I am back from World Fantasy Convention in Brighton, and I had a blast. There is no photos, though, since I forgot to buy an UK adapter on the airport, so I couldn’t charge my phone.

When I arrived to Brighton on Oct 31, it was almost Midnight. I’ll admit that I was a bit nervous, not about the people but about my hotel. Originally, I booked a room at Amblecliff in June, but I didn’t book the plane ticket at the same time. Which I should have, since I had forgotten it was Autumn break. So when I booked my plane ticket in Early September, Amblecliff recommended that I book a new hotel room since I missed Amblecliff’s check in time. Even if I was a bit panicked then, I was glad I switched hotels to Ibis, since it was next to the train station.

The Panels:

I went to an ecclectic mix of panels. From a panel about covers, to one about female Epic Fantasy writers, to one about YA novels, to one about fairy tales structure. And more. All of them was interesting, and filled with a lot of discussions between the panelists, and the audience. And the moderators did a really good job on all of them, and I’m the first to admit that not all of the subjects were easy to moderate.

The people:

I met Laura Anne Gilman and Catie Murphy for the first time, and I didn’t fangirl at all.:) It was kinda funny, on Friday I chatted a lot with Laura Anne, between going to panels and hanging in the bar, and I wandered around keeping an eye out for Catie, and Kari Sperring. On Saturday, I had lunch with Catie and Ted, and chatted briefly with Kari. But I couldn’t find Laura Anne! And I met Thirzah on both Friday and Saturday, too! Catie asked how we knew each other, and we said in chorus: Through you! While we both live in Sweden, Thirzah lives on the West Coast, and I live on the East Coast. It is at least 500 km between us :).

This time, I actually hang out in the bar. As a result, I met a lot of new people. I discussed everything from Australian movies, to fairy tales, to steampunk vs weird west. It was fun! I am definitely going to Shamrokon in Dublin next year.

The Conclusion:

In general, the Con was very well run, and I’m glad I went. A sign of this is that my biggest complaint is that I wish more authors at the Mass Signing had remembered to bring book plates. Since I know that I have books I would have loved to have signed, but I couldn’t bring them for a number of reasons. Lack of space is one. Although, I guess I could have done like the older man I saw that had a small carry on suitcase full with books. Or not!  I am extremely proud that I only had 10 new books with me home. 🙂

I’ll do a blog post about the book haul later this week. Friday, maybe? But I am very pleased, since all the books were on my wishlist.