A milestone in the geek girl family – I took my daughter, who shall herefore be referred to as Princess Leia for costuming reasons, to her first science fiction convention, and here’s what happened:
Westercon was a small-scale, relaxed con. It didn’t feel as commercial as a lot of cons do – in fact, people were almost compulsively giving my friend’s daughter free stuff and saying things to me like, “Oh, it’s fine, we trust you, just mail us a check”. This convention had a focus on writers and fiction. It was a really laid-back, happy gathering of some serious geeks. I loved it, and Princess Leia is now, as they say in The Big Bang Theory, “Queen of the Nerds”.
It wouldn’t be a Con without Cosplay. My thanks to the many cosplayers who gave me permission to take and post pictures. I apologize for the fact that my camera is crap and my photography skills are nill. These photos aren’t very polished, but I hope they’ll give you a feel for how colorful the Con was!
You have to have some steampunk in your life, right? This trio was immaculately outfitted right down to their shoes:
Jesus Brienne, you look terrible. What did you do, get in a fight with a bear or something? On a happier note, Daenerys and her dragon were trailed all afternoon by adoring children. I guess they haven’t found out what the dragons eat yet.
Beautiful sparkly things from Jewels By Olivia. See the green tiara on the top left? I MUST HAVE IT. I will earn a zillion dollars and achieve world domination and make the nations cower before me, and when they cry out to me for mercy, saying, “What do you wish for?” I shall say, “BRING ME THAT TIARA.”
I didn’t go to many panels due to the presence of children (mine and my friend’s, not other people’s). But I did go to one on Finding Your Muse, where I got some great advice from M. Todd Gallowglass:
“There’s no such thing as writer’s block. No matter how difficult a passage is, you can always write just one more sentence. and then just one more sentence after that. and then just one more after that”.
Wise words, indeed. Thanks for a great day, Westercon!