. I just got to spend 4 hours on two panels sitting next to (drum roll please): Terry Brooks!
Okay, done. :D But I had to get that out of my system.
The panels at Tee’s high school were fun. We had some good questions (there were 7 of us, not including Tee) from all different walks of life. More on that later.
I have a panel at 4 pm on Shakespeare in Fantasy and Sci Fi. Fun! Now to more writing – Vanessa is calling.
Later: Panel went well. I’ve met some really cool people (nightwolfwriter, Stuart Jaffe, and others) and had some really interesting conversations. My room is right across from the movie room (no, I haven’t gotten in there yet, but they’ve got some really good movies on the list. We’ll see if I make it there.) and apparently the Nth Degree party is going to be next door. Tonight I had a bunch of drunk people (Tee and I having done a run to the grocery store, so I didn’t have to eat out ALL the time, and so I could have some decent water, and then to the alcohol store, of course.) in my room. Tee and I came up with several new drinks, based on the main characters from his novel:
Rafton’s Revenge
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (preferred drink of pirates everywhere)
1 shot Bacardi Gold Rum (as pirates and privateers alike are all about the gold)
1 shot Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay Rum-Mango flavored (as Rafe is well-traveled and doesn't mind presenting the exotic fruits of the New World to his patrons)
1 shot Johnny Walker Red Label Scotch (high quality enough for a mixer...but not too high quality of a scotch to mix with something else...and this is the nod to Rafe, in particular)
Mix with Black Cherry-Vanilla Coke (as Coke's Caramel, Black Cherries, and Vanilla would bring in a good bounty for Rafe, and all these ingredients were around in King Henry's Day)
This is a sipping drink, so mix it in a large glass.
Askana’s Absolution (I came up with this one!)
1 shot Hypnotiq liquor (which is a blue concoction comprised of French Vodka, Fine Cognac, and natural tropical juices...elegant, but potent)
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (While the Captain Morgan's Private Stock is preferred, the low shelf Capt. M works well, too.)
This is a shot drink.
And the variation, aptly named Askana’s Wrath (or The Blood Rage – I also came up with this one!)
In a double shot glass, neat, mix:
1 shot Hypnotiq liquor (which is a blue concoction comprised of French Vodka, Fine Cognac, and natural tropical juices...elegant, but potent)
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (While the Captain Morgan's Private Stock is preferred, the low shelf Capt. M works well, too.)
In a separate, single-shot glass, serve:
1 shot After Shock or Goldschlagger Cinnamon Schnapps (and the schnapps should not be chilled. Room temperature, please)
Once you are flying the colors of House Moldarin, kick it back in one shot, then right behind it, take the shot of cinnamon. Then...brace yourself.
Needless to say, after this, well, I was pretty drunk. It took a while to get the drinks right. ;)
Day Three:
Had my signing today. It was an…interesting experience. I was paired with John Ringo, who is a well-known Baen author. I was very impressed with how John treated his fans. He spoke to each of them personally, and signed EVERYTHING that was put in front of him, even the fans that came with boxes of books. He even remembered some of them from other cons.
On the other hand…
He didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I’ve since heard that he’s very publisher-oriented (i.e., if you aren’t a Baen author, you aren’t worth his time.). I don’t know. All I know is that he didn’t respond to my hello, didn’t speak to me at all (and we spent 50 minutes together) and just got up and left at the end. Whatever. I can’t say he lost a fan – I don’t read military SF anyways.
The guy who came after him, however, was a total class act. That would be Terry, of course. I joined the line to have him sign books (because I didn’t want to just grab him in the hallway and ask him to sign it, because I thought that would be trying to be too familiar) – I had copies of “Sometimes the Magic Works,” his memoirs (highly recommend!!! Yes, I’ve already finished it) and “The Sword of Shannara” (since my copy died *sob!*). He was so funny – he asked me WHY I was waiting in line, and when I tried to explain, gave me this LOOK and said, “I would have signed it for you at any time, Val!” Then he signed both, and I have to share the inscription in “Magic.” He wrote:
“To Val – you already know the magic works. Your pal, Terry Brooks”
Squee!!!
I also got a picture taken, of course. This one is a bad example of what my printer can do, but it’s the best I have right now. I’ll upload the new stuff later, but here it is:
More drinking later that night – my room became the “Nth Degree Party Overflow” room, and Stuart and I got into a long conversation about agents and query letters. Thank you, Stuart! I learned a lot.
