The WisCon Report. Mostly.

I've been laid low by the infamous con crud (I didn't even know this was a thing), which means now is a good time to make a post. I'm back from WisCon! This post is long so I'm going to hit the highlights. As for the con, I'm struck by two things:

1) The Seven Sister-ness of the place. I think I heard people were from Mt. Holyoke or Smith more than any other school-- or they had stories about them. It felt like being back at Bryn Mawr in some ways, from people's dress to the overwhelming number of women and the general tone of the crowd. It was both striking and nostalgia-inducing: it was Bryn Mawr+, where people wanted to be there and no one was obsessing over "but where are the guys!? There's too much estrogen in here!"

2) The closeness of the community.

I've never been to a con before, and most of what I hear about cons tends to be more anime/consumer oriented, whereas WisCon is primarily a writer's con for writers who care about feminism and sci-fi. So, you know, that's a pretty small subset already, of a very specific sort of person. This is how small it is: when I got on my flight, I sat next to JoSelle Vanderhooft, the editor for Steam-Powered. Of all the passengers, I sat next to someone going to WisCon. Of all attendees, heck of all editors, I sat next to the one who published my first story.

( It's not that it's small that makes it feel cozy, so much as it's a tight group )

One of the best parts of the con itself was the writer's workshop. I sent in Swans, and while it wasn't crushing and I got a ton of great advice I have never considered before, I also got "they don't feel like real people yet" which is the one bit of criticism that left me stunned. That's never been a problem for me. Characters are usually my strongest point! So now I get to rewrite even more, right after I finished editing up to the middle of the book. I'm wavering between "it's not so bad" and "GOD HAVE MERCY WHYYYYY."

I also dressed up more than I usually do-- granted, it was jeans and a nice top versus my usual jeans and a t-shirt, but I forgot that I have some super-cute clothes, and folks at WisCon are not stingy with compliments, so I feel like a boss right now. I also put in the effort to fully do my make-up. My new liquid eyeliner has so much staying power that I didn't manage to wash it all off and it looked awesome all con even though I only applied it Friday morning. But then! There was the award's ceremony and the genderfloomph party, so I put on my favorite dress-- my Blade Runner dress. I can't put my finger on why I have the association, but something about the silhouette I think, the high, ruffled collar and the plunging neckline, along with the cap sleeves and the gunmetal blue color. I was unsure about it since I'd put on a few pounds since buying it, and took a picture before the con to ask teleidoplex her opinion.

"vavoom! That's such a great dress. You look like Sean Young in Blade Runner. And now you're going to tell me you hate Sean Young in Blade Runner"

She apparently, didn't know that I love that movie, let alone that I also thought the dress looked Blade Runner-y.

( Conclusion: The dress really reminds people of Blade Runner. )

( So, on to the swag! )

Actually, the things I am most pleased with are what I bought while out and about in Madison. I went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. It winds around the capitol building, bigger than any farmer's market I've ever been to. The two earrings are from a woman who sells antique-y things (the parts to make the earrings come from the 20s and 30s, she said. I don't know how much I believe that because they weren't pricy but I also don't really know the value of some old things, so I guess I can't say but I bought them for the pretty more than the history). I also bought gladiolus bulbs because they're the August flower, and I do love the silly astrology-linked stuff like peridots, orange, fire, so why not gladious. I have never seen them before, or so I thought. When I called mom to ask how to grow them she said she had some in her garden. Whups! Never noticed. To be fair, she never points them out to me like she does the daylilies, clematis, and dahlia.

The perfumes are from The Soap Opera, which may be the cutest soap store I have ever seen, and I love soap stores. They're great perfumes and smell exactly as described. It's hard to find a satisfying rose perfume in particular, and while this one doesn't smell like the rose garden I grew up with, it smells a bit like rose tastes, which is good enough for me. They're by Pacifica if anyone is interested. They had a lot of cool scents that remain fairly true after putting them on. At least, the lilac I tried did, as does the rose. I also got Waikiki Pikake, and while I like it, hell if I know what it's supposed to smell like (it's a very green, fresh smell, not at all what I associate with jasmine). I picked it up because of the peacocks (/shallow!) and now I have to wonder who thinks peacocks = Hawaii.

So that was my WisCon experience. Good thing I mostly wrote this post before I got sick, because now my WisCon experience is a sore throat and raging bitterness at the cruel world. I only get sick when I have to meet attorneys and make a good impression.