DragonCon was amazing. I had a great time alongside Garth. We sold lots of books. We hung out with good friends. I was surprised by an old college buddy whom I hadn’t seen in over twenty years. Very nice people came by to say hi to us. Our table neighbors were friendly. And I made it there and back again safely.
Past all that, I don’t really have any stories to tell from my weekend.
There were nice things that happened. The surprise from my college friend was a highlight. Some longtime readers came by and said some very nice things about me and my comics. One attendee told me I helped them gain the confidence they needed to begin their own comic. But while all of those things were memorable and made my convention weekend enjoyable, none of them are really story-worthy.
A good convention story needs twists and turns. It needs a “you’re not going to believe this” element that keeps the listener or the reader enthralled. It needs a narrative, with all the conflict and resolution that comes with it. Nothing that happened to me this weekend had any of that, and if I have one “regret” from this year’s DragonCon is that it was pleasantly uneventful.
Which, honestly, is probably for the best. DragonCon is a marathon of a show, between its four-day length, the amount of travel involved from Massachusetts to Georgia and back again, and the energy required to be a part of the convention. I’m in my mid-forties now, and as of this writing I’m still physically and mentally recovering from this year’s marathon. I probably wouldn’t have been able to handle a story-worthy event or two.
I still had an incredible weekend, regardless of my fatigue, and can’t wait to get exhausted by DragonCon next year.