Day Four:
End of the con. I moderated a very cool panel on Stargate and Star Trek (whether Stargate would take Trek’s place in the SF universe), and had a Koffee Klache with Steve Cross, where he and I talked shop for an hour (since no one came to our Klache). Talked to a lot of people, collected a lot of emails, and spent money. It wasn’t a large dealer’s room, but I managed. *grin* Once my artwork gets here, I’ll take some pics and post them. *drool*
The Dead Dog party went to this place called “Mexico.” Tee didn’t go – he took Terry to the airport and then went home. But Mike Pederson, the Con Chair, and the Wombat and a bunch of others (guests and staff) went and hashed out the con. All in all, it was a great con – and we had ideas for next year. Then we went back to Kathy’s room (yay, no one in mine!) and talked – about lots of stuff. We broke up around 10 pm – I didn’t fly out until 4:40 pm on Monday, but some of the others had to be out very early. I went back to my room, intending to write, but remembered that I had Master of Magic on my thumb drive. *grin* Played until 1 am, then crashed. Room was supposed to be vacated by noon, but they let me stay until 2 pm.
Day Five:
Flight home was uneventful – except for LaGuardia, where once again, my plane needed “mechanical work” done. This time, luckily, it was minor “mechanical work” so we were only an hour late.argus7hills picked me up, and we went home and crashed. Boring! :p
More pics as soon as I can get them off my card.
More here, if you dare....
RavenCon
Day One
Airlines suck.
The schedule was SUPPOSED to be: Get to NH airport at 11 am. Leave NH on the 12:39 pm plane. Change planes at LaGuardia. Get picked up by Tee at Richmond at 4:10 pm, and get dropped off at his parents’ house to wait for
nightwolfwriter.The day actually went like this: Get to NH airport at 11 am. Wait until 3:45 pm to leave, because first airplane blew a tire and they had to fly a tire and a mechanic in. (Yes, fly them in. Don’t get me started.) Fly to Charlotte, NC. Switch planes and fly into Richmond, VA (yup, went south and then north – again, don’t get me started.) at 8:30 pm. Get room in hotel one night early – and then have to push money around in accounts, because card isn’t being accepted. Fall into bed, because we have to be up and alive at 7 am in the lobby to go to Tee’s high school.
So Day one of the trip mostly sucked. Oh, and I forgot my hairbrush, my business cards and my outline of Dreams in NH. ARGH!
Only mostly, though. My room is GORGEOUS – I have a little suite! And yes, that’s the SINGLE room. Pictures later – gotta get my card downloaded (since I don’t have a USB 2 port). And I got to watch CSI (a repeat – boo) and Without a Trace, so that was good. I also got about 1500 words done on a new erotica short – a paranormal. Heehee! No more spoilers.
Day Two
Insert fangirl squee here. I just got to spend 4 hours on two panels sitting next to (drum roll please): Terry Brooks!
Okay, done. :D But I had to get that out of my system.
The panels at Tee’s high school were fun. We had some good questions (there were 7 of us, not including Tee) from all different walks of life. More on that later.
I have a panel at 4 pm on Shakespeare in Fantasy and Sci Fi. Fun! Now to more writing – Vanessa is calling.
Later: Panel went well. I’ve met some really cool people (
nightwolfwriter, Stuart Jaffe, and others) and had some really interesting conversations. My room is right across from the movie room (no, I haven’t gotten in there yet, but they’ve got some really good movies on the list. We’ll see if I make it there.) and apparently the Nth Degree party is going to be next door. Tonight I had a bunch of drunk people (Tee and I having done a run to the grocery store, so I didn’t have to eat out ALL the time, and so I could have some decent water, and then to the alcohol store, of course.) in my room. Tee and I came up with several new drinks, based on the main characters from his novel:Rafton’s Revenge
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (preferred drink of pirates everywhere)
1 shot Bacardi Gold Rum (as pirates and privateers alike are all about the gold)
1 shot Captain Morgan's Parrot Bay Rum-Mango flavored (as Rafe is well-traveled and doesn't mind presenting the exotic fruits of the New World to his patrons)
1 shot Johnny Walker Red Label Scotch (high quality enough for a mixer...but not too high quality of a scotch to mix with something else...and this is the nod to Rafe, in particular)
Mix with Black Cherry-Vanilla Coke (as Coke's Caramel, Black Cherries, and Vanilla would bring in a good bounty for Rafe, and all these ingredients were around in King Henry's Day)
This is a sipping drink, so mix it in a large glass.
Askana’s Absolution (I came up with this one!)
1 shot Hypnotiq liquor (which is a blue concoction comprised of French Vodka, Fine Cognac, and natural tropical juices...elegant, but potent)
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (While the Captain Morgan's Private Stock is preferred, the low shelf Capt. M works well, too.)
This is a shot drink.
And the variation, aptly named Askana’s Wrath (or The Blood Rage – I also came up with this one!)
In a double shot glass, neat, mix:
1 shot Hypnotiq liquor (which is a blue concoction comprised of French Vodka, Fine Cognac, and natural tropical juices...elegant, but potent)
1 shot Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum (While the Captain Morgan's Private Stock is preferred, the low shelf Capt. M works well, too.)
In a separate, single-shot glass, serve:
1 shot After Shock or Goldschlagger Cinnamon Schnapps (and the schnapps should not be chilled. Room temperature, please)
Once you are flying the colors of House Moldarin, kick it back in one shot, then right behind it, take the shot of cinnamon. Then...brace yourself.
Needless to say, after this, well, I was pretty drunk. It took a while to get the drinks right. ;)
Day Three:
Had my signing today. It was an…interesting experience. I was paired with John Ringo, who is a well-known Baen author. I was very impressed with how John treated his fans. He spoke to each of them personally, and signed EVERYTHING that was put in front of him, even the fans that came with boxes of books. He even remembered some of them from other cons.
On the other hand…
He didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I’ve since heard that he’s very publisher-oriented (i.e., if you aren’t a Baen author, you aren’t worth his time.). I don’t know. All I know is that he didn’t respond to my hello, didn’t speak to me at all (and we spent 50 minutes together) and just got up and left at the end. Whatever. I can’t say he lost a fan – I don’t read military SF anyways.
The guy who came after him, however, was a total class act. That would be Terry, of course. I joined the line to have him sign books (because I didn’t want to just grab him in the hallway and ask him to sign it, because I thought that would be trying to be too familiar) – I had copies of “Sometimes the Magic Works,” his memoirs (highly recommend!!! Yes, I’ve already finished it) and “The Sword of Shannara” (since my copy died *sob!*). He was so funny – he asked me WHY I was waiting in line, and when I tried to explain, gave me this LOOK and said, “I would have signed it for you at any time, Val!” Then he signed both, and I have to share the inscription in “Magic.” He wrote:
“To Val – you already know the magic works. Your pal, Terry Brooks”
Squee!!!
I also got a picture taken, of course. This one is a bad example of what my printer can do, but it’s the best I have right now. I’ll upload the new stuff later, but here it is:
More drinking later that night – my room became the “Nth Degree Party Overflow” room, and Stuart and I got into a long conversation about agents and query letters. Thank you, Stuart! I learned a lot.
Day Four:
End of the con. I moderated a very cool panel on Stargate and Star Trek (whether Stargate would take Trek’s place in the SF universe), and had a Koffee Klache with Steve Cross, where he and I talked shop for an hour (since no one came to our Klache). Talked to a lot of people, collected a lot of emails, and spent money. It wasn’t a large dealer’s room, but I managed. *grin* Once my artwork gets here, I’ll take some pics and post them. *drool*
The Dead Dog party went to this place called “Mexico.” Tee didn’t go – he took Terry to the airport and then went home. But Mike Pederson, the Con Chair, and the Wombat and a bunch of others (guests and staff) went and hashed out the con. All in all, it was a great con – and we had ideas for next year. Then we went back to Kathy’s room (yay, no one in mine!) and talked – about lots of stuff. We broke up around 10 pm – I didn’t fly out until 4:40 pm on Monday, but some of the others had to be out very early. I went back to my room, intending to write, but remembered that I had Master of Magic on my thumb drive. *grin* Played until 1 am, then crashed. Room was supposed to be vacated by noon, but they let me stay until 2 pm.
Day Five:
Flight home was uneventful – except for LaGuardia, where once again, my plane needed “mechanical work” done. This time, luckily, it was minor “mechanical work” so we were only an hour late.
argus7hills picked me up, and we went home and crashed. Boring! :pMore pics as soon as I can get them off my card.
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Jealous, but very glad you had a great time!
Catch you later! (^_^)
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