Mysticon – WOW!

FABULOUS CONFERENCE!

I have to give a huge shout out and thank you to the folks at Mysticon! I was invited to join the amazing cast and crew at their rebirth of a favorite conference held in Roanoke, Virginia this weekend. In truth, I have planned conferences for years and still as a writer, didn’t now what to expect. I loved it. I had the honor of being invited because of my radio show that my less wicked girl does for Robin Falls Red River Radio – the Fire of Fantasy & Darkness. Pamela Kinney asked one of the coordinators to hear an earlier show and the rest is history.

Not only did they ask me to host the show live, but they asked that I serve on four glorious panels. Let’s talk about the radio event first. With anything live, you have issues and on Friday night, WE DID!  The wind around Roanoke was horrendous and prevented some of the guests from flying in so it affected the internet. Then there was the little issue of baud rate in the hotel itself. Guess they didn’t count on so many computer savvy individuals that were going to be on the internet at the same time. Okay, we got over that. Then there was the scraping the hotel did with SKYPE – now THAT made me angry. So we used cell phones.

While it wasn’t as sexy, it worked and I had some of the the best guests that I could hope for. From Pamela Kinney – a new favorite girl of mine – from my beloved hometown. She’s not only a fabulous non fiction author of several real life stories about haunted locations in Richmond, she also is published under Sapphire Phelan writing erotic romance.

Alexandra Christian is a wonderful erotic writer with a recently published book, Hellsong, and let me tell you, this lady is a fabulous hoot and a new friend. We were both on two panels together – get this Urban Fantasy – horror with cleavage and Erotic versus Romance – how much is too much.

Let me just say that by the 9 pm Erotic panel – we were bringing down the house with raucous laughter. I truly think the folks in the audience will never think about calling a man’s yummy parts members any longer. And then there is that comment about a furry nest – we won’t go there! I truly don’t think any of us will envision the kitchen island the same way again.

Chris Sink – a hugely talented artist in the graffiti style art influenced by horror movies is a friend of mine I met through facebook. I am so happy to have meet him in real life. He’s a wonderful and generously kind guy and sweet as you can imagine ladies!

Paul Dellinger – I had the pleasure of interviewing this retired former newspaper man and science fiction writer and his thoughts of radio and stories of the past brought a touch of nostalgia to the entire event. I learned so much.

Brandon Blackmoor – I have no idea how to describe this delightful man with a kick ass comedic attitude! He turned the tables on me and attempted to interview me. I loved it. And – he’s a fabulous programmer working in the gaming industry. It was a blast.

Then there is Stephen Zimmer – you meet kindred folk sometimes you are lucky enough to call your friend and I believe that Stephen and I will be friends for a long time to come. His filmmaking skills match his fantasy writing skills. I was introduced to a short film of his, Swordbearer and it’s wonderful. I’ll tell you more about the book it’s based on in a later blog and you won’t believe it. He is published as well with several books in the fantasy and steampunk genres. He was a wonderful interviewee and invited me to be a part of FandomFest – being held in Louisville, Kentucky in July.

This event is highly organized and well attended and guests include John Carpenter and Henry Winkler. Have I died and gone to heaven? YES I am going!  Ladies – this one is another sweet man and single… 🙂

A huge thank you to my fabulous coordinator, Alex Wright who helped garner several of the guests and made sure everything was going well. Let me tell you guys – this was so wonderful that next year is already planned. Mark your calendar for February 24th – 26th to come to a beautiful city nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains. You want a hot teaser about the event? Sherilynn Kenyon is their guest of honor! Can you believe it???

Here’s the link guys – they’ll be updating with pictures and plans for next year but I am telling you as a writer, artist, film maker or anyone that simply loves the fantasy/science fiction genre, this is the place to be.  http://www.mysticon-va.com/

Are you excited yet?? You should be. I had a wonderful time and I’ll post a few pictures on FB later. Join me in lots of applause cause I am one sated lady!

Kisses…xxx

Cassandre