DragonCon 2024 [Recap]

Hey peeps!

I’m at the airport, and DragonCon 2024 is officially over! I didn’t win the Dragon Award, but I want to thank everyone who nominated me, and everyone who also voted for me. It was such an honor!

Here is a break down of EVERYTHING that happened, just in awe you were wondering! 🍾🎉

Arrived Wednesday

We arrived a day early! John and I got to chill at our airBnB. We ate dinner and then prepared our body for the con.

Day 1

Women’s Voices in Comics: Pioneers of the Future

This was by far the worst panel I sat on. ಠ_ಠ

I was SUPER excited to talk about the Frith Chronicles comic book! I wanted to talk about the process and the art, but instead, my fellow panelists decided to talk about how sexist the comics industry was in the 90s.

It basically devolved into a man-hating fest, and I would rate this panel a 0/5.

Audiobooks: Bringing a Book to Life

This panel was VERY informative!

We had Jeff Hays, the owner of Soundbooth Theater, an audiobook narrator, me, and a major producer of music, game audio, and book narration. We talked about the whole process, and also how to break into the field if you’re aiming to be a narrator!

5/5 panel. Good info.

Podium Party

It was so difficult to hear anyone.

I met lots of peeps, but we couldn’t talk. Everyone got drinks and fancy snacks, but I couldn’t stay long.

Dragon Award Nominee Meet & Greet

This was legit amazing!! 🎉🍾🎊🥂

Thank you to everyone who showed up to this! It was so awesome to meet so many of you. I’m glad I arrived early so I chance to really talk and joke around. Once the event started, it was difficult to talk (the MC was asking the nominees questions, and making tons of jokes).

It was such a great event, and we even had a glass of champagne!

I signed a couple books, gave out Frith Pendants, and generally had a wonderful time. 💕

Once it was over, John and I headed back and attempted to get some sleep…

Day 2

Romanscifi: Science Fiction Romance

This panel was hilarious, LOL 🤣

Every other sentence was an innuendo. Plus, we had a harem writer on the panel, and we got to talk about angry robots who might be good “enemies to lovers” and if you were looking for a panel to laugh, this was it.

5/5

How Hot is Too Hot? How Violent is Too Violent in YA Books?

This panel was rather mid. We only barely discussed the topic, BUT WHEN WE DID, it was amazing. We discussed the difference of expectations for young adults, and how parents play a role in what their kids consume.

We only briefly touched on spice levels, but we thoroughly discussed violence.

3/5 panel.

Dragon Award Nominee Reception

This was the party with the Charmander centerpiece. Did they do that for me? >.>

It was… quiet. Only about 6 of us were there, and the conversations were low key.

I got to meet a friend of Steve Jackson, the man who does role playing games and board games - I got his contact info, and apparently he’s interested in turning the Frith Chronicles into an officially table-top game! 🍾🎊🎉

So, I got to network, at least. >.>

John Scalzi was at the party, but he refused to speak with me. I’m too “indie,” apparently.

Aethon Party

RIGHT AFTER that party, I want to the Aethon Party!

It was very hilarious, LOL - the best party at the con! One dude with a sword attempted to cut a cake, but he didn’t realize it was a crepe cake! Those are the several-layered cakes which are rather dense, and since his sword was dull, he couldn’t cut through it, lol 🤣

So, he STABBED the cake and held it up like the sword in the stone, and it was pretty epic.

Everyone got drunk and talked, and while it was o loud I almost couldn’t hear myself think, I did get to meet a bunch of peeps. Shirtaloon was in attendance, and we hit it off, lol

So was Drew Hays! And Josh Hays! And Jeff Hays! ALL THE HAYS!

This was the best party of the con, hands down.

After this, John and I went to bed.

Day 3

Researching Time: Preparing to Write Time Travel

This panel was super informative! One of my favorite authors, SM Sterling, sat on the panel with me! He wrote “Island in the Sea of Time” and it’s one of my all-time favorites.

We discussed how to research time periods, where to find experts, and reader expectations for time travel books, so it was super great.

5/5 panel!

The Dragon Award Ceremony

This was actually super funny, lol

Since so many people weren’t in attendance to claim their award, the MC pretended to be them, and everyone was laughing, lol

ALSO, John Cleese (the famous comedic actor) was given a fan award. When his name was called, he hobbled over to the stage, struggled with the two steps, almost falling over, and then stumbled to the podium…

Only to then stand perfectly straight, have perfect control of his body, and then say, “that was my Joe Biden impersonation” LOL - the whole room was dying.

As for the awards, I’m glad that Baldur’s Gate 3 won the video game award. It was an amazing game!

I’m sad I didn’t win the YA award, but I was up against stiff competition. Thank you again to everyone who voted! I super appreciate you all! 🎉🎊🥂

The litRPG Party

This was a massive event with a bingo card! In order to get your bingo card stamped, you had to walk around the room and find authors or narrators and then do “a thing” to get your stamp from them.

For me, people had to walk up and tell me their favorite pokemon! lol

(My favorite pokemon is Scraggy)

If they told me a pokemon, I would give them a stamp. Most people said “Pikachu” because it was clear they didn’t know any other pokemon, but that was fine, lol

Jerks We Love to Hate in Fiction

This was a funny panel about mean characters in books that everyone loves anyway, lol

It was mostly jokes but with some advice on how to write an assh*le character who is also lovable.

5/5 panel.

After that, John and I went home…

Day 4

Trope-alicious! Exploring the Tropes of litRPG

This was a slam-dunk panel about the common tropes in litRPG.

I got to discuss animal companions as a trope, and my FAVORITE litTPG trope: hard work conquers all.

LitRPG has a ton of stories where the main character works hard and wins in the end and that’s seriously my jam. A lot of people resonated with my personal story (I grew up poor, and in a meth-head family, but worked hard and escaped all that) so it really speaks to me personally.

After that, John and I went to the vendor hall…

AND NOW WE’RE AT THE AIRPORT!

So, it was a long con, but very fun.

Hopefully I’ll see more of you there next year!

And maybe I’ll win a Dragon Award???

We’ll see! 💕

Shami