Con Report: IllogiCon V: Schrodington Goes to the Circus, Part 1

Friday, January 8, 2016
Illogicon is my first convention of the year, and a terrific way to start the season. In its fifth year, Illogicon is a small, regional con in Cary, NC, with lots of fun costuming, a respectable dealers' room and hall tables, and enough programming to keep me busy without being overwhelming. I know enough people, among guests, vendors, and attendees, that the con has the feel of a large family reunion.

In fact, I had no programming scheduled on Friday, so I was able to enjoy the first evening and night of the convention with friends and my daughter (this is one of her favorite cons).

The only reading I attended on Friday was Rich Dansky, who reads as he writes, clever with wry wit, often mixed with the absurd or the macabre. Rich read from two stories, the first an unpublished treat about an urban unicorn trapped by a virgin who refuses to give him up. The second, "Splash of Blue", in the Blood Sushi anthology (here's a nice review of the whole anthology), about a detective with fae blood who prefers to be paid in emotions, which he "drinks" in like the finest liqueur, while working a missing person case on the dangerous art scene of Durham, NC.

The after-hours socializing was surprisingly quiet, and I had to prepare for my first Saturday panel on the best movies of science fiction and fantasy, so we called it an early night.

Namaste,
Margaret S. McGraw

Appearance: MarsCon 2016, Williamsburg, VA

January is a busy month and a great start to the 2016 convention season, with MarsCon fast on the heels of last weekend's Illogicon.

This is my 4th (5th?) year at MarsCon, my 2nd as a guest, and it's one of my favorite cons, small-to-medium sized, friendly and fun, with great costuming and interesting programming. The ConSuite is legendary for their food and hospitality. And if I'm lucky, I'll find my way to the Endless Party at the Cross Time Saloon! 

I may fangirl when I meet Ellen Kushner.

My MarsCon Panel Schedule:
Friday, Jan 15th
6pm Fri Auditorium Opening Ceremonies 
8pm Fri Harrison 1 Social Media Etiquette for Authors

Saturday, Jan 16th
11am Sat Harrison 3 Welcome to the Anthropocene
12pm Sat Harrison 1 Adapting Books to Movies
3pm Sat Harrison 1 The Mary Sue Complex
8pm Sat Harrison 1 Sci-Fi's Effects on Gender Perception

Sunday, Jan 17th
11am Sun Harrison 1 Writing Male Characters from a Woman’s Perspective

I will post my notes from these and other panels I attend as soon as I'm able to clean them up for you!

More chatter on Facebook and Twitter, if you friend me there :-)

Namaste,

Margaret S. McGraw

Appearance: Illogicon 2016, Cary NC

I'm delighted to be an official guest this year at Illogicon, one of my favorite Southeast conventions! Regional cons are sort of like homecoming, seeing so many familiar faces. Illogicon provides enough programming to be interesting, but not overwhelming. And the costuming is great!

My Illogicon Schedule this weekend:

Saturday, January 9th

10:00am History of Sci-Fi: From Avatar to Zardoz 

12:00pm Grammar Geeks

1:00pm The State of Sci-Fi Tv 

2:00pm Live Action Slush

7:00pm Broad Universe Rapid Fire Readings

Sunday, January 10th

10:00am NSFW: Balancing the Writing Life and Work Life 

2:00pm The Weird Wild West

I will post my notes from these and other panels I attend as soon as I'm able to clean them up for you!

More chatter on Facebook and Twitter, if you friend me there :-)

Namaste,

Margaret S. McGraw