Well, another Con has passed and yes, I had the time of my
life. Kind of sounds like a song,
doesn’t it! It is, if you look at
it. There is plenty of music that can be
related to the Con. All happy stuff too
because attending the GCLS makes me feel so good! I get my “fix” which is supposed to last for
a year, but rarely does.
I flew this time with Con Duck, Lil Dutch and we picked up DC
on a layover. I arrived a day before the festivities
began. There were others already
gathering. There were familiar faces as
well as new ones. Let the annual hug
fest begin. What is great about the Con
is it is like the last one never ended.
It is as if we just drove to a new place and met up again.
The fun part of everyday started with breakfast. We had a large group at our breakfast table.
A large, loud, laughing group. No topic
was off limits. I think we shocked our
poor server. She had this shell shocked
look on her face, daily. The staff gave her a reprieve after the first day and
other servers came. There was one
faithful one. He was a nice young man
who had more femininity than all the women at the Con combined!
The days were filled with master classes, panels, author
chats, readings, greetings and signings.
It was impossible to attend all of them.
Dang it! I really wanted to. I split my time between all. I can’t say which one I like best because
they all were great. Each one had a
special perk to it. Being assaulted by
tennis balls was one! The bedazzle conversation
during lunch break was an eye-opening conversation!
The night time was filled with dinners, fun, partying and
yes, hugs and laughter. All nights
usually started in the lobby with interesting chatter. One night included reviewing lessons from a
very interesting book! Being a non-drinker has its’ perks. Like telling really drunk straight women, “I
am allowed in the girl’s room” and “No, I do not show my vagina to drunk straight
girls.” True story. I was not offended, I thought it was
hilarious.
Karaoke was a hit! It was hippie night. The tie-dye attire, peace signs and free love
were all part of the program. As per a
tradition I started for myself last year, I danced with my very dear friend,
Sheri. She is a great dancer. Then, it was on. Dancing all night, but only to the fast
ones! I closed the bar with a few
others! Fun stuff. I think I threw a hip!
Awards night is always my favorite. It is time to play dress up. The ladies who wore dresses and fancy suits
looked stunning. The ladies who wore
suits and other attire looked handsome.
Me, I rocked a tux! I showed the
picture to my Mom, aka The Kick in the Pants, and she said, “Wow, you can clean
up good. You actually look like a grown
up!” Congratulations to all the awardees
and also to the nominees in the different genres. What comes after the awards? Dancing, of course!
I danced to all but one song. Half way through I stripped off the
cummerbund. A little while later the
jacket came off. By the end of the
evening the tie was off too. I was
hoping for a few dollar bills, but realized all these women spent their money
on books. Sigh. The evening ended with
me once again closing the bar. Joe, the
security dude, and I helped the DJ pack up her stuff.
The last morning was full of hugs, laughs, helping each
other with bags and reliving the Con all over again. The coolest thing is, I posted a picture of
myself and Katherine V. Forrest. Well, a
guy, an author, who I graduated high school with responded and said he edited
books with her before. I mentioned it to her
while toting her bags to the airport van and she remembered him. Such connections we have. Amazing.
Ok, back on task.
This brings me to the conclusion of my blog, but not to the
conclusion of the Con. Like the title of
my blog reads or sings (I hope you get an earworm), “This is the Con that
doesn’t end, it just goes on and on my friend!”, we will all stay connected
until next year and will keep talking about our adventures.
*NOTE* All of my Con Pictures are on my Facebook page...Go take a peek!
Until next time …….Dutch
