Tuesday, May 29, 2012

WisCon 36 Recap

Ah, another WisCon has come and gone. They always go by so quickly. Here are a few highlights from the weekend:

1. The hotel: Apparently, all the rooms now have refrigerators (this used to be the luck of the draw). This allowed us not only to buy some produce at the Farmer's Market, but to buy groceries for breakfast and lunch--a much cheaper and healthier option. However, the room we had didn't have a bathtub, just a shower. Alex is used to taking baths, but he gamely agreed to try showers. The experience wasn't too bad. I miss the orange-scented shampoo/conditioner/bodywash the hotel used to provide. However, they did provide us with a free insulated bag to bring our food home.

2. The pool--The three of us got to spend some family time in the pool. It was funny how the pool seemed cooler at night but warmer in the early morning (when I swam laps for exercise). No wonder Alex preferred the whirlpool!

3. The weather--It rained heavily enough on Saturday to delay our going to the Farmer's Market, but not so severely that we couldn't go at all. Later, it cleared enough for Eugene and Alex to walk from the hotel all the way down State Street to Memorial Union and back. No wonder Alex napped when they returned! Sunday was too hot to do much outside, so Eugene and Alex did some activities in Kids programming.

4. My purse--My purse strap broke as I was coming back to the hotel from a brief shopping excursion. For the rest of the weekend, I wound up using a stylish brown paper bag.

5. My purchases--I bought a unicorn mug in the Dealer's Room (the source of the bag mentioned above), two e-books, and a paper book. I also picked up a few items at the Soap Opera on State Street.

6. My panels--I did a reading on Saturday with some other members of BroadUniverse; that seemed to go well. Sunday I moderated a panel on critique groups. It was my first time moderating, and it was interesting because a couple of the other panelists were quite outspoken. I think it went well, however.

7. Other Panels--I attended panels on female villains, crowdfunding and self-promotion, the oppression of children, things to know before self-publishing, and "I'm Blonde, But I'm Not 20 And I Don't Physically Kick Ass." This is probably the fewest number of panels I've attended at a con, but part of that was due to helping out at the BroadUniverse table.

8. My sales--I sold five paper books during the convention. I wasn't sure what to expect, but for a relatively unknown author, that's not bad. It looks as if I had a few sample downloads from Smashwords, but I didn't see any sales of e-books during this time.

9. The Signout--It was fun participating in the SignOut on Monday. I appreciated that we were able to get some light munchables during the event. (I shared them with my son.) Alex helped me hand out chocolate Kisses during the event; he was quite the fun assistant. I also asked another author to sign my Kindle.

10. My friends--It was great being able to see some of our friends at WisCon and outside of it as well. I wish WisCon could be twice as long--but the hotel bill would be a bit much then.

P.S. I have a few paperbacks of Lyon's Legacy left over from WisCon. If you'd like to order one directly from me, it's $5.00 plus shipping. I can take payment through PayPal or via check. Please contact me if you're interested.

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