Things I learned at CONduit

I am in a listy kind of mood today, so here is my list of fun things I learned this weekend. For those of you who don't know about CONduit, here's their link!

1 - It is never too late to follow your dreams. Well, unless you’re dead. So unless you know a necromancer, if you’re dead it’s probably too late.  BUT as long as you’re still alive and breathing, go chase those dreams!!!

My friend Peggy wore this T-Shirt to the Con, and I was secretly wishing I had one, too. Now I know where to buy one, click the link and go to OffWorldDesigns and show them some love :)  They have the best t-shirts ever.

2 – I LOVE fantasy and sci-fi fans. I was raised by a sci-fi geek, so I can truly say I come by it honestly when I see a person in a Storm Trooper costume and want to run up and hug them. There is nothing that fills me with more giddy excitement than walking down a hallway and passing Jedi (light and dark), Steampunkers, Rimmer in his red-checked dress with Mr. Fibble, ten-thousand Dr. Who’s, Tony Stark, a gazillion aliens from the Star Trek universe, and a seven-foot tall Chewbacca. I just cannot contain the grins of joy when I see them or any other person that bothers to get their make-up and clothing just right to look like their favorite character from a movie or book.

3 – I can learn more from talking to an author face to face than I can from an English class. Oh my goodness, I don’t even have the words for how much I gleaned from talking to David Farland/Wolverton, Dan Wells, Tamora Pierce, and Tracy and Laura Hickman. Not to mention how much I laughed from listening to their panels.

4 – There are hundreds of books out there I didn’t know existed. One of the best ways to learn to write is to read successful authors and look at what they do well and how they do it. I spent at least half of my note-taking in panels writing down titles and authors that were discussed and used as examples of well-done in various things. For example, “The Help” is an example of a book written in first person point of view from three separate characters. The other half of my notes was spent in writing down titles and authors of books recommended by librarian panels or successful authors as stories in genre fiction that inspired them to become authors or librarians.

Yes, I drew her beard on with Sharpie, and yes, it washed off :)

5 – Art is fun. Comics and graphic novels are hugely fun right now. Web comics that are published after a period of time are also fairly successful. While I’m not a huge Dr. Who fan, and therefore the “Monster In An Hour” thing was fairly boring for me because I am unfamiliar with all of their bad guys, it was kind of fun to see the different styles the artists up on the stage used. I’ll admit I left that panel early because I just didn’t care about weeping angels carrying a sonic something. But I did head from there to the art show and checked out all the dragons, fairies, wizards, and other dragons.

6 – Like-minded people build each other up. I feel very confident that when I’m done writing this novel, my next project will be a graphic novel. I am so excited by what I’ve learned! I feel like I can put my art degree to use as well as my other creative talents.

These two were my FAVORITE. It's too bad you can't see his boots, his whole outfit was fantastic, and I just love her white dress.

If you're a Red Dwarf fan, you'll get this :)