the trouble with cons...

As I mentioned a few days ago, Christine and I are headed for Seattle later today to attend the Emerald City RWA annual conference. We’ll both be signing at the book fair tomorrow (info and location here) and Christine is actually giving a speech tonight at dinner (now ask me if Ms. Procrastination has written it yet).

I have sort of love/hate thing with conferences. I love them, because I always come away from them with a renewed sense of purpose. Even if the workshops aren’t really relevant to me or my writing, there’s something invigorating and inspiring about being around a bunch of people with goals and aspirations that mirror yours. Added to that, there are always good prizes for the raffle, I get to meet new authors, and drink in the hotel bar.

That’s the love part. The hate part comes in when I realize, usually about three or four hours into the first day, that really? I’m not actually a social person.

Oh, I don’t mean that I hide in the shower or anything like that, or run shrieking in horror if someone talks to me. No, I just mean that when it comes right down to it, I’m not a joiner. And at a con, that can make for some frustrating times.

It’s especially frustrating at an RWA event, because everyone is so supportive and open and generous. You want to talk about that paranormal where your hero is a Congressman campaigning to round up all the were-creatures in cages and your heroine a were-giraffe fashion model by day, assassin by night who is hell bent on taking him out?** You can find someone to hash that out with you at an RWA event. And smaller cons, like this one, are especially rich that way. I have never met a person I didn’t like at one of these events, which begs the question….why do I have such a hard time socializing with them?

One reason? I go to these things with Christine, so everything I need is right there in one person. She’s drinking buddy, confidant, critique partner and biggest fan all rolled into one. It sort of makes it hard to get motivated to seek out other people, and I think if you asked her she’d say the same thing about me.

Some day we’re going to have to split up and do some conference attending on our own, just to see how it works. But that’s for another time, because this weekend I'm totally doing it with her. If for no other reason than to see her give this speech – that she hasn’t written yet.

**I have floated this idea to Christine several times, and she refuses to see the genius of it. Think of it: a tale that reveals the reason why runway fashion models are super tall and super skinny – they’re were-giraffes! Genius!